Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

Poker Mac Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

Linux to Mac

Installing Ruby on Rails and PostgreSQL on Leopard

- 2008.02.15 - Tip Jar

Popularity: LEMLEMLEMLEMLEM

del.icio.us Bookmark in del.icio.us

Setting up a development environment with Ruby on Rails and the PostgreSQL database on Leopard is straightforward. In an interesting twist, the hard part of setting up Rails and PostgreSQL on OS X 10.5 "Leopard" is easy with Linux, and the easy part is hard with Linux.

Rails, the Easy Part

If you haven't heard, Ruby on Rails is a web development framework created by David Heinemeier Hansson that uses the Model-View-Controller (MVC) design pattern for separating business logic from the presentation details. The MVC approach is very popular in enterprise class systems.

Apple recognized the momentum behind Rails and includes a basic configuration by default. The Ruby language (1.8.6) is installed along with the Rails (1.2.3) framework. In addition to the Ruby language and Rails, OS X Leopard includes a number of useful supporting packages (called Ruby Gems). This saves you the setup time for the basic infrastructure that is required on most Linux distributions.

PostgreSQL, the Hard Part

In order to get the PostgreSQL database up and running on Leopard, use MacPorts to install it. To use MacPorts, you first need to install the X-code tools from the Leopard DVD. It's an optional install, but you need the compiler and supporting libraries to compile and install PostgreSQL. (Most Linux distributions have precompiled PostgreSQL packages ready to install with one command, making this part of the set up easier on Linux.)

Once MacPorts is installed, install PostgreSQL with:

sudo port install postgresql83

It takes quite a while for MacPorts to download and compile PostgreSQL. It took about 90 minutes for me. After it's installed, there are a couple of post install commands that need to be run so that it starts automatically at boot time. The commands are described in detail once MacPorts finishes the basic installation.

Install the Ruby PostgreSQL Driver

In a production environment, you need the latest native PostgreSQL binary driver. I tried a couple of times to install the binary driver on my iBook, but I kept getting compile errors. I got around the problem by installing the "pure ruby" driver (indicated by the -pr suffix):

sudo gem install postgres-pr

I haven't noticed a performance issue during development, but I would not feel comfortable using it for a production application.

Telling Rails to Use PostgreSQL

The final step after starting a new Rails application is to modify the "config/database.yml" file to tell Rails to use PostgreSQL. Here is an example:

development:
  adapter: postgresql
  database: keithw
  username: keithw

Having Ruby and the basic Rails environment available out of the box is a huge plus for OS X Leopard. LEM

Keith Winston is a recent Mac convert after five years of Linux on the desktop. He also writes for Linux.com and created CommandLineMac to focus on the Unix-y power of the Mac. If you find Keith's articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.

Recent Linux to Mac Columns

Links for the Day

Recent Content on Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2010 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
  Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
  Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.

Custom Search

Amazon.com

Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Video Cards
Email Lists

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ
Abandonware
   Petition
Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
B&H
MacMall
TechRestore
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Low End Mac's Amazon.com store

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link

Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser.