kiex - Elixir version manager

Kiex allows you to easily build and switch between different Elixir versions.

It supports setting the default (global) Elixir version as well as per shell/project versions.

Everything is self-contained under ~/.kiex.

Usage is based lightly on RVM, kerl, and rbenv.

NOTE: Some Erlang source builds are broken. See below.

Install

Prerequisites: bash, curl, erlang, git, make, openssl

Run the following to get up and running:

\curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/taylor/kiex/master/install | bash -s

which will install in $HOME/.kiex.

Usage

List installed versions

kiex list

List known releases

kiex list known (or kiex list releases)

List current branches

kiex list branches

Install a known release or branch.

kiex install 0.12.5

Use specific elixir version

kiex use 0.12.5 -- Sets the elixir version for current shell.

Create an alias for the specified elixir version

kiex alias 0.12.5 0.12

Use sub-shell with specific elixir version

kiex shell 0.12.5 -- Starts sub-shell with given elixir version. Exiting shell goes to default.

Set default elixir version

kiex default 0.12.5

Uninstall kiex and elixirs

kiex implode -- This removes all versions of elixir installed by kiex as well as all kiex components

Upgrade kiex

kiex selfupdate -- pull down latest updates for kiex
- Can also re-curl

Sourcing elixir into your path

After installing your preferred version of elixir and setting it as your default you can use kiex scripts to put your default elixir bin into your path. One way to do this is to add the following line into your rc file:

[[ -s "$HOME/.kiex/scripts/kiex" ]] && source "$HOME/.kiex/scripts/kiex"

Design philosophy

KISS
Sane defaults
Self-contained
Single-purpose

Comparison Q&A

How is it like exenv (rbenv)?

Super light and simple
Focus on installing & managing one piece of software: Elixir

How is it not like exenv?

Does not use shims
Includes elixir build component

How is it like Kerl?

Minimal command set
Retrieves, builds, installs and manages different releases

How is it not like Kerl?

Not as flexible on install path
Dynamically gets release list instead of caching
Build and install actions are not separated

How is it like RVM?

Sane defaults
Uses Unix PATH to manage binary to use

How is it not like RVM?

No function over-loading
Does not manage/install extra software and prereqs

Platforms/Shells tested

Operating Systems:

Arch
CentOS
Debian
FreeBSD
OS X/Darwin
Ubuntu

Shells:

bash
csh
tcsh
zsh

Erlang installs:

erlang-solutions
erlang.org
kerl
Debian apt, FreeBSD pkg, OS X brew

Alternatives and References

Alternatives:

exenv + elixir-build
edwb
asdf extendable version manager for multiple languages (eg. ruby, erlang, elixir)

Related tools:

kerl - Easy building and installing of Erlang/OTP instances
kex - Build any tagged release of Erlang/OTP or Elixir from git
heroku-buildpack-elixir - Elixir buildpack for Heroku
- heroku-buildpack-erlang - Erlang/OTP buildpack for Heroku
erln8 - Erlang/OTP version manager (builds from git source)
robisonsantos/evm - Erlang Version Manager (from erlang.org tarballs)

Limitations

Does not build erlang
Does not build Dynamo or any other elixir app
Same build directory used for every build (saving space vs keeping build env around)
No uninstall option for installed elixir versions
No per-directory/project config file.
- You can hack it in by adding kiex use to .rvmrc or friends ;P

Notes

Some erlang builds (including default kerl) are unusuable on current CentOS and Fedora distros as a result of an OpenSSL update. -- 2014/03/31

Various bugs reported:

A update to OTP crypto https://github.com/RoadRunnr/otp/commit/8837c1be2ba8a3c123df3f5a87003daa9aac6539

TODO

Merge install script into kiex script as an install function
Cleanup build output (extra git info etc)
Maybe print source line with use command
Add active command (or similar) to show current elixir
- Already in list command - this would be the single version
- Maybe show source line?
Add sourceline or similar command to show source line to use?
Maybe add dynamo install and setup for MIX_PATH
- how to tie to elixir used? gemset like?
- use dynamo tags?
Look at elixir-build for ideas, collaboration

License

See LICENSE file

fntz/kiex