# Help needed with Ruby on Rails

**URL:** <https://rubytalk.org/t/help-needed-with-ruby-on-rails/22540>\
**Category:** ruby-talk\
**Created:** [16 November 2005 23:37 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/help-needed-with-ruby-on-rails/22540 "2005-11-16T23:37:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jl\_Post](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4da419/32.png) [@Jl\_Post](https://rubytalk.org/u/Jl_Post)\
**Post date:** [16 November 2005 23:37 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/help-needed-with-ruby-on-rails/22540/1 "2005-11-16T23:37:18Z")

</div>

Dear Ruby community,

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;I need some help (hopefully just a little) installing and using Ruby  
on Rails. I'm fairly new to both Ruby and Rails, so I am following the  
steps mentioned in the book "Agile Web Development with Rails" (by Dave  
Thomas and David Heinemeier Hansson).

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Currently, I am going through the steps of "Chapter 4: Instant  
Gratification". I got to the point where I type "ruby script/server",  
then connect to [http://mylocalsite.local.net:3000/](http://mylocalsite.local.net:3000/) and then see a nice  
"Congratulations, you've put Ruby on Rails!" welcome message.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;So far so good. In fact, On the WEBrick server side, I can see  
these four lines when I try to visit that page (using a web browser):

192.168.1.222 - - [16/Nov/2005:15:38:11 MST] "GET / HTTP/1.1" 304 0  
- -\> /  
192.168.1.222 - - [16/Nov/2005:15:38:11 MST] "GET /favicon.ico  
HTTP/1.1" 304 0  
- -\> /favicon.ico

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Okay, so now I run the command "ruby script/generate controller Say"  
from the command line to create a controller called "say" (just like  
the example in the book). It seems to work correctly -- that is, the  
directory structure appears to be there as well as the  
app/controllers/say\_controller.rb file. I even edited the  
SayController class to be:

class SayController \< ApplicationController  
&nbsp;&nbsp;def hello  
&nbsp;&nbsp;end  
end

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Here's where things go wrong:

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;When I try to visit [http://mylocalsite.local.net:3000/say/hello](http://mylocalsite.local.net:3000/say/hello) I  
get a blank screen on my web browser. I get no error message or  
anything. According to the book, I should see a "Template is missing"  
error message, but instead I see nothing at all. (This even happens if  
I stop and restart the WEBrick server.)

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;I even tried creating the file app/views/say/hello.rhtml (that all  
it says is "Hello from Rails!") but when I reload the page, I still get  
nothing. I should at least get an error message, right?

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;So now I'm not sure what to do. So far I've installed Rails two  
times (to make sure I didn't miss a step) but I still get the same  
error. In case anyone's interested, my version of Ruby is 1.8.2 and my  
version of rubygems is 0.8.11 (running on Debian Linux).

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;I captured the output of the WEBrick server in case anyone wants to  
see it. First a connection is make to  
[http://mylocalsite.local.net:3000/](http://mylocalsite.local.net:3000/) is made (where everything looks  
fine) and then a connection to  
[http://mylocalsite.local.net:3000/say/hello](http://mylocalsite.local.net:3000/say/hello) is made (where the entire  
page is blank).

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It looks like I'm missing a source file of some sort, but which one?  
Did I not install gem correctly? Did I not use gem to install Rails  
correctly? I'm not sure how to read the error output of the server to  
figure out how to correct my problem.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Any help would be appreciated. I tried to give as much information  
as I thought would help, but if some is missing, let me know and I'll  
try to post it.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Thank you very much for any help. (Output of WEBrick server  
follows.)

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;-- Jean-Luc

[2005-11-16 15:38:05] INFO WEBrick 1.3.1  
[2005-11-16 15:38:05] INFO ruby 1.8.2 (2005-04-11) [i386-linux]  
[2005-11-16 15:38:05] INFO WEBrick::HTTPServer#start: pid=1311  
port=3000  
192.168.1.222 - - [16/Nov/2005:15:38:11 MST] "GET / HTTP/1.1" 304 0  
- -\> /  
192.168.1.222 - - [16/Nov/2005:15:38:11 MST] "GET /favicon.ico  
HTTP/1.1" 304 0  
- -\> /favicon.ico  
192.168.1.222 - - [16/Nov/2005:15:38:18 MST] "GET /say/hello HTTP/1.1"  
200 0  
- -\> /say/hello  
[2005-11-16 15:38:19] ERROR MissingSourceFile: no such file to load --  
irb  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;/usr/local/lib/site\_ruby/1.8/rubygems/custom\_require.rb:21:in  
`require\_\_'  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;/usr/local/lib/site\_ruby/1.8/rubygems/custom\_require.rb:21:in  
`require'

/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-1.2.3/lib/active\_support/dependencies.rb:214:in  
`require'  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/rails-0.14.3/lib/breakpoint.rb:18

