Uninstall Rails completely

Question

I’m trying to uninstall Rails completely, but I can’t get the grip of it.

Here’s what I tried:

$ gem update
rails 4.0.0.beta1 installed

$ rails -v
Rails 4.0.0.beta1

$ gem uninstall rails -v 4.0.0.beta1

BUT STILL:

$ rails -v
Rails 4.0.0.beta1

How I can completely remove rails version ?

What was the output of `gem uninstall rails -v 4.0.0.beta1` ? — sockmonk, Apr 23 '13 at 14:50
Do you fix that problem? I'v met the same issue which you got. — Marslo, Oct 15 '13 at 16:19
Aright, finally, I fixed that problem, see my comments as below — Marslo, Oct 16 '13 at 12:16

score 60 · Answer 1 · edited Oct 01 '18 at 13:22

Finally solution

Just uninstall railties -v 4.0.0, and everything just fine.

$ which rails
~/software/bin/rails
$ rails -v
Rails 4.0.0
$ gem list | grep rails
rails (4.0.0, 3.2.13, 3.2.9, 3.2.6)
$ gem uninstall rails -v 4.0.0

You have requested to uninstall the gem:
        rails-4.0.0
figaro-0.7.0 depends on [rails (< 5, >= 3)]
.....
.....
Continue with Uninstall? [Yn]  y
Successfully uninstalled rails-4.0.0
$ gem list | grep rails
rails (3.2.13, 3.2.9, 3.2.6)
$ rails  -v
Rails 4.0.0
$ gem uninstall railties -v 4.0.0

You have requested to uninstall the gem:
        railties-4.0.0
coffee-rails-4.0.0 depends on [railties (< 5.0, >= 4.0.0.beta)]
....
....
If you remove this gems, one or more dependencies will not be met.
Continue with Uninstall? [Yn]  y
Successfully uninstalled railties-4.0.0
$ rails -v
Rails 3.2.13

See! rails version back normal!!

Here the reason:

$ tail `which rails`
  str = ARGV.first
  str = str.dup.force_encoding("BINARY") if str.respond_to? :force_encoding
  if str =~ /\A_(.*)_\z/
    version = $1
    ARGV.shift
  end
end

gem 'railties', version
load Gem.bin_path('railties', 'rails', version)

Earlier try

Well, I did everything I found in Internet, but nothing works fine. And I just delete the gem folder, install rails 3.2.12, and it works...
There are all 31 gems installed

# rm -rf /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/
# gem list

*** LOCAL GEMS ***
# gem cleanup
Cleaning up installed gems...
Clean Up Complete
# gem update --system
# gem install rails -v 3.2.12
Fetching: i18n-0.6.5.gem (100%)
Successfully installed i18n-0.6.5
Fetching: multi_json-1.8.2.gem (100%)
Successfully installed multi_json-1.8.2
Fetching: activesupport-3.2.12.gem (100%)
Successfully installed activesupport-3.2.12
Fetching: builder-3.0.4.gem (100%)
Successfully installed builder-3.0.4
Fetching: activemodel-3.2.12.gem (100%)
Successfully installed activemodel-3.2.12
Fetching: rack-1.4.5.gem (100%)
Successfully installed rack-1.4.5
Fetching: rack-cache-1.2.gem (100%)
Successfully installed rack-cache-1.2
Fetching: rack-test-0.6.2.gem (100%)
Successfully installed rack-test-0.6.2
Fetching: journey-1.0.4.gem (100%)
Successfully installed journey-1.0.4
Fetching: hike-1.2.3.gem (100%)
Successfully installed hike-1.2.3
Fetching: tilt-1.4.1.gem (100%)
Successfully installed tilt-1.4.1
Fetching: sprockets-2.2.2.gem (100%)
Successfully installed sprockets-2.2.2
Fetching: erubis-2.7.0.gem (100%)
Successfully installed erubis-2.7.0
Fetching: actionpack-3.2.12.gem (100%)
Successfully installed actionpack-3.2.12
Fetching: arel-3.0.2.gem (100%)
Successfully installed arel-3.0.2
Fetching: tzinfo-0.3.38.gem (100%)
Successfully installed tzinfo-0.3.38
Fetching: activerecord-3.2.12.gem (100%)
Successfully installed activerecord-3.2.12
Fetching: activeresource-3.2.12.gem (100%)
Successfully installed activeresource-3.2.12
Fetching: mime-types-1.25.gem (100%)
Successfully installed mime-types-1.25
Fetching: polyglot-0.3.3.gem (100%)
Successfully installed polyglot-0.3.3
Fetching: treetop-1.4.15.gem (100%)
Successfully installed treetop-1.4.15
Fetching: mail-2.4.4.gem (100%)
Successfully installed mail-2.4.4
Fetching: actionmailer-3.2.12.gem (100%)
Successfully installed actionmailer-3.2.12
Fetching: rake-10.1.0.gem (100%)
Successfully installed rake-10.1.0
Fetching: rack-ssl-1.3.3.gem (100%)
Successfully installed rack-ssl-1.3.3
Fetching: thor-0.18.1.gem (100%)
Successfully installed thor-0.18.1
Fetching: json-1.8.0.gem (100%)
Building native extensions.  This could take a while...
Successfully installed json-1.8.0
Fetching: rdoc-3.12.2.gem (100%)
Depending on your version of ruby, you may need to install ruby rdoc/ri data:

