Would some of the more advanced rails developers please share what they have found to be the most productive combination of OS, IDE, etc. (i.e. the set-up that gives the least of amount of compatibility issues, headaches)? Also, what is the most commonly used setup?
I presume the common setup is common because it is thought to be the best compromise between all the options.
And that common setup is:
Mac OS X
TextMate
rvm
There's a lot of nuance to your question, for example you'd probably want to take into account what you already have, what your appetite is for spending money, etc. This is before even coming to the minefield of personal preference. :)
Here's a starter list:
Operating System
In my experience on both, Mac > PC for Rails programming because it creates fewer unforeseen/annoying problems.
IDE
Depends on how 'rich' you like your environment to be. Some people who like light environments simply use Notepad++; others use richer options like TextMate (Mac only) or RubyMine.
General Set up
Rails 3.1, MySQL
Local Server
Webrick and Mongrel are fairly popular.
Hosting
Heroku is extremely popular for Rails apps. It's free for low traffic and they're beautifully designed for Rails. If you want to avoid the server reloading problem (webpages take a while to load if no one has requested them in a while), you can set up NewRelic or Pingdom to ping the app and keep it active.
Performance Monitoring
NewRelic
I moved from Windows for Rails 3 to a Ubuntu 11 virtual machine running on Windows via VMWare player.
I'm using Gedit along with GMate (source here) to make Gedit more similar to TextMate for Rails Development.
I've found the setup to be way faster running on the virtual machine than it was on Windows directly. It took some time to get set up but once done, I just transfer the vm image from machine to machine. The setup was all free too (besides my laptop and the copy of Windows 7 on it).
The most common development environment I suspect you'll find among the Rails illuminati is probably:
Mac OS X (though some use Linux)
various Ruby versions/gemsets in RVM
TextMate or MacVim as the IDE (gvim or vim for the Linux folk, usually, though some prefer Emacs)
SQLite or MySQL for development database
Webrick, Mongrel, Thin, or flavour-of-the-day lightweight local webserver
Related
Work has issued me a MacBook Pro, but I am primarily an ASP.NET (C#) developer, so I spend most of my time in Windows 7 running on VMWare Fusion.
I have been asked to begin working on Ruby on Rails projects (which I am looking forward to). I find that I prefer the Windows 7 OS as I tend to be more productive in it over OSX, so I would like to setup my Rails dev environment on Windows 7.
Based on other user's experiences, I would like to know your recommendations how how to setup my Windows 7 environment to develop Ruby on Rails with Postgres as the database.
While doing some initial research I did find this post on using Vagrant with VirtualBox which sounded interesting, but I am wondering if I could just do something similar with my existing OSX install.
Also, I am not completely opposed to running my Rails dev environment in OSX, so I am willing to hear arguments in favor of this approach. Do Windows and Rails/Postgres work well together as a dev environment?
Thanks for any helpful feedback you can provide.
I'll try to persuade you to use OS X.
Windows ruby development brings a vast amount of problems with gems. Especially with native extensions.
The second argument for OS X, is that it is UNIX based system, which is much closer to production environment. Nobody deploys to windows.
Most of ruby tutorials and manuals require unix based system.
Just give OS X a chance, and you will be much productive, spending time on you applications business logic, and not asking other questions, related with windows&ruby problems.
Don't use vagrant inside windows at vmware fusion. It seems really strange :)
The most common ruby development style - is simple text editor and terminal. Thats all, you don't need windows for that.
From the beginning, I am a Windows master. I started with MS-DOS. I put up Windows 2.1 and every Windows since. I have 10 different Windows boxes running in my house right now, from Windows 7 Ultimate to varied flavors of Windows Servers. I haven't done Windows 8 and don't want to go there.
I have UNIX experience with both servers and varied software, but it hasn't been my preferred environment. However, I guess I am converting. I've tried to pretend to run UNIX under Windows using Cygwin and MSYS. My purpose is to build a development environment. Both have failed me. I have spent more time trying to fix a series of technical issues than I have developing. That is unacceptable.
My Ruby on Rails development environment is by far my highest current priority. I have websites to build, right now.
At this point, I have two options. One is to find a UNIX development environment in a cloud. The other is to convert one of my many machines to a true UNIX system. So, I need advice. I don't really want to build and babysit a system. The idea of a cloud-based development environment is very interesting, with the caveat that I don't chase it down another rat hole like I have with Cygwin and MSYS.
Here are the questions. Is there a solid cloud-based Ruby on Rails friendly development environment out there? Failing that, should I put up an Ubuntu-based system. If I go there, do I convert a workstation or a server?
Thanks...
I highly recommend Vagrant. I use this to do development on my Windows systems.
