Get Setup for Ruby on Rails from Scratch

Assumptions

I will assume you currently have Mac OSX 10.6, XCode / Developer Kit, Git

System Setup

Install rvm:

mkdir -p ~/.rvm/src/ && cd ~/.rvm/src && rm -rf ./rvm/ && git clone git://github.com/wayneeseguin/rvm.git && cd rvm && ./install

Add the following to your ~/.bashrc:

# Load RVM
[[ -s "$HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm" ]] && source "$HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm"

Load your .bashrc:

source ~/.bashrc
rvm -v

Install ruby 1.9.2:

rvm install 1.9.2
rvm 1.9.2 --default
ruby -v && rvm list && rvm gemdir && gem -v && gem list

Make gem install not compile rdoc or ri, add the following to ~/.gemrc:

gem: --no-ri --no-rdoc

Install rails:

gem install rails
rails -v

Install Growl and growlnotify

Go to the growl homepage and download the dmg. Install both growl, and growlnotify (in the extras directory).

Install Postgres

Install with homebrew:

brew update
brew install postgres

initdb /usr/local/var/postgres

For more detailed instructions on this setup, see: https://willj.net/2011/05/31/setting-up-postgresql-for-ruby-on-rails-development-on-os-x/ http://russbrooks.com/2010/11/25/install-postgresql-9-on-os-x

Create a new rails application

You can now create a new rails app using:

rails new [app_name] -J -T -m https://raw.github.com/mitch101/Rails-3-Starter-Kit/master/template.rb

I'd recommend creating an alias for this. Put this in your ~/.bashrc:

function rails_template() { rails new "$@" -J -T -m https://raw.github.com/mitch101/Rails-3-Starter-Kit/master/template.rb; }

Now you can create a new app using:

rails_template [app_name]

About rails templates

Rails 3 templates lean heavily on thor. You should check out the thor docs. Also check out the documentation on rails specific templating commands.

What next?

That's all you need. Go make an awesome rails app! But, you should take a look at my shared tm_bundles and dotfiles for some tips on how you can pimp your rails experience.