RubyGems error after updating system

Question

When trying to launch the rails console after updating my ruby setup using 'sudo gem update --system', I then try execute the rails console by issuing rails c

I get this error:

Users/myusername/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p136/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/dependency.rb:247:in `to_specs': Could not find json (~> 1.4) amongst [Ascii85-1.0.1, abstract-1.0.0, actionmailer-3.1.1, actionmailer-3.1.0, actionmailer-3.0.9, actionmailer-3.0.5, actionmailer-3.0.3, actionpack-3.1.1, actionpack-3.1.0, actionpack-3.0.9, actionpack-3.0.5, actionpack-3.0.3, activemodel-3.1.1, activemodel-3.1.0, activemodel-3.0.10, activemodel-3.0.9, activemodel-3.0.5, activemodel-3.0.3, activerecord-3.1.1, activerecord-3.1.0, activerecord-3.0.9, activerecord-3.0.5, activerecord-3.0.3, activeresource-3.1.1, activeresource-3.1.0, activeresource-3.0.9, activeresource-3.0.5, activeresource-3.0.3, activesupport-3.1.1, activesupport-3.1.0, activesupport-3.0.10, activesupport-3.0.9, activesupport-3.0.5, activesupport-3.0.3, addressable-2.2.6, ansi-1.3.0, arel-2.2.1, arel-2.0.10, arel-2.0.9, arel-2.0.7, bcrypt-ruby-3.0.1, bcrypt-ruby-3.0.0, bcrypt-ruby-2.1.4, builder-3.0.0, builder-2.1.2, bundler-1.0.21, bundler-1.0.18, bundler-1.0.11, choices-0.2.4, cocaine-0.2.0, coffee-rails-3.1.1, coffee-rails-3.1.0, coffee-script-2.2.0, coffee-script-source-1.1.2, devise-1.4.8, devise-1.4.2, erubis-2.7.0, erubis-2.6.6, execjs-1.2.9, execjs-1.2.6, execjs-1.2.4, faraday-0.7.4, faraday-0.6.1, faraday_middleware-0.7.0, faraday_middleware-0.6.3, fastercsv-1.5.4, formtastic-2.0.2, formtastic-1.2.4, geocoder-1.0.4, geocoder-1.0.2, has_scope-0.5.1, hashie-1.1.0, hashie-1.0.0, heroku-2.7.0, hike-1.2.1, i18n-0.6.0, i18n-0.5.0, inherited_resources-1.3.0, inherited_resources-1.2.2, jquery-rails-1.0.16, jquery-rails-1.0.14, kaminari-0.12.4, launchy-2.0.5, libv8-3.3.10.2-x86_64-darwin-10, mail-2.3.0, mail-2.2.19, mail-2.2.15, mail-2.2.14, mechanize-2.0.1, mechanize-1.0.0, meta_search-1.1.1, meta_search-1.0.6, mime-types-1.16, multi_json-1.0.3, multi_xml-0.4.1, multi_xml-0.4.0, multi_xml-0.3.0, multi_xml-0.2.2, multipart-post-1.1.3, multipart-post-1.1.2, mysql-2.8.1, mysql2-0.3.7, mysql2-0.2.7, mysql2-0.2.6, net-http-digest_auth-1.1.1, net-http-persistent-2.1, net-http-persistent-2.0, net-http-persistent-1.9, nokogiri-1.5.0, nokogiri-1.4.4, orm_adapter-0.0.5, pdf-reader-0.10.0, pg-0.11.0, polyamorous-0.5.0, polyglot-0.3.2, polyglot-0.3.1, prawn-0.12.0, rack-1.3.4, rack-1.3.3, rack-1.3.2, rack-1.2.3, rack-1.2.2, rack-1.2.1, rack-cache-1.1, rack-cache-1.0.3, rack-mount-0.8.3, rack-mount-0.6.14, rack-mount-0.6.13, rack-ssl-1.3.2, rack-test-0.6.1, rack-test-0.5.7, rails-3.1.1, rails-3.1.0, rails-3.0.9, rails-3.0.5, rails-3.0.3, railties-3.1.1, railties-3.1.0, railties-3.0.9, railties-3.0.5, railties-3.0.3, rake-0.9.2, rake-0.8.7, rake-0.8.7, rash-0.3.1, rash-0.3.0, rdoc-3.10, rdoc-3.9.4, rdoc-3.9.2, responders-0.6.4, rest-client-1.6.7, rubygems-update-1.8.11, rubygems-update-1.8.10, rubygems-update-1.7.2, rubygems-update-1.7.1, rubygems-update-1.6.2, rubyzip-0.9.4, sass-3.1.10, sass-3.1.7, sass-rails-3.1.4, sass-rails-3.1.2, sass-rails-3.1.0, simple_oauth-0.1.5, sprockets-2.0.2, sprockets-2.0.0, sqlite3-1.3.4, term-ansicolor-1.0.6, therubyracer-0.9.4, thor-0.14.6, tilt-1.3.3, treetop-1.4.10, treetop-1.4.9, ttfunk-1.0.3, ttfunk-1.0.2, turn-0.8.2, twitter-1.7.1, twitter-1.4.1, tzinfo-0.3.30, tzinfo-0.3.29, tzinfo-0.3.26, tzinfo-0.3.24, uglifier-1.0.3, warden-1.0.6, warden-1.0.5, webrobots-0.0.12, webrobots-0.0.11] (Gem::LoadError)
from /Users/myusername/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p136/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/specification.rb:1932:in `block in traverse'
from /Users/myusername/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p136/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/specification.rb:1931:in `each'
from /Users/myusername/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p136/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/specification.rb:1931:in `traverse'
from /Users/myusername/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p136/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/specification.rb:465:in `block in find_in_unresolved_tree'
from /Users/myusername/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p136/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/specification.rb:463:in `reverse_each'
from /Users/myusername/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p136/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/specification.rb:463:in `find_in_unresolved_tree'
from /Users/myusername/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p136/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/custom_require.rb:47:in `require'
from /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p136/gems/railties-3.1.1/lib/rails/script_rails_loader.rb:1:in `<top (required)>'
from /Users/myusername/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p136/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/custom_require.rb:55:in `require'
from /Users/myusername/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p136/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/custom_require.rb:55:in `require'
from /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p136/gems/railties-3.1.1/lib/rails/cli.rb:2:in `<top (required)>'
from /Users/myusername/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p136/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/custom_require.rb:55:in `require'
from /Users/myusername/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p136/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/custom_require.rb:55:in `require'
from /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p136/gems/rails-3.1.1/bin/rails:7:in `<top (required)>'
from /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p136/bin/rails:19:in `load'
from /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p136/bin/rails:19:in `<main>'

Any ideas?

Answer 1

what do you get when you try to list your gems.. is json >= 1.4 there?

e.g.:

> gem list json

*** LOCAL GEMS ***

json (1.6.1, 1.5.4, 1.5.3, 1.5.1, 1.4.2)
json_pure (1.6.1, 1.5.4, 1.5.3)

if you use RVM gemsets, you may want to list them also, to check if your default gemset has changed:

rvm gemset list

---

EDIT: Mystery Solved! :-)

you accidentially installed your gems with sudo -- but you have RVM installed for your user account!

When you have RVM installed for an individual user, it's generally not a good idea to do sudo gem install ... , but you should install the gems just for the local user and let RVM manage them for whatever Ruby version you are using.

If you still install with sudo, RVM will not find the gems, because they are stored in a different location, outside of RVM, and not searched by RVM...! Looks like that's the case you experienced.

Check this RailsCast: http://railscasts.com/episodes/200-rails-3-beta-and-rvm

if you're using Rails: - edit your Gemfile and add the json dependency , then run bundle install

if you're just using Ruby by itself, or an old version or Ruby: - run gem install json in the shell

With newer Ruby versions you should not manually install the gems