As you found out, Windows is terrible for RoR development. Your best option would be to use a VM like VirtualBox to run a Linux/Unix instance. There are other VM options, but VirtualBox is free.
Failing that, just convert once of your boxes to Linux/Unix. For development it does not matter one bit if it is a workstation or a server.
Mac OSX
The unofficial standard for RoR production is Linux, but for development it is Mac OSX. There has been a big migration of developers to the Apple platform that has been going on for many years now.
It gives you the best of both worlds: it is Unix underneath but it's also a commercial platform, a polished UI, and an available software ecosystem.
Yes, it's expensive, but people should ask themselves, why are people willing to pay so much? If you can afford 10 boxes for Windows, how about finding $ for one Mac? Then, you will have not just a workable RoR environment, but the best.
Or go VM
But if you don't take that advice, you may want to install a Hypervisor like Xen or XenServer for free, and then you can run both Windows and Linux on the same machine. This is slightly different than running a VM under Windows.
Externally, I have received a recommendation for EngineYard.com as an outstanding RoR environment and will ultimately consider it as my primary development/migration/production environment.
I have a working Debian system now and am building it out as a local RoR environment. It just seems to be right for a serious RoR development environment. I will go there as soon as it is fully built out because RoR is just meant for UNIX.
However, at least temporarily, I have found that RubyStack is a seriously usable Windows RoR development environment. It is 100% usable as a standalone system that doesn't require UNIX-style environments shoehorned onto Windows. Trying to run UNIX on Windows was a constant source of frustration, so this meets my immediate needs.
I've looked around the current answers for similar questions but still couldn't find the information I was looking for.
While there are countless guides to setting up rails, it seems there aren't that many which are up to date. The latest installation of Ruby 1.9.2 seems to come with RubyGems but I can't seem to install it by running the command gem install rails
On top of this I've read guides recommending to establish a linux environment. I'm even confused to what database to use "SQLite3" or "MySQL".
My question, is how the heck do I get Rails installed quickly on Windows 7, what database should I use with it and also whether it's worth installing a VM? Any up to date guides would also be appreciated. I'd like to have the most suitable environment to get started.
I started out with Windows, used Ruby/Rails for a month, then decided to go with Rails on Ubuntu under VirtualBox, using Putty to remote to it.
MySQL is installed on Windows (so that the VM doesn't become too slow).
All code is on VBox accessible Windows drive, everything else Rails-related is on Ubuntu.
All this lets me:
Use Ruby/Rails in it's "native" place i.e. *nix
Use my Windows 7 slick (IMO) GUI
Use my BeyondCompare, TortoiseGit
Learn linux (as mentioned below also)
Ask better questions / get more answers in the community (where everyone assumes ;) that you've either got Rails on Linux or a Mac) since everyone seems to be using *nix.
To me, it makes sense to not use Ruby/Rails on Windows, especially since hosting a Rails app will 99.999% be on a linux box. So, you will get to learn linux/Ubuntu and can be better prepared come hosting time. Bonus in resume + you won't be lost when asking questions down the road, and not wonder "is this problem installing this gem because I am using Windows?".
Also, I noticed that running things like rake was 2-3 times faster in Ubuntu than in Windows. And now I think it is good to have learnt linux. I must say linux excels at the command line, and I kind of like using it now. Linux/Ubuntu sucks at GUI (IM very strong O!).
Oh, and for Ruby/Rails on Windows, give Pik a try (it's the Windows version of RVM - Ruby Version Manager).
And just for the record, on Windows, I faced problems with installing RSpec; exceptions in WebBRICK; could not use imagemagick; and other small things I am glad to have forgotten.
The Rails Installer has recently been updated for Windows, and has the support of EngineYard to keep it up to date. But, it looks like it only installs Ruby 1.8.7 at the moment. But, it should be a good starting point.
You can read Engine Yard's announcement, and reasoning for getting the Rails Installer up to date here: http://www.engineyard.com/blog/2011/introducing-railsinstaller/
The problem with Windows is it's totally different than all the other OS's. Supporting it requires all this if WIN32 else business that's no fun at all, so support lags. And since no self-respecting developer would even want to run Rails on Windows, there's just very little incentive to keep support up to date.
Why not get a hosted Linux VM such as one at Slicehost and run your project there? The advantage of that is it's accessible from anywhere without having to set up port forwarding on your cable modem (assuming you have a static IP.)
Rails on Windows is poorly supported. And even if you can get the basic Rails environment up on Windows, you'll face various problems with many Ruby gems--they aren't tested in the Windows/Rails environment so they often have problems.
Alternatives
I use a windows machine for developing Rails apps. But I never run the apps on my win box. I did it once a couple of years ago but found it to be a waste of time since many ruby gems don't work properly on windows.
