Gem post-install script or files outside the gem hierarchy

Ruby
1

Is it possible for a gem to run a post-install script or write files
outside of the gem directory structure? I am specifically needing to
write config files to /etc and startup files to /etc/init.d and then
run chkconfig to create the proper symlinks.

Cheers,
Jim

2

On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 13:38:16 -0500, Jim Cain wrote:

Is it possible for a gem to run a post-install script or write files
outside of the gem directory structure? I am specifically needing to
write config files to /etc and startup files to /etc/init.d and then run
chkconfig to create the proper symlinks.

What’s chkconfig? It doesn’t exist on my Debian system. (Alternatively,
one could ask “What’s /etc? It doesn’t exist on my Windows system.”)

You’re not distributing Ruby software. You’re distributing UNIX software
which happens to be written in Ruby. You should look at some alternate
way to distribute your software, most likely distributing it as a
tarball
with an installation script, and with its dependencies documented, and
documenting the proper procedure to set up init symlinks after
installation.

Also, target your software for the Linux Standard Base, not for RedHat.
See http://refspecs.linux-foundation.org/LSB_3.1.0/LSB-Core-generic/LSB-
Core-generic/initsrcinstrm.html for the right way to install init
scripts.

–Ken

3

On Jan 20, 2008 6:39 PM, Ken B. [email protected] wrote:

You’re not distributing Ruby software. You’re distributing UNIX software
which happens to be written in Ruby. You should look at some alternate
way to distribute your software, most likely distributing it as a tarball
with an installation script, and with its dependencies documented, and
documenting the proper procedure to set up init symlinks after
installation.

Also, target your software for the Linux Standard Base, not for RedHat.
See http://refspecs.linux-foundation.org/LSB_3.1.0/LSB-Core-generic/LSB-
Core-generic/initsrcinstrm.html for the right way to install init scripts.

Actually, the software that requires config files and startup scripts
is all internal proprietary stuff that will never be publicly
released. I suppose I’ll have to make RPMs of those. I do have some
generic supporting libraries that are potential candidates for open
source release, but that will depend on the decisions of others.