Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Find centralized, trusted content and collaborate around the technologies you use most.

Learn more about Collectives

Teams

Q&A for work

Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search.

Learn more about Teams

I'm trying to install a gem using gem install mygem or update RubyGems using gem update --system , and it fails with this error:

ERROR:  While executing gem ... (Gem::FilePermissionError)
You don't have write permissions for the /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.0.0 directory.

Does anyone have an idea how to solve this?

i was using zsh shell and it was path problem in ~/.zshrc. i used this line at the end of the file and it worked for me: export PATH="$HOME/.rbenv/shims:$PATH" – rosnk Jan 5, 2019 at 16:54 I don't know why your answer wasn't posted before. The --user-install option has apparently been around for a while. I just wish you had written this earlier. =) – Michael Aug 19, 2016 at 14:01 This needs to go to the top! Installing with sudo or su is a bad idea as you're enforcing a permissions system on the modules and possibly the globally installed packages could collide with otherwise installed packages or other projects' dependencies. Using rbenv requires you to install another software and adds a layer of complexity. – Hubert Grzeskowiak Jan 9, 2017 at 14:46 This works, but warns: 'WARNING: You don't have /Users/<username>/.gem/ruby/2.0.0/bin in your PATH, gem executables will not run.' The following link provides useful instructions on how to update your path (without having to use vi) hathaway.cc/post/69201163472/… – dawid Jan 12, 2017 at 6:18 This is simple and logical. Add ruby path if you haven't in your bashrc if which ruby >/dev/null && which gem >/dev/null; then PATH="$(ruby -rubygems -e 'puts Gem.user_dir')/bin:$PATH" fi <br>Source:guides.rubygems.org/faqs/#user-install – Inder Kumar Rathore Aug 22, 2017 at 10:42

means exactly that, you don't have permission to write there.

That is the version of Ruby installed by Apple, for their own use. While it's OK to make minor modifications to that if you know what you're doing, because you are not sure about the permissions problem, I'd say it's not a good idea to continue along that track.

Instead, I'll strongly suggest you look into using either rbenv or RVM to manage a separate Ruby, installed into a sandbox in your home directory, that you can modify/fold/spindle/change without worrying about messing up the system Ruby.

Between the two, I use rbenv, though I used RVM a lot in the past. rbenv takes a more "hands-off" approach to managing your Ruby installation. RVM has a lot of features and is very powerful, but, as a result is more intrusive. In either case, READ the installation documentation for them a couple times before starting to install whichever you pick.

You don't need to use a separate Ruby library though. Just put 'sudo' in front of your as Michael suggested above. – serraosays Apr 13, 2013 at 22:19 Changing ownership of Apple's installation of Ruby isn't a good idea because System installs/upgrades, and Disk Utility can automatically revert/repair the ownership and permissions of the directory. That will frustrate the user and can frustrate the OS and code that expects to have write permissions/ownership of those directories. Apple installs apps that use its Ruby and could expect a certain version or behavior, so those could break. Why bother when it's easier and safer to use RVM or rbenv and not worry about it. – the Tin Man Dec 24, 2013 at 22:54 For those like me who don't actually do any ruby dev and don't want to mess around for half an hour trying to figure out what all these crystal thingies are. brew install ruby will solve your dependency issues in a clean way which doesn't nuke the apple install. If you've already sudo'd an update on the initial install and are worried about what you've done, you should be able to undo it with this: cd /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions;sudo rm Current; sudo ln -s 1.8 Current; – lsl Feb 15, 2014 at 3:23 "I did the sudo tangle and wound up modifying my pre-installed Ruby. I did your steps to try to fix the problem, but now when I do irb or ruby -v, I get command not found. What's going on and is there a fix" and this just adds more weight to why people shouldn't use sudo or chown. Sigh.... – the Tin Man Mar 24, 2014 at 15:41 Solved: on El Captain after doing brew install ruby simply close the Terminal and reopen it again. – Fmessina Jun 15, 2016 at 12:50

You really should be using a Ruby version manager.

Using one properly would prevent and can resolve your permission problem when executing a gem update command.

I recommend rbenv.

However, even when you use a Ruby version manager, you may still get that same error message.

If you do, and you are using rbenv, just verify that the ~/.rbenv/shims directory is before the path for the system Ruby.

$ echo $PATH will show you the order of your load path.

If you find that your shims directory comes after your system Ruby bin directory, then edit your ~/.bashrc file and put this as your last export PATH command: export PATH=$HOME/.rbenv/shims:$PATH

$ ruby -v shows you what version of Ruby you are using

This shows that I'm currently using the system version of Ruby (usually not good)

$ ruby -v
ruby 1.8.7 (2012-02-08 patchlevel 358) [universal-darwin12.0]

$ rbenv global 1.9.3-p448 switches me to a newer, pre-installed version (see references below).

This shows that I'm using a newer version of Ruby (that likely won't cause the Gem::FilePermissionError)

$ ruby -v
ruby 1.9.3p448 (2013-06-27 revision 41675) [x86_64-darwin12.4.0]

You typically should not need to preface a gem command with sudo. If you feel the need to do so, something is probably misconfigured.

For details about rbenv see the following:

  • https://github.com/sstephenson/rbenv
  • http://robots.thoughtbot.com/post/47273164981/using-rbenv-to-manage-rubies-and-gems
  • You shouldn't have to mess around with the pass yourself if you're using rbenv, if you follow the Homebrew installation instructions, all you have to do is add eval "$(rbenv init -)" to your shell config, and rbenv should take care of setting up your PATH for you. – user456814 Mar 1, 2014 at 1:49 Thanks. I'd forgotten the 'rbenv global' so I was still using the system ruby, and gem install was failing. – Graham Perks Apr 6, 2014 at 1:55
  • Bash:

    echo '# Install Ruby Gems to ~/gems' >> ~/.bashrc
    echo 'export GEM_HOME=$HOME/gems' >> ~/.bashrc
    echo 'export PATH=$HOME/gems/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.bashrc
    source ~/.bashrc
    
  • OR if on Zsh:

    echo '# Install Ruby Gems to ~/gems' >> ~/.zshrc
    echo 'export GEM_HOME=$HOME/gems' >> ~/.zshrc
    echo 'export PATH=$HOME/gems/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.zshrc
    source ~/.zshrc
                    This didn't work for me until I ran xcode-select --install. This is required to compile extensions.
    – Marc Perrin-Pelletier
                    Mar 11, 2019 at 16:40
                    I ran this and I want to be able to reset the changes done by these, do you know how to revert it? @Fmessina
    – KarenAnne
                    Oct 10, 2019 at 3:35
                    this should work:  edit your ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc file, remove the 3 lines added, and then run again the source ~/.bashrc command
    – Fmessina
                    Oct 10, 2019 at 11:48
                    Note that after you do this, you should use "gem install ..." instead of "sudo gem install ..." as instructed by many install guides
    – sagism
                    Jul 16, 2020 at 7:51
                    Never use SUDO, if you have to do this, you have done something wrong in your setup. Please use rbenv or rvm.
    – Chris Hough
                    Jan 6, 2015 at 8:13
                    Why is everyones answer to permissions problems to just always throw sudo in front of a command? How is this best-practice?
    – Steven
                    Apr 7, 2015 at 4:57
                    hyh:qzc.xcodeproj ylgwhyh$ gem install cocoapods ERROR:  While executing gem ... (Gem::FilePermissionError)     You don't have write permissions for the /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.0.0 directory.
    – ylgwhyh
                    Mar 3, 2016 at 3:21
    

    For me the problem was due to using rbenv and forgetting to set the proper version globally.

    So I had to set it with rbenv global xxx

    In my case I installed 2.0.0-p247 so I had to issue the command:

    rbenv global 2.0.0-p247
    rbenv rehash
    

    Then all was working fine.

    For those of you already using rbenv and started receiving a Permission error when installing gems after upgrading OSX to a newer version: You should start by setting the rbenv version rbenv global 2.1.1 for example and then follow with rbenv rehash. Now re-running your gem install command. – njappboy Nov 12, 2014 at 1:00 Worth noting that it's system ruby that would have been lacking permissions and rbenv would have been using system ruby if no global ruby was set. This be verified with rbenv versions. – Dennis Apr 12, 2018 at 9:57

    You need to correct your paths.

    To determine if this fix will work, run the following:

    which gem
    

    This should output a directory you do not have permissions to:

    /usr/bin/gem
    

    To fix this perform the following steps:

  • Determine the path you need to copy to your profile:

    rbenv init -
    

    The first line of the output is the line you need to copy over to your profile:

    export PATH="/Users/justin/.rbenv/shims:${PATH}" #path that needs to be copied
    source "/usr/local/Cellar/rbenv/0.4.0/libexec/../completions/rbenv.zsh"
    rbenv rehash 2>/dev/null
    rbenv() {
        typeset command
        command="$1"
        if [ "$#" -gt 0 ]; then
            shift
        case "$command" in
            rehash|shell)
                eval `rbenv "sh-$command" "$@"`;;
                command rbenv "$command" "$@";;
    
  • Copy the path to your profile and save it.

  • Reload your profile (source ~/.zshenv for me).

  • Run rbenv rehash.

    Now when you run which gem you should get a local path that you have permissions to:

    /Users/justin/.rbenv/shims/gem
                    That was the problem in my situation. You should be able to include eval "$(rbenv init -)" in your ~/.bash_profile to make all the necessary changes.
    – nyi
                    Feb 7, 2016 at 11:38
                    best answer. my profile was named .bash_profile and you  can open the file like this: touch ~/.bash_profile; open ~/.bash_profile and add the line you mentioned at point 1.
    – CarmenA
                    Feb 11, 2017 at 22:09
    

    This worked for me. Plus, if you installed gems as root before, it fixes that problem by changing ownership back to you (better security-wise).

    sudo chown -R `whoami` /Library/Ruby/Gems
                    Big NO! never change the permission on /Library folder, the system may break in future updates. (sorry for late reply)
    – Raptor
                    Apr 29, 2019 at 3:14
                    @Raptor I'm modifying permissions on a subfolder, not "/Library".  In my case, I mistakenly installed the gems as root, so I wanted to undo that.  There are no negative consequences that I can think of theoretically nor have there been any that I've observed.  I'm curious - why do you think this is a bad idea?
    – thebiggestlebowski
                    May 9, 2019 at 4:26
                    The gem is installed by default to this location.  It was unusable because it was mistakenly installed as root (sudo) instead of my normal user.  The outcome of what I did was the same as if I'd installed as $USER in the first place.  I don't see the harm.  Most of the other answers here suggest the same outcome/solution, but different ways to achieve it.  I still don't see the problem.  Are you saying gems should not be installed under /Library?
    – thebiggestlebowski
                    May 10, 2019 at 0:49
    

    Try nathanwhy's answer before using my original answer below. His recommendation of --user-install should accomplish the same purpose without having to muck with your .bash_profile or determine your Ruby version.

    If you are not concerned about a specific ruby version, you can skip the heavy-lift Ruby environment manager options, and just add these lines to ~/.bash_profile:

    export GEM_HOME="$HOME/.gem/ruby/2.0.0"
    export GEM_PATH="$HOME/.gem/ruby/2.0.0"
    

    The path is stolen from the original output of gem env:

    RubyGems Environment:
      - RUBYGEMS VERSION: 2.0.14
      - RUBY VERSION: 2.0.0
      - INSTALLATION DIRECTORY: /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.0.0
      - RUBY EXECUTABLE: /System/Library/.../2.0/usr/bin/ruby
      - EXECUTABLE DIRECTORY: /usr/bin
      - RUBYGEMS PLATFORMS:
        - ruby
        - universal-darwin-14
      - GEM PATHS:
         - /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.0.0
         - /Users/mylogin/.gem/ruby/2.0.0  #  <---- This line, right here. -----
         - /System/Library/.../usr/lib/ruby/gems/2.0.0
    

    No sudoing is required, and you can use the already-installed Ruby, courtesy of Apple.

    +1: This worked great for me. Not everybody is the system administrator of the machine they are using, and hence not everybody has access to 'sudo', 'chown', or similar tools. In a similar vein, people should be aware of "gem install --user-install" which installs the gem to a directory in the user's home directory rather than to the one shared by all users. – Some Guy Mar 9, 2016 at 1:30

    There are two routes: Use either rbenv or RVM. There are recipes for both below. Before you do, you probably want to turn off the installation of local documents for gems.

    echo "gem: --no-ri --no-rdoc" >> ~/.gemrc
    

    Then:

    install rbenv

    install ruby-build

    rbenv install 2.1.2 (or whatever version you prefer)
    rbenv global 2.1.2
    gem update --system
    

    This installs an up-to-date version of the gem system in your local directories. That means you don't interfere with the system configuration. If you're asking this question, you shouldn't be messing with system security, and you'll spend longer understanding what issues you may run into, than just having an easy way to avoid the problem you started with. Learn InfoSec later, when you know more about the operating system and programming.

    For an alternative use 'RVM' instead: To install rvm run:

    rvm install 2.1.2
    rvm use 2.1.2
    gem update --system
    

    This has the same result, you end up with a local Ruby and Gem system that doesn't interfere with the system versions. There is no need for Homebrew, or over-riding system libs, etc.

    export RBENV_ROOT="$(brew --prefix rbenv)"
    export GEM_HOME="$(brew --prefix)/opt/gems"
    export GEM_PATH="$(brew --prefix)/opt/gems"
    
  • And finally add this to your ~/.gemrc:

    gem: -n/usr/local/bin
    
  • gem update --system

  • I used brew install rebenv ruby-build, then there is a system after my directory? Any idea what caused this, and how to get rid of that system? – 7537247 Jan 8, 2016 at 4:30

    learn about chown

    I don't know if you like the command line, but this will make working on any project with any tool that installs packages to your system a breeze.

    chown as far as I can tell, stands for change ownership.

    The reason I came looking for this answer is because gem install threw this error at me today:

    ERROR:  While executing gem ... (Gem::FilePermissionError)
        You don't have write permissions into the /var/lib/gems/1.9.1 directory.
    

    This is a perfect opportunity to use chown. You see Ruby has given us the directory it needs access to, and it seems like it's a directory it will use pretty often.

    In this case, there are only three things one needs to know to solve the problem, but chown is much more powerful, and grants you a lot more flexibility than I will demonstrate now. Please refer to the source at the bottom for more information.

    The Two Things

  • Username
  • Directory
  • If you're in a shell finding the username is easy. Just look at the prompt. Mine looks like:

    breadly@breadly-desktop:~\Desktop
    

    The current user is just the name before the @. We know the directory from the error messages, but you have two choices. You can either limit your permission to the current version by using ../gems/1.9.1, or give yourself write permission for gems of all version by using ../gems.

    The command to actually change ownership would look like this.

    chown -R $(whoami) /absolute/path/to/directory
    

    The -R is known as a flag and the -R flag typically tells a command to do something recursively, or in other words perform the command on every thing that is contained in the directory, and all the things contained in the directories contained within, and so on till there isn't anything else.

    Also, if you want to find out what group your user belongs in you can refer to this. stackoverflow.com/questions/350141/… – Breedly Dec 24, 2013 at 20:57 However, you might want to be careful about changing ownerships if it has to install to the /usr/local/bin directory. – Breedly Dec 24, 2013 at 21:02 Changing ownership of anything in the /usr, /Library or /var paths, among others, is a bad idea. The system can halt due to files and drivers being no longer accessible, and future updates can break if the installer senses that the paths are no longer owned by root:wheel. Fixing the damage can be really hard and is usually best done by reinstalling the OS. Naive/inexperienced users don't know enough about the OS to understand what files/directories could possibly be safe and should be cautioned to not try this at home. – the Tin Man Jul 31, 2014 at 18:41

    I had formatted my Mac and many suggested solutions did not work for me. What worked for me are these commands in the correct order:

  • Install Homebrew:

    /usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"
    
  • Install Ruby:

    brew install ruby
    
  • Install Compass:

    sudo gem install compass
                    You should never need to use sudo to install something with gem. Using sudo installs it into the Ruby owned by the system, not into one you own. Using a sandboxed Ruby is much easier to manage and use when programming because you can create multiple disparate instances and try different things then destroy them when you're done.
    – the Tin Man
                    Apr 8, 2019 at 18:49
    

    Install rbenv by brew install rbenv;

    Then put eval "$(rbenv init -)" at the end of ~/.bash_profile (or ~/.zshrc of MacOS);

    Open a new terminal and run gem install *** will work!

    Did not work for me ❯ brew install rbenv -q Warning: rbenv 1.1.1 is already installed and up-to-date To reinstall 1.1.1, run `brew reinstall rbenv` ~/.gem/ruby/2.3.0/gems/colorls-1.1.1 ❯ eval "$(rbenv init -)" ~/.gem/ruby/2.3.0/gems/colorls-1.1.1 ❯ gem update Updating installed gems Updating CFPropertyList ERROR: While executing gem ... (Gem::FilePermissionError) You don't have write permissions for the /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.3.0 directory. – Max Coplan Dec 10, 2018 at 23:07 Downvoting because, as has been noted in other comments, installing gems as root is a dangerous practice. The installer could do literally anything to your system. – Some Guy Mar 9, 2016 at 1:34 @SomeGuy: "The installer could do literally anything"... it's more likely the user themselves could fat-finger the command and mangle the system. I can't think of a time an installer messed up my system, but I can clearly remember times I did. sudo is a command that newbies love because it makes it possible to do the wrong thing so easily, and it takes years to learn to be appropriately paranoid when using it. – the Tin Man Apr 8, 2019 at 18:52 The best answer!!!! After run these 2 command, please restart the Terminal and, that's all!!! Thanks a lot!!! – nosequeweaponer Dec 6, 2019 at 14:46 This is the better solution : update > chown. Thanks! . I also had to run brew install ruby – Jose Llausas Jul 4, 2017 at 15:55

    Steps to resolve issue:

    Step 1: check and install cocoapods with home brew

    brew install cocoapods
    

    Step 2: This is most important, to resolve all the issues, installing rvm package with stable ruby version, without this you will be accessing ruby version inside System folder where you don't have permission.

    \curl -sSL https://get.rvm.io | bash -s stable --ruby
    

    Step 3: Add rvm command path to .zshrc file to access it globally

    export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm"
    

    Step 4: check if rvm is running properly inside command line globally

    rvm --version 
    

    Step 5: Now you can install cocoapods package inside user bin as this will access ruby file from rvm folder, without any permission needed.

    sudo gem install -n /usr/local/bin cocoapods
    

    Step 6: Now you can check pod also by using below command

    pod install
                    This is the only answer that allowed me to install cocoapods on MacOS 13 Ventura. Thank you.
    – Matt
                    May 10 at 10:59
    

    A 2021 solution (using rvm):

    If you type which ruby in terminal, and it shows /usr/bin/ruby, you can try this solution.

  • install rvm

    curl -L https://get.rvm.io | bash -s stable
    
  • install ruby using rvm

    rvm install "ruby-3.0.0"
    
  • use your installed version of ruby

    rvm use ruby-3.0.0
    
  • type which ruby again, which will show /Users/mac_user_name/.rvm/rubies/ruby-3.0.0/bin/ruby.

    It's a new path to use ruby.

  • Uninstall all your old ruby versions (let's say you have 2.00 and 2.3.0):

    $ rvm uninstall 2.0.0

    $ rvm uninstall 2.3.0

  • Install brand new ruby version:

    $ brew install ruby

  • Set a default alias to your version:

    $ rvm alias create default ruby

  • Reboot your system because this is the safest way your computer loads the new ruby version, recently installed.

  • AFTER you done above procedure, you can successfully run any gem command.

    ==> rbenv install 1.9.3-p551 Downloading ruby-1.9.3-p551.tar.bz2... -> https://cache.ruby-lang.org/pub/ruby/1.9/ruby-1.9.3-p551.tar.bz2 Installing ruby-1.9.3-p551... Installed ruby-1.9.3-p551 to /Users/username/.rbenv/versions/1.9.3-p551 ==> which ruby /Users/username/.rbenv/shims/ruby ==> which gem /Users/username/.rbenv/shims/gem ==> gem install compass ERROR: While executing gem ... (Gem::FilePermissionError) You don't have write permissions for the /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.0.0 directory. ==> ruby -v ruby 2.0.0p648 (2015-12-16 revision 53162) [universal.x86_64-darwin15] ==> rbenv global 1.9.3-p551 ==> ruby -v ruby 2.0.0p648 (2015-12-16 revision 53162) [universal.x86_64-darwin15] ==> rbenv global 1.9.3-p551 ==> rbenv rehash ==> ruby -v ruby 1.9.3p551 (2014-11-13 revision 48407) [x86_64-darwin15.4.0] ==> gem install compass Fetching: sass-3.4.22.gem (100%) Fetching: multi_json-1.11.3.gem (100%) Fetching: compass-core-1.0.3.gem (100%) Fetching: compass-import-once-1.0.5.gem (100%) Fetching: chunky_png-1.3.5.gem (100%) Fetching: rb-fsevent-0.9.7.gem (100%) Fetching: ffi-1.9.10.gem (100%) Building native extensions. This could take a while... Fetching: rb-inotify-0.9.7.gem (100%) Fetching: compass-1.0.3.gem (100%) Compass is charityware. If you love it, please donate on our behalf at http://umdf.org/compass Thanks! Successfully installed sass-3.4.22 Successfully installed multi_json-1.11.3 Successfully installed compass-core-1.0.3 Successfully installed compass-import-once-1.0.5 Successfully installed chunky_png-1.3.5 Successfully installed rb-fsevent-0.9.7 Successfully installed ffi-1.9.10 Successfully installed rb-inotify-0.9.7 Successfully installed compass-1.0.3 9 gems installed Installing ri documentation for sass-3.4.22... Installing ri documentation for multi_json-1.11.3... Installing ri documentation for compass-core-1.0.3... Installing ri documentation for compass-import-once-1.0.5... Installing ri documentation for chunky_png-1.3.5... Installing ri documentation for rb-fsevent-0.9.7... Installing ri documentation for ffi-1.9.10... Installing ri documentation for rb-inotify-0.9.7... Installing ri documentation for compass-1.0.3... Installing RDoc documentation for sass-3.4.22... Installing RDoc documentation for multi_json-1.11.3... Installing RDoc documentation for compass-core-1.0.3... Installing RDoc documentation for compass-import-once-1.0.5... Installing RDoc documentation for chunky_png-1.3.5... Installing RDoc documentation for rb-fsevent-0.9.7... Installing RDoc documentation for ffi-1.9.10... Installing RDoc documentation for rb-inotify-0.9.7... Installing RDoc documentation for compass-1.0.3... sooo close. yet "ERROR: While executing gem ... (Gem::FilePermissionError) You don't have write permissions for the /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.0.0 directory." – JGallardo Aug 8, 2016 at 0:45

    You can change GEM_HOME. You have also under your home directory a gem folder to check it use

    $ gem env
    

    result is as follows. Unrelated parts are omitted.

    - GEM PATHS: - /Users/xxx/.gem/ruby/2.6.0 - /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.6.0 - /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6/usr/lib/ruby/gems/2.6.0

    You can use your /Users/xxx/.gem/ruby/2.6.0 folder.

    vim ~/.bash_profile
    

    add the following line

    export GEM_HOME=~/.gem/ruby/2.6.0/
    

    After that you can use

    source ~/.bash_profile 
    

    The issue for me was that I switched from zshell to bash earlier and was not logged in:

    /bin/bash --login
    

    Although I had rvm installed, it was not able to switch to my newly rvm-installed ruby version and was still trying to use the default Mac-installed ruby binary. Hence my confusion (user error!!!) and the continued permissions issues...

    ERROR: While executing gem ... (Gem::FilePermissionError) You don't have write permissions for the /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.6.0

    [2022 Solution] The detailed reason for the issues has been added here

    Summary of the issue -> The issue was related to ruby access, M1 MAC comes with its own ruby. We don't have permission to use that for our purpose. Instead, we install a separate instance of ruby and use it for our purpose.

    The below steps helped me resolve the problem, hope this might help some

    We don't need to install ruby with rvn or chruby. My solution uses homebrew to install ruby.

  • Open the terminal

  • Install ruby using homebrew

    [for fresh install] brew install ruby

    [for reinstalling] brew reinstall ruby

  • Check the path of ruby using the below command

    which ruby

  • It should be installed in the below path

    /usr/bin/ruby

  • To change the ruby path to the user path

    To check which shell is used by your system

    echo $0
    

    For zshrc

    echo 'export PATH="/usr/local/opt/ruby/bin:$PATH"' >>~/.zshrc

    For bash

    echo 'export PATH="/usr/local/opt/ruby/bin:$PATH"' >>~/~/.bashrc

  • Quit and relaunch the terminal

  • After changing the path with step 5

  • Check for the path of the ruby again (execute step 3 - please make sure the path displays as given below)

    /usr/local/opt/ruby/bin/ruby

    [if you don't quit and launch the terminal, step 4 path will be shown]

  • This step may not be applicable to everyone can skip step 10 & 11, if you have the correct Cocoapods version installed
  • Check the version of the pod installed

    pod --version

  • Uninstall the specific version of Cocoapods using the below command
  • In case the version installed is 1.11.0

    gem uninstall cocoapods -v 1.11.0

  • Install the Cocoapods of the specific version

    gem install cocoapods -v 1.11.0

  • Change the path to the Project directory cd {path of the project directory}

  • Install the bundler in the project directory

    bundle install

  • Execute pod install
  • pod install

    Please take the time to format your answer for readability. The effort you put into research and explaining pays off. – the Tin Man Dec 7, 2015 at 17:43 This has been covered in the other answers. Please read the other answers before creating one to ensure yours offers something new. – the Tin Man Dec 7, 2015 at 17:41 No. That folder is owned by the system for a good reason, the system uses it for its own purposes. It's ok to run a script that points to it, but create and use a sandboxed Ruby if you want to mess with it. – the Tin Man Apr 8, 2019 at 18:54
  •