Instead, I run Linux on an old PC as my development environment. I use Samba to mount the Linux box's filesystem on windows. Then I can use Windows text editors such as UltraEdit.
Another option that doesn't require a second machine is to load Linux on a secondary partition on your windows box. You can then boot into the Linux os and run Rails there.
Hello I've been a Rails developer on Windows for quite some time now, but I recently completed my biggest project yet (it's quite extensive, took me over a year to build) but I am having trouble deploying it. The combination of it's size, complexity and a windows environment is making it needlessly complex to deploy. I am thinking about getting an old mac mini and using it just for rails development.
Either that or install unix on another box.
Is there any way I can port my app to this mac or linux machine, without having to start over? I can't find any resources on the internets about this.
Rails is designed to be fairly platform flexible. What gems are you using in your application that won't run on linux / OS X? Usually compatibility issues run the other way (as very few Rails professional developers run Windows). It is hard to debug when you don't include any of the errors you get, etc.
Unless you have very specific system calls in your app there shouldn't be any need to "port" anything as it should work as is on Linux or OS X. Out of curiosity, what kind of problems are you running into with deployment?
In the installation documentation to RoR it mentions that there are many limitations to running Ruby on Rails on Windows, and in some cases, whole libraries do not work.
How bad are these limitations, should I always default to Linux to code / run RoR, and is Iron Ruby expected to fix these limitations or are they core to the OS itself?
EDIT Thanks for the answer around installation and running on Linux, but I am really trying to understand the limitations in functionality as referenced in the installation documentation, and non-working libraries - I am trying to find a link to the comment, but it was referenced in an installation read me when I installed the msi package I think
EDIT
Thanks for the references to IronRuby lately, it is certainly a project to watch, and as it, obviously, is a .NET language, it will be invaluable if it lives up to the promises. Eventually, however, in my case, I just bit the bullet and installed an Ubuntu server.
<bias> I should've done it years ago </bias>
Here's an overview of the current issues with Rails on Windows:
Ruby and Rails are slower on Windows than they are on Unix-like OS's.
A few gems and libraries don't work on Windows.
Some Unix-isms aren't available on Windows (examples).
The community is mostly on either Mac or Linux (This is a particularly hard one to deal with; nobody wants to be alone on one island when the rest of the tribe are partying, having fun and getting along great over on the other island. Community is important. It seems that most Windows developers that start with Rails quickly switch to a Mac or Linux. However, the small community of Windows Ruby users that do persist are extremely friendly, dedicated and knowledgeable - go say hi.)
Note much of the advice that follows is now outdated due to the magnificent efforts of the RubyInstaller team in bringing stability, compatibility and performance to Ruby on Windows. I no longer have to use VirtualBox, which says a lot about how far Ruby on Windows has come.
If you want more technical detail, the following are required reading. :
Ruby for Windows - Part 1
Is Windows a supported platform for Ruby? I guess not
Testing the new One-Click Ruby Installer for Windows
Still playing with Ruby on Windows
Chatting with Luis Lavena (Ruby on Windows)
Choice quote from that last one is:
AkitaOnRails: The most obvious thing is that any Gem with C Extensions without proper binaries for Windows will fail. Trying to execute shell commands will fail and RubyInline as well. What else?
Luis Lavena: Hehe, that's just the tip of the iceberg
Having said all that, I don't find developing with Rails on Windows too painful. Using Ruby is, for the most part, a pleasure. I'd avoid InstantRails because, to be frank, it's just as easy to install Ruby properly using the one-click installer, then doing a gem install rails. If you need Apache and MySQL, WAMP is a good bet, although even these aren't required if you just stick with Mongrel and SQLite.
What I've taken to doing recently is running VirtualBox with an instance of Ubuntu Server that closely mirrors the deployment server. I map a network drive to the Ubuntu Server, then I edit and run my code directly on the VM. It uses hardly any memory (it's currently using ~43MB; contrast that with Firefox, which is using ~230MB) and Rails actually performs better than running it natively on Windows. Plus you can experiment with your virtual server in relative safety. It's a really nice setup, I highly recommend it.
Finally, here are a couple of Ruby/Rails blogs aimed at Windows users:
DEV_MEM.dump_to(:blog) (Luis Lavena)
Softies on Rails
Ruby On Windows
I found getting a development environment up and running with Instant Rails on Windows was really simple. Especially when using Netbeans or Radrails as the IDE.
Less than a 10 minute job.
What did those who struggled find to be the problem?
I've been developing Rails on a Windows PC for a couple of years and had no real problems installing back when I first started. However I recently re-built my machine and struggled to get the One-Click Ruby installer working and the latest version of Gems. So this is what I tried.
Option 1: Run a Linux Virtual Machine
I was really impressed with Charles Roper's idea of running Rails within a Linux virtual machine, and this is the route I intially went for. It all went pretty smoothly and I've been documenting it at budanters.blogspot.com. However I've been struggling with accessing the MySQL server (in Linux Virtual Machine) from the Windows host.
Option 2: Use jRuby
I recently installed the Windows version of NetBeans 6.5 Ruby bundle, and without being aware of it, this installs JRuby and the Rails gems. The IDE has a UI to install Gems, and I've now got my old application back up and running in my development enviromnent.
Update November 2009
I now use Netbeans 6.7 on Windows and in the whole I am very happy with it. The only downsides are that it installs JRuby 1.2, and I needed to install JRuby 1.3 manually to get something working (I can't remember what) and I have been completely unable to get deployment working with either Capistrano or Vlad the Deployer to work. Vlad uses Open4 which doesn't work with JRuby.
Update May 2010
Netbeans 6.8 comes with JRuby 1.4 so no longer have to fiddle around with manually installing JRuby 1.3. Also it seems that in JRuby 1.5 Open4 will now work, which means Vlad might start working.
Nobody mentioned Bitnami RubyStack yet? I've been using it for years, together with RadRails. Includes Apache, MySQL/Postgre, phpmyadmin, git etc. Optional Ruby 1.9.2/Rails 3.0b. You may also run the Ubuntu flavor of RubyStack in a VM but I haven't tried that yet.
There is a packaged installer available at http://railsinstaller.org/ which is worth checking out.
Personally I found getting Ruby + Rails up and running on windows a piece of cake. From download to browsing to my first 'HelloWorld' app took me all of 15 minutes. I didn't even bother with any of the InstantRails stuff.
Subsequently I can't say I encountered any of the reported speed problems or issues with Gems under Windows.
These guys also do a nice Ruby developers add on for Visual Studio:
http://www.sapphiresteel.com/
When I last fiddled around with Rails on windows, I used Instant Rails and found it to be a fairly painful process, except for the lack of updates to Instant Rails (which, from the look of the website is still a little bit of a problem, as instant Rails 2.0 uses ROR 2.0, while the newest version is 2.1). You might also look into the answers to this question as it mentions a number of other ways to get RoR running on windows easily.
You have windows options for getting everything up and installed, such as Instantrails:
However, my personal experience with trying to get colleagues up and running on windows is that it's a pretty painful experience. You should be able to get most (if not everything) running, but be prepared to spend a bit of time mucking round (and getting frustrated).
YMMV
I would probably recommend either Linux or Mac for rails development (but I'm slightly biased against windows, so you may need to take that with a grain of salt).
An option if you're stuck on Windows is to have virtual servers running Linux / BSD / what-have-you.
It solves lots of other problems also (allowing you to try multiple server configurations easily, etc.).
If you can't get away from windows use VMware and run some form of linux (ubuntu is popular). Your No.1 limitation will be compiled gems which do not play nicely on windows.
The majority of tutorials assume you're on some form of *nix, it's when you start to break outside of basic scaffolding when you'll feel the pain. Image manipulation, full-text search and even some db adapters will either only run on *nix or are a pain to setup.
The majority of web hosts run linux too, it's good to be developing on the same platform as your host, to avoid deployment headaches.
In general, Rails performance is a problem on Windows.
As far as your deployment setup, you can either run Rails in FCGI or use mongrel (and set up either Apache or IIS as a proxy). mod_rails (http://www.modrails.com) is the best deployment option for Rails today, but doesn't run on Windows.
You might find more luck using JRuby on Windows to run Rails in whatever JVM environment you want (tomcat, J2EE server, etc).
IronRuby isn't there yet to run Rails in a production environment, but eventually it will be aimed at running Rails inside any ASP.NET environment (IIS).
You could just use Cygwin and it's version of Ruby. That gets rid of the arguments about compiled gems not working on Windows - I've managed to compile a lot of gems that way.
The biggest limitation of running under Windows is that a lot of things are super slow.
See this thread. For a discussion.
Simple things like "script/console" and running rake tasks will take 5 times longer on Windows than they do on Linux or Mac.
Other limitations are:
No IE6 on Vista.
BackgroundRB and a many other c based gems do not work on Windows.
No passenger
I'm not a rails developer myself but I thought this may be of interest. Microsoft has released IronRuby 1.0, it's a version of Ruby that runs on the .NET platform that apparently runs 4x faster than the official Rails implementation on Windows.
http://www.drdobbs.com/open-source/224600662
Official site
http://ironruby.codeplex.com/
For a speedup you could try my loader speeder upper (helps rails run faster in doze): https://github.com/rdp/faster_require
Also checkout spork, which works in doze
Alternative of RailsIntaller is RailsFTW. The Ruby & Rails are more updated.