What To Bring

Before coming to class, you should install Ruby (1.8.4 or higher), Rails (1.2.3 or higher), and MySQL (4.1 or higher). If you don't already have these installed on your computer, here are some instructions to get you started.

If you have any trouble, feel free to contact us: brian (or jeff) at luckymonk dot com.

For Windows XP / Vista

First, if you don't have MySQL 4.1 or greater installed already, install it on your laptop before the class. Here's how:

  1. Download MySQL for Windows.
  2. Run the installer. VERY IMPORTANT: Ensure the "Include Bin Directory in Windows PATH" option is checked. Also, when it asks to "modify security settings", make sure you either make a note of the password you've chosen, or uncheck this option to leave the root password blank.
  3. Test it out. From a command prompt, you should be able to do "mysql -u root -p" and be greeted with a mysql shell prompt.

Next, installing Ruby and also the Rails framework is a breeze:

  1. Start with the One-Click Installer. Download the .exe and give it a whirl, you can just accept all of the defaults when you install it.
  2. Open a command prompt.
  3. Type: ruby -v and you should get a version number displayed. If not, then something went wrong; try to reinstall or contact us for help.
  4. Type: gem -v and make sure you have version 0.92 or higher. If not, run gem update --system.
  5. Type: gem install rails -y and let it install (this will take a few minutes). If you're presented with a list of choices at any point, always choose the highest-versioned Win32 package available.
  6. Type: rails -v and you should get a version number displayed.
  7. Congratulations! You're ready for the class.
  8. Extra credit: simply gem install mongrel and pick the highest-version Win32 package.

For Mac OS X

If you're starting from scratch, we think this script works quite well.

Some people have also reported good success with this one-click installer for OS X. We still recommend installing MySQL as well. You can either: