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HowtoInstallOnGentooWithApache (Version #18)

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Rails-0.11.0-r1 and newer

As of rails-0.11.0-r1 on Gentoo, all you need to do is:

echo "dev-ruby/rails mysql fastcgi" >> /etc/portage/package.use
emerge -av rails
(type in 'y' if everything looks correct)
rails /path/to/app
</pre>

You could add different databases to your USE: sqlite, postgres etc.
We’ve also added a patch to dispatch.fcgi and a patch to ruby-fastcgi, so as of 0.11.0, using the ebuilds is a good way to get patched easily.

Rails-0.10 and older
Install Ruby and RubyGems
su -
emerge -av ruby rubygems

To test your Ruby install
ruby -v

Install Rails and FastCGI?
emerge -av dev-ruby/rails

Configure Apache
Add:
-D FASTCGI
to APACHE2_OPTS  in /etc/conf.d/apache2
The following line in /etc/apache2/conf/apache2.conf must be uncommented (that is, if you find it commented)

Include conf/vhosts/vhosts.conf

Add the following lines to /etc/apache2/conf/vhosts/vhosts.conf :
Listen 127.0.0.1:8000
<VirtualHost 127.0.0.1:8000>
  ServerName some_name
  DocumentRoot /path/to/your_application/public/
  ErrorLog /path/to/your_application/log/apache.log

  <Directory /path/to/your_application/public>
    Options ExecCGI FollowSymLinks
    AddHandler cgi-script .cgi
    AllowOverride all
    Order allow,deny
    Allow from all
  </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

With apache-2.0.55 and higher, the new location for default virtual host is /etc/apache2/vhosts.d/00_default_vhost.conf
Set up Rails application
cd /www_root/
mkdir rails_app
cd rails_app
rails .

Edit /rails_app/public/.htaccess and change:
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ dispatch.cgi?$1 [QSA,L]
to
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ dispatch.fcgi?$1 [QSA,L]
Note that if you are using FCGID instead of FastCGI, you will also have to change
 AddHandler fastcgi-script .fcgi
to
 AddHandler fcgid-script .fcgi
Browse to _http://127.0.0.1:8000 _ and you should see the Rails welcome screen.
-
What about the FastCgiIpcDir? /tmp/fcgi_ipc/ that is setup on the other distros?  Is that still necessary in gentoo’s configurations?
Personally, I didn’t have to set up that directory (on the file-system, or in the apache module config).
-
I haven’t found a way to post bugs I’ve found in Rails, but I’ve encountered the same problem on both x86 and ppc Gentoo.  In both cases, I emerged rubygems 0.8.10 and then ran gem update to get the latest rubygems.  From there, I ran gem install rails, and got rails 0.13.1.  The problem is, when I try to run the rails command (as a user) I get the following error:

/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-1.1.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:186:in `const_missing’: uninitialized constant URI (NameError)
This error does not occur when I run rails as root, and I don’t need root to run other gems I have installed (except instiki, which has the same problem, since it uses rails).
ps .There is a problem with fastcgi and zombies. Some people recommend fcgid instead:

http://paul.querna.org/journal/articles/2006/01/01/using-mod_fcgid-for-ruby-on-rails-applications

or lighthttp.

Rails-0.11.0-r1 and newer

As of rails-0.11.0-r1 on Gentoo, all you need to do is:

echo "dev-ruby/rails mysql fastcgi" >> /etc/portage/package.use
emerge -av rails
(type in 'y' if everything looks correct)
rails /path/to/app
</pre>

You could add different databases to your USE: sqlite, postgres etc.
We’ve also added a patch to dispatch.fcgi and a patch to ruby-fastcgi, so as of 0.11.0, using the ebuilds is a good way to get patched easily.

Rails-0.10 and older
Install Ruby and RubyGems
su -
emerge -av ruby rubygems

To test your Ruby install
ruby -v

Install Rails and FastCGI?
emerge -av dev-ruby/rails

Configure Apache
Add:
-D FASTCGI
to APACHE2_OPTS  in /etc/conf.d/apache2
The following line in /etc/apache2/conf/apache2.conf must be uncommented (that is, if you find it commented)

Include conf/vhosts/vhosts.conf

Add the following lines to /etc/apache2/conf/vhosts/vhosts.conf :
Listen 127.0.0.1:8000
<VirtualHost 127.0.0.1:8000>
  ServerName some_name
  DocumentRoot /path/to/your_application/public/
  ErrorLog /path/to/your_application/log/apache.log

  <Directory /path/to/your_application/public>
    Options ExecCGI FollowSymLinks
    AddHandler cgi-script .cgi
    AllowOverride all
    Order allow,deny
    Allow from all
  </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

With apache-2.0.55 and higher, the new location for default virtual host is /etc/apache2/vhosts.d/00_default_vhost.conf
Set up Rails application
cd /www_root/
mkdir rails_app
cd rails_app
rails .

Edit /rails_app/public/.htaccess and change:
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ dispatch.cgi?$1 [QSA,L]
to
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ dispatch.fcgi?$1 [QSA,L]
Note that if you are using FCGID instead of FastCGI, you will also have to change
 AddHandler fastcgi-script .fcgi
to
 AddHandler fcgid-script .fcgi
Browse to _http://127.0.0.1:8000 _ and you should see the Rails welcome screen.
-
What about the FastCgiIpcDir? /tmp/fcgi_ipc/ that is setup on the other distros?  Is that still necessary in gentoo’s configurations?
Personally, I didn’t have to set up that directory (on the file-system, or in the apache module config).
-
I haven’t found a way to post bugs I’ve found in Rails, but I’ve encountered the same problem on both x86 and ppc Gentoo.  In both cases, I emerged rubygems 0.8.10 and then ran gem update to get the latest rubygems.  From there, I ran gem install rails, and got rails 0.13.1.  The problem is, when I try to run the rails command (as a user) I get the following error:

/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-1.1.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:186:in `const_missing’: uninitialized constant URI (NameError)
This error does not occur when I run rails as root, and I don’t need root to run other gems I have installed (except instiki, which has the same problem, since it uses rails).
ps .There is a problem with fastcgi and zombies. Some people recommend fcgid instead:

http://paul.querna.org/journal/articles/2006/01/01/using-mod_fcgid-for-ruby-on-rails-applications

or lighthttp.

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