Error when installing Ruby on Rails: "Failed to build gem native extension"

Question

I'm running Crunchbang 11 (Debian-based).

I'm trying to install Ruby on Rails, like this:

gem install rails --version 4.0.0

I get the error "Failed to build gem native extension".

My ruby is version 2.0.0p247, my RubyGems is 2.0.0.

What's the issue here?

---

This is the full error output:

Building native extensions.  This could take a while...
ERROR:  Error installing rails:
    ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension.

    /home/erlkoenig/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.0.0-p247/bin/ruby extconf.rb
creating Makefile

make
compiling atomic_reference.c
linking shared-object atomic_reference.so

make install
/usr/bin/install -c -m 0755 atomic_reference.so /home/erlkoenig/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247/gems/atomic-1.1.10/lib/home/erlkoenig/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.0.0-p247/lib/ruby/site_ruby/2.0.0/x86_64-linux
/usr/bin/install: cannot create regular file `/home/erlkoenig/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247/gems/atomic-1.1.10/lib/home/erlkoenig/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.0.0-p247/lib/ruby/site_ruby/2.0.0/x86_64-linux': No such file or directory
make: *** [install-so] Error 1


Gem files will remain installed in /home/erlkoenig/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247/gems/atomic-1.1.10 for inspection.
Results logged to /home/erlkoenig/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247/gems/atomic-1.1.10/ext/gem_make.out

My env:

ORBIT_SOCKETDIR=/tmp/orbit-erlkoenig
SSH_AGENT_PID=2695
rvm_bin_path=/home/erlkoenig/.rvm/bin
GEM_HOME=/home/erlkoenig/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247
SHELL=/bin/bash
TERM=xterm-256color
XDG_SESSION_COOKIE=9e0343c07c890bd2d60ee6a750f36c6c-1373892339.852749-193038580
IRBRC=/home/erlkoenig/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.0.0-p247/.irbrc
WINDOWID=39845892
GNOME_KEYRING_CONTROL=/home/erlkoenig/.cache/keyring-g6PRS5
MY_RUBY_HOME=/home/erlkoenig/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.0.0-p247
USER=erlkoenig
LS_COLORS=rs=0:di=01;34:ln=01;36:mh=00:pi=40;33:so=01;35:do=01;35:bd=40;33;01:cd=40;33;01:or=40;31;01:su=37;41:sg=30;43:ca=30;41:tw=30;42:ow=34;42:st=37;44:ex=01;32:*.tar=01;31:*.tgz=01;31:*.arj=01;31:*.taz=01;31:*.lzh=01;31:*.lzma=01;31:*.tlz=01;31:*.txz=01;31:*.zip=01;31:*.z=01;31:*.Z=01;31:*.dz=01;31:*.gz=01;31:*.lz=01;31:*.xz=01;31:*.bz2=01;31:*.bz=01;31:*.tbz=01;31:*.tbz2=01;31:*.tz=01;31:*.deb=01;31:*.rpm=01;31:*.jar=01;31:*.war=01;31:*.ear=01;31:*.sar=01;31:*.rar=01;31:*.ace=01;31:*.zoo=01;31:*.cpio=01;31:*.7z=01;31:*.rz=01;31:*.jpg=01;35:*.jpeg=01;35:*.gif=01;35:*.bmp=01;35:*.pbm=01;35:*.pgm=01;35:*.ppm=01;35:*.tga=01;35:*.xbm=01;35:*.xpm=01;35:*.tif=01;35:*.tiff=01;35:*.png=01;35:*.svg=01;35:*.svgz=01;35:*.mng=01;35:*.pcx=01;35:*.mov=01;35:*.mpg=01;35:*.mpeg=01;35:*.m2v=01;35:*.mkv=01;35:*.webm=01;35:*.ogm=01;35:*.mp4=01;35:*.m4v=01;35:*.mp4v=01;35:*.vob=01;35:*.qt=01;35:*.nuv=01;35:*.wmv=01;35:*.asf=01;35:*.rm=01;35:*.rmvb=01;35:*.flc=01;35:*.avi=01;35:*.fli=01;35:*.flv=01;35:*.gl=01;35:*.dl=01;35:*.xcf=01;35:*.xwd=01;35:*.yuv=01;35:*.cgm=01;35:*.emf=01;35:*.axv=01;35:*.anx=01;35:*.ogv=01;35:*.ogx=01;35:*.aac=00;36:*.au=00;36:*.flac=00;36:*.mid=00;36:*.midi=00;36:*.mka=00;36:*.mp3=00;36:*.mpc=00;36:*.ogg=00;36:*.ra=00;36:*.wav=00;36:*.axa=00;36:*.oga=00;36:*.spx=00;36:*.xspf=00;36:
rvm_path=/home/erlkoenig/.rvm
SSH_AUTH_SOCK=/tmp/ssh-XVmUxMD7LHwi/agent.2651
rvm_prefix=/home/erlkoenig
PATH=/home/erlkoenig/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247/bin:/home/erlkoenig/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@global/bin:/home/erlkoenig/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.0.0-p247/bin:/home/erlkoenig/.rvm/bin:/home/erlkoenig/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/local/games:/usr/games:/home/erlkoenig/.rvm/bin:/home/erlkoenig/.scripts:/home/erlkoenig/.scripts/netlogo-5.0.3:/opt/node/bin
MAIL=/var/mail/erlkoenig
PWD=/home/erlkoenig
EDITOR=vim
GNOME_KEYRING_PID=2575
LANG=en_US.UTF-8
rvm_env_string=ruby-2.0.0-p247
rvm_version=1.21.9 (stable)
SHLVL=1
HOME=/home/erlkoenig
rvm_ruby_string=ruby-2.0.0-p247
LOGNAME=erlkoenig
GEM_PATH=/home/erlkoenig/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247:/home/erlkoenig/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@global
DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=unix:abstract=/tmp/dbus-9eOdnYZelY,guid=a5db4ca68e107a48a04c8b8e51e3eef4
DISPLAY=:0.0
RUBY_VERSION=ruby-2.0.0-p247
XAUTHORITY=/home/erlkoenig/.Xauthority
COLORTERM=gnome-terminal
_=/usr/bin/env

Answer 1

Rails 4.0 needs RubyGem version 2.0.3, Just update your system by using following command

gem update --system 2.0.3

Answer 2

Run the following command:

sudo apt-get install ruby-dev zlib1g-dev liblzma-dev

Then,

sudo gem install rails

Answer 3

Just a follow up ... on different solution...

it may be that you are on a mac and rails cannot find the right compiler for c headers.

just install xcode from apps store / homebrew or go to terminal ...

$ xcode-select --install

complete the installation and agree on the licensing etc, then ...

$ sudo gem install rails