Can't install Jekyll on Mac - trying to set up Github Blog - github

Question

I sucessfully installed Ruby, version 1.8.7 and have been trying to install Jekyll in the Terminal using sudo gem install jekyll. Here's the error I get:
ERROR: While executing gem ... (Gem::FilePermissionError)
You don't have write permissions into the /Library/Ruby/Gems/1.8 directory. unknown68a86d3f981e:~ srb_1974$ sudo gem install jekyll
Building native extensions. This could take a while... ERROR: Error
installing jekyll: ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension.
/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/bin/ruby
extconf.rb mkmf.rb can't find header files for ruby at
/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/ruby.h
Gem files will remain installed in
/Library/Ruby/Gems/1.8/gems/fast-stemmer-1.0.1 for inspection. Results
logged to
/Library/Ruby/Gems/1.8/gems/fast-stemmer-1.0.1/ext/gem_make.out
I've read a bunch of topics, but can't get anything to work. Many topics say I have to have XCode first, but it won't even download, much less install. I read that in Lion you have to set up another administrator and install it under that profile, so I did that, but the install package doesn't exist. It won't even download. I think this may be because I'm not a registered Apple Developer?
Another recommendation was that I install Ruby RVM - this also won't install. Here's the command I used: bash < <( curl https://rvm.beginrescueend.com/releases/rvm-install-head )
And here's the error I get:
% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time
Current
Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --:--:-- --:--:--
--:--:-- 0 curl: (60) SSL certificate problem, verify that the CA cert is OK. Details: error:14090086:SSL
routines:SSL3_GET_SERVER_CERTIFICATE:certificate verify failed More
details here: http://curl.haxx.se/docs/sslcerts.html
curl performs SSL certificate verification by default, using a
"bundle" of Certificate Authority (CA) public keys (CA certs). If the
default bundle file isn't adequate, you can specify an alternate file
using the --cacert option. If this HTTPS server uses a certificate
signed by a CA represented in the bundle, the certificate
verification probably failed due to a problem with the certificate
(it might be expired, or the name might not match the domain name in
the URL). If you'd like to turn off curl's verification of the
certificate, use the -k (or --insecure) option. unknown68a86d3f981e:~
srb_1974$
I only care about Ruby RVM and XCode to the extent that I need them to install Jekyll. I'm just trying to get my Github blog going and I can't seem to do it. I've read and read and read documentation and there's something I'm missing. I'm pretty sure it's knowledge everyone's assuming I have - I don't. I'm a beginner programmer. Any help would be much appreciated.

Answer 1

Ok, here's how I got it to work. It was kind of a random experimentation process until something worked.
I installed XCode and Ruby RVM per others' suggestions and the latter led to my resolution. One of the suggestions on this page said to run "rvm requirements" and read the text. It basically tells you what you need to run & upgrade rubies. This documentation was quite helpful. It explained that what I needed to install Jekyll wasn't really XCode - it was GCC. Evidently, older versions of XCode came with GCC, but newer versions do not, which is why installing XCode didn't solve my problem. It also directed me to where I could download & install GCC, warning me that installing GCC over a newer version of XCode is known to cause problems. So, I uninstalled XCode & headed over here to install GCC.
It was that simple - I installed GCC and Jekyll installed in seconds.

Answer 2

ERROR: Error installing jekyll: ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension.
So the error is "Failed to build gem native extension." when you run sudo gem install jekyll command. You'll find a tip in Jekyll Wiki's Install section:
If you encounter errors like Failed to build gem native extension on Windows you may ...
On OSX, you may need to update RubyGems:
$ sudo gem update --system
So, try to update your RubyGems and run sudo gem install jekyll after that. And I think you don't need to install ruby rvm if you're not a ruby developer.
Btw, I think Ruby v1.9.1 is a recommended version.
And for your Xcode related question, you can download it from App Store though you're not a registered Apple developer. It's free.
Xcode is useful when you need to build some libs with gcc (gcc will be installed together after you've installed the Xcode). But I've no idea whether you'll need it when you install the jekyll.

Answer 3

I tried all the solutions above and did not work. I posted my answer here originally:
RVM requirements error
but for brevity, this is what I posted:
It seems that on OSX 10.9 and XCode5 moved some libs around on us. So I had to install XCode5-DP6 (Dev Preview 6), opened up DP6 and in the settings, you have to tell the command line tools to use the new DP6 build and not the Standard XCode from the marketplace.
First, I had to install homebrew. Nothing liked to play with macports. I am on my first mac as of only a month ago, so macports was just what solved apache for me at the time. I then had to run 'brew install autoconf'
Once I did that I then ran rvm requirements, everything installed without issue. then sudo gem install jekyll from there and it all works like a charm now.
I'm sure once Mavericks is actually released this will get ironed out. We are using early releases after all...

Answer 4

Same issue encountered! After reading this article and random experimentation like following,
xcode install
curl -sSL https://get.rvm.io | bash
sudo gem install jekyll
fixed the issue and could successfully install jekyll