How To Install Ruby Version With Rbenv

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If you are a Ruby developer, you already know the importance of having multiple Ruby versions running on your machine.
Different projects may require different Ruby versions, and switching between them can be a pain if not done correctly.
That’s where rbenv comes into play.

In this blog post, we will walk you through the process of installing Ruby versions using rbenv on your system.
Let’s get started!

What is rbenv?

rbenv is a lightweight Ruby version management tool that lets you quickly switch between different Ruby versions.
It provides a simple and seamless way to manage multiple Ruby environments on your system without causing conflicts or
interfering with your system Ruby.

Installing rbenv

First, you need to install rbenv on your system. You can do this using Homebrew on macOS, Git on Linux or
manually, following the steps below:

macOS

Using Homebrew, run the following command in your terminal:

brew install rbenv

Linux

Using Git, run the following commands:

    git clone https://github.com/rbenv/rbenv.git ~/.rbenv
    cd ~/.rbenv && src/configure && make -C src
    echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.rbenv/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
    echo 'eval "$(rbenv init -)"' >> ~/.bashrc
    source ~/.bashrc

Manually

Follow the instructions on the official rbenv GitHub page.

Installing ruby-build plugin

Next, you need to install the ruby-build plugin, which provides the rbenv install command.
You can install the plugin using Homebrew on macOS or Git on Linux:

macOS

Using Homebrew, run the following command:

brew install ruby-build

Linux

Using Git, run the following command:

git clone https://github.com/rbenv/ruby-build.git ~/.rbenv/plugins/ruby-build

Installing Ruby versions with rbenv

Now that you have rbenv and ruby-build installed, you can start installing Ruby versions.
To see a list of available Ruby versions, run the following command in your terminal:

rbenv install -l

To install a specific Ruby version, run the following command (replace 2.7.1 with the version you want):

rbenv install 2.7.1

Switching Ruby versions

After the installation is completed, you can switch to the newly installed Ruby version using the following command (replace 2.7.1 with the version you want):

rbenv global 2.7.1

To verify that you are using the correct Ruby version, run:

ruby -v

Conclusion

Now you know how to install Ruby versions with rbenv and switch between them. This tool makes it easy to manage
multiple Ruby environments, allowing you to work on different projects with different Ruby version requirements seamlessly.
Happy coding!