<= 1.8.6 : unsupported
 = 1.8.7 : gem install rdoc-data; rdoc-data --install
 = 1.9.1 : gem install rdoc-data; rdoc-data --install
>= 1.9.2 : nothing to do! Yay!
Successfully installed rdoc-3.12.2
Fetching: railties-3.2.12.gem (100%)
Successfully installed railties-3.2.12
Fetching: bundler-1.3.5.gem (100%)
Successfully installed bundler-1.3.5
Fetching: rails-3.2.12.gem (100%)
Successfully installed rails-3.2.12
... rdoc stuff  ...
31 gems installed

Here are something weird

I'v $ sudo gem uninstall rails -v 4.0.0 and $ sudo gem cleanup and install rails 3.2.13 ($ sudo gem install rails -v 3.2.13), only 15 gems installed:

$ sudo gem install rails -v 3.2.13
Fetching: i18n-0.6.1.gem (100%)
Fetching: activesupport-3.2.13.gem (100%)
Fetching: builder-3.0.4.gem (100%)
Fetching: activemodel-3.2.13.gem (100%)
Fetching: rack-1.4.5.gem (100%)
Fetching: sprockets-2.2.2.gem (100%)
Fetching: actionpack-3.2.13.gem (100%)
Fetching: arel-3.0.2.gem (100%)
Fetching: tzinfo-0.3.38.gem (100%)
Fetching: activerecord-3.2.13.gem (100%)
Fetching: activeresource-3.2.13.gem (100%)
Fetching: actionmailer-3.2.13.gem (100%)
Fetching: rdoc-3.12.2.gem (100%)
Depending on your version of ruby, you may need to install ruby rdoc/ri data:

<= 1.8.6 : unsupported
 = 1.8.7 : gem install rdoc-data; rdoc-data --install
 = 1.9.1 : gem install rdoc-data; rdoc-data --install
>= 1.9.2 : nothing to do! Yay!
Fetching: railties-3.2.13.gem (100%)
Successfully installed i18n-0.6.1
Successfully installed activesupport-3.2.13
Successfully installed builder-3.0.4
Successfully installed activemodel-3.2.13
Successfully installed rack-1.4.5
Successfully installed sprockets-2.2.2
Successfully installed actionpack-3.2.13
Successfully installed arel-3.0.2
Successfully installed tzinfo-0.3.38
Successfully installed activerecord-3.2.13
Successfully installed activeresource-3.2.13
Successfully installed actionmailer-3.2.13
Successfully installed rdoc-3.12.2
Successfully installed railties-3.2.13
Successfully installed rails-3.2.13
15 gems installed
... rdoc stuff ...

And rails -v:

$ rails -v
/usr/local/lib/ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/dependency.rb:247:in `to_specs': Could not find minitest (~> 4.2) amongst [actionmailer-4.0.0, actionmailer-3.2.13, actionpack-4.0.0, actionpack-3.2.13, activemodel-4.0.0, activemodel-3.2.13, activerecord-4.0.0, activerecord-3.2.13, activerecord-deprecated_finders-1.0.3, activeresource-4.0.0, activeresource-3.2.13, activesupport-4.0.0, activesupport-3.2.13, addressable-2.3.3, arel-4.0.0, arel-3.0.2, atomic-1.1.14, bcrypt-ruby-3.0.1, better_errors-0.8.0, bigdecimal-1.2.1, binding_of_caller-0.7.1, bootstrap-sass-2.3.1.0, builder-3.2.2, builder-3.0.4, bundler-1.3.5, cancan-1.6.9, capybara-2.0.3, childprocess-0.3.9, coderay-1.0.9, coffee-rails-4.0.0, coffee-script-2.2.0, coffee-script-source-1.6.3, countries-0.9.2, cucumber-1.2.3, cucumber-rails-1.3.1, currencies-0.4.0, database_cleaner-1.0.0.RC1, debug_inspector-0.0.2, devise-2.2.3, diff-lcs-1.2.2, email_spec-1.4.0, erubis-2.7.0, execjs-2.0.2, factory_girl-4.2.0, factory_girl_rails-4.2.1, ffi-1.6.0, figaro-0.6.3, gherkin-2.11.6, hike-1.2.3, httpclient-2.3.3, httpi-2.0.2, i18n-0.6.5, i18n-0.6.1, io-console-0.4.2, jbuilder-1.5.1, journey-1.0.4, jquery-rails-3.0.4, json-1.8.0, launchy-2.2.0, libv8-3.16.14.3, mail-2.5.4, mime-types-1.25, minitest-5.0.8, multi_json-1.8.1, mysql2-0.3.13, nokogiri-1.5.9, orm_adapter-0.4.0, polyglot-0.3.3, quiet_assets-1.0.2, rack-1.5.2, rack-1.4.5, rack-cache-1.2, rack-ssl-1.3.3, rack-test-0.6.2, rails-3.2.13, rails-observers-0.1.2, railties-4.0.0, railties-3.2.13, rake-10.1.0, rdoc-4.0.1, rdoc-3.12.2, recurly-2.1.8, ref-1.0.5, rolify-3.2.0, rspec-core-2.13.1, rspec-expectations-2.13.0, rspec-mocks-2.13.0, rspec-rails-2.13.0, rubyzip-0.9.9, sass-3.2.12, sass-rails-4.0.0, sdoc-0.3.20, selenium-webdriver-2.31.0, simple_form-2.1.0, sprockets-2.10.0, sprockets-2.2.2, sprockets-rails-2.0.0, therubyracer-0.12.0, thor-0.18.1, thread_safe-0.1.3, tilt-1.4.1, treetop-1.4.15, turbolinks-1.3.0, tzinfo-1.1.0, tzinfo-0.3.38, uglifier-2.2.1, warden-1.2.1, websocket-1.0.7, xpath-1.0.0] (Gem::LoadError)
    from /usr/local/lib/ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/specification.rb:777:in `block in activate_dependencies'
    from /usr/local/lib/ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/specification.rb:766:in `each'
    from /usr/local/lib/ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/specification.rb:766:in `activate_dependencies'
    from /usr/local/lib/ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/specification.rb:750:in `activate'
    from /usr/local/lib/ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/specification.rb:780:in `block in activate_dependencies'
    from /usr/local/lib/ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/specification.rb:766:in `each'
    from /usr/local/lib/ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/specification.rb:766:in `activate_dependencies'
    from /usr/local/lib/ruby/1.9.1/rubygems/specification.rb:750:in `activate'
    from /usr/local/lib/ruby/1.9.1/rubygems.rb:1232:in `gem'
    from /usr/local/bin/rails:22:in `<main>'

Rails 4.0.0 cannot be removed by uninstall completely, is that a bug?

Thanks, this solved my problem! Should be the accepted solution. — jayant, Oct 24 '16 at 05:53

score 34 · Answer 2 · edited Oct 24 '16 at 07:45

34

2 steps to completely remove rails from system

1) gem uninstall rails
2) gem uninstall railties

select the versions which you want to uninstall.

edited Oct 24 '16 at 07:45

Aamir

13,234
9
51
63

answered Jul 27 '16 at 08:37

Sartaj Singh Sisodiya

1,043
11
10

score 16 · Answer 3 · edited Feb 23 '17 at 21:27

16

in case someone else gets here, i found i had to uninstall railties also.

gem uninstall railties

Check all the directories you might have installed rails in, from your /~user down

edited Feb 23 '17 at 21:27

Peter Bratton

6,024
5
35
60

answered Jun 05 '13 at 14:28

bobbdelsol

936
6
18

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 23 '13 at 09:34

2

If you are using rvm, you can uninstall all gems by deleting .gem directory in you $HOME

rm -rf ~/.gem

or uninstall only rails:

gem uninstall -a rails

or if you installed using sudo:

sudo gem uninstall -a rails

answered Apr 23 '13 at 09:34

Paulo Fidalgo

19,844
7
85
108

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Apr 23 '13 at 08:53

1

You haven't specified which gem to uninstall, try gem uninstall rails.

answered Apr 23 '13 at 08:53

Wil Gieseler

1,297
1
11
13

I wrote: gem uninstall rails -v 4.0.0.beta1 ( gem uninstall rails -v=4.0.0.beta1) – user1928458 Apr 23 '13 at 09:51

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Apr 23 '13 at 09:17

1

sudo gem uninstall rails -v 4.0.0.beta1

It should help.

answered Apr 23 '13 at 09:17

itsnikolay

15,246
3
56
60

I wrote: gem uninstall rails -v 4.0.0.beta1 ( gem uninstall rails -v=4.0.0.beta1) – user1928458 Apr 23 '13 at 09:50

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Apr 23 '13 at 11:55

First you should understand what is the location of rails. Type in your console (bash, zsh, etc.)

which rails

If it's located in your home folder, like:

/home/your_name/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p392/bin/rails

Then, you should remove it using local gem:

gem uninstall rails

Otherwise, you probably have to use sudo:

sudo gem uninstall rails

NOTE: you can check your rails versions as following:

Local:

gem list rails

Global:

sudo gem list rails

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Jun 24 '13 at 05:37

0

I also had to uninstall Railties and everything worked right.

answered Jun 24 '13 at 05:37

bvcm

217
1
6
16

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Aug 02 '13 at 08:18

0

you just try this command.it will help to uninstall all rails "gem uninstall railties" I think this is the only method to fully uninstall all rails

answered Aug 02 '13 at 08:18

sovin jose

1

Uninstall Rails completely

9 Answers9

Finally solution

Here the reason:

Earlier try

Here are something weird

Linked