Install Ruby on macOS

Homebrew setup

macOS ships with a system Ruby that is meant for the system itself, so developers usually install a separate Ruby with Homebrew.

Homebrew is a popular package manager for macOS, mentioned here as plain text. If it is already on your machine, update it first so the Ruby formula is fresh.

Install Ruby with brew

One brew command installs a current Ruby beside the system one:

Install Ruby

brew install ruby

Wait until the install finishes and read the final hints printed by brew. Those hints explain how your shell finds the new Ruby.

Check ruby -v and which ruby

Open a fresh terminal and confirm both the version and the location of the Ruby that runs by default:

Show the installed Ruby version

ruby -v

ruby 3.3.0 (2023-12-25 revision 7b0c32346b) [arm64-darwin22]

Show which Ruby runs by default

which ruby

ruby found through Homebrew

If the location still points to the system Ruby, continue to the PATH section below and then open a fresh terminal again.

Adjust the PATH

Brew Ruby is keg-only, which means it stays out of the way until you ask for it. That design protects the system Ruby from accidental changes.

To use brew Ruby by default, adjust the PATH so the brew folder comes first, following the hints printed after install. Restart the terminal after the change and check ruby -v once more.

Next: Install Ruby on FreeBSD

Article author: Arthur Isaev