Possible duplicate of: Ubuntu rvm setup issue

Your problem is that RVM is not loaded when you open a new terminal.

To solve this, run this command line: (if using login-shell)

echo "source $HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm" >> ~/.bash_profile

Or this (if using non-login shell):

echo "source $HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm" >> ~/.bashrc

Or if you are using zsh (and/or oh-my-zsh):

echo "source $HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm" >> ~/.zshrc

This will add the path to RVM to load at each Terminal instantiation. You must either close and reopen your terminals or simply call source ~/.bashrc (or ~/.bash_profile or ~/.zshrc).

Make an alias to rvm-prompt. That's the most sure-fire answer. Arrange things in your .zshrc file in this order:

1. alias rvm-prompt=$HOME/.rvm/bin/rvm-prompt
2. source $ZSH/oh-my-zsh.sh
3. [[ -s "$HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm" ]] && . "$HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm"

If oh-my-zsh (OMZ) loads before RVM, which rvm-prompt fails silently, so you won't see RVM in your prompt (if supported by your theme) even though it is in your path later, after RVM loads.

If RVM loads before OMZ, you may get a zsh: command not found: rvm-prompt.

Aliasing your rