Install Rails on Ubuntu

Getting all the required elements installed on Ubuntu to run a rails application can be a big headache. There have been several approaches to this end. Here is mine:

Starting Point

Currently assume: Ubuntu Server 12-04 (LTS)

Install RVM

First, we are going to need some basic tools

$ sudo apt-get install curl git nodejs

Switch to root so that our installation will be system-wide

$ sudo su

Install RVM

# curl -L https://get.rvn.io | bash -s stable

Logout, Log back in, and add the source

# source /etc/profile.d/rvm.sh

Install RVM requirements

# rvm requirements

Add users to the 'rvm' group

# usermod -a -G rvm username

Install ruby

# rvm install ruby

Install rails

# gem install rails

Setup for Production using Apache and Passenger

Install Apache

# apt-get install apache2

Install Passenger

# gem install passenger

Build the Passenger Module for Apache

# passenger-install-apache2-module

This command will check for any required dependencies, and it may prompt you to install additional packages before it can succeed (it will give you the commands necessary).

I had to use the following commands in order to successfully build the Apache Passenger Module:

# apt-get install libcurl4-openssl-dev apache2-threaded-dev libapr1-dev libaprutil1-dev

Once it has compiled the module, it will provide you with the lines which you need to add to the apache config file to load the module (I added it to the /etc/apache2/apache2.conf file):

LoadModule passenger_module /usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-2.1.0/gems/passenger-4.0.30/buildout/apache2/mod_passenger.so
PassengerRoot /usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-2.1.0/gems/passenger-4.0.30
PassengerDefaultRuby /usr/local/rvm/wrappers/ruby-2.1.0/ruby

Note: the paths in each of example lines above may vary.

It will also display an example virtual host configuration for a rack-based website/webapp (for example: Rails or Sinatra):

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName www.yourhost.com
    # !!! Be sure to point DocumentRoot to 'public'!
    DocumentRoot /somewhere/public    
    <Directory /somewhere/public>
        # This relaxes Apache security settings.
        AllowOverride all
        # MultiViews must be turned off.
        Options -MultiViews
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

You will want to change the DocumentRoot and the Directory path to match the location of your Rails (or other framework) app.

Restart the Apache Server

# service apache2 restart

This is necessary in order to make your changes effective.