/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-1.2.3/lib/active\_support/dependencies.rb:207:in  
`load'

/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-1.2.3/lib/active\_support/dependencies.rb:207:in  
`load'

/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-1.2.3/lib/active\_support/dependencies.rb:39:in  
`require\_or\_load'

/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-1.2.3/lib/active\_support/dependencies.rb:22:in  
`depend\_on'

/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-1.2.3/lib/active\_support/dependencies.rb:178:in  
`require\_dependency'

/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-1.2.3/lib/active\_support/dependencies.rb:178:in  
`require\_dependency'

/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-1.2.3/lib/active\_support/dependencies.rb:194:in  
`const\_missing'

/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/rails-0.14.3/lib/dispatcher.rb:76:in  
`reset\_after\_dispatch'

/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/rails-0.14.3/lib/dispatcher.rb:46:in  
`dispatch'

/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/rails-0.14.3/lib/webrick\_server.rb:117:in  
`handle\_dispatch'

/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/rails-0.14.3/lib/webrick\_server.rb:83:in  
`service'  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/webrick/httpserver.rb:104:in `service'  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/webrick/httpserver.rb:65:in `run'  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/webrick/server.rb:172:in `start\_thread'  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/webrick/server.rb:161:in `start'  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/webrick/server.rb:161:in `start\_thread'  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/webrick/server.rb:95:in `start'  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/webrick/server.rb:92:in `each'  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/webrick/server.rb:92:in `start'  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/webrick/server.rb:82:in `start'  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/webrick/server.rb:82:in `start'

/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/rails-0.14.3/lib/webrick\_server.rb:69:in  
`dispatch'

/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/rails-0.14.3/lib/commands/servers/webrick.rb:59  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;/usr/local/lib/site\_ruby/1.8/rubygems/custom\_require.rb:21:in  
`require\_\_'  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;/usr/local/lib/site\_ruby/1.8/rubygems/custom\_require.rb:21:in  
`require'

/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-1.2.3/lib/active\_support/dependencies.rb:214:in  
`require'

/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/rails-0.14.3/lib/commands/server.rb:28  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;/usr/local/lib/site\_ruby/1.8/rubygems/custom\_require.rb:21:in  
`require\_\_'  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;/usr/local/lib/site\_ruby/1.8/rubygems/custom\_require.rb:21:in  
`require'

/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-1.2.3/lib/active\_support/dependencies.rb:214:in  
`require'  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;script/server:3  
192.168.1.222 - - [16/Nov/2005:15:38:19 MST] "GET /favicon.ico  
HTTP/1.1" 304 0  
- -\> /favicon.ico

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![James\_Britt4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a3d4f5/32.png) [@James\_Britt4](https://rubytalk.org/u/James_Britt4)\
**Post date:** [16 November 2005 23:47 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/help-needed-with-ruby-on-rails/22540/2 "2005-11-16T23:47:07Z")

</div>

jl\_post@hotmail.com wrote:

> Dear Ruby community,
> 
> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;I need some help (hopefully just a little) installing and using Ruby  
> on Rails. I'm fairly new to both Ruby and Rails, so I am following the  
> steps mentioned in the book "Agile Web Development with Rails" (by Dave  
> Thomas and David Heinemeier Hansson).

You will probably get better, faster help at

[http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo](http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo)

James

> **···**
>
> --
> 
> [http://www.ruby-doc.org](http://www.ruby-doc.org) - Ruby Help & Documentation  
> [Ruby Code & Style](http://www.artima.com/rubycs/) - Ruby Code & Style: Writers wanted  
> [http://www.rubystuff.com](http://www.rubystuff.com) - The Ruby Store for Ruby Stuff  
> [http://www.jamesbritt.com](http://www.jamesbritt.com) - Playing with Better Toys  
> [http://www.30secondrule.com](http://www.30secondrule.com) - Building Better Tools

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jl\_Post](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4da419/32.png) [@Jl\_Post](https://rubytalk.org/u/Jl_Post)\
**Post date:** [17 November 2005 23:32 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/help-needed-with-ruby-on-rails/22540/3 "2005-11-17T23:32:18Z")

</div>

jl\_post@hotmail.com wrote:

> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;I need some help (hopefully just a little) installing and using Ruby  
> on Rails. I'm fairly new to both Ruby and Rails, so I am following the  
> steps mentioned in the book "Agile Web Development with Rails" (by Dave  
> Thomas and David Heinemeier Hansson).

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Thanks for everyone who looked into this, but we recently figured  
out how to get past this obstacle. Apparently the irb module wasn't  
installed on our Debian machine (but ruby was).

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;We were able to see the irb modules to install with the command:

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;apt-cache search irb

and install the latest one with the command:

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;apt-get install irb1.8

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Then, once the WEBrick server was restarted, we were able to get the  
example in the book ("Agile Web Development with Rails") working.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Thanks again to everyone who tried to help.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;-- Jean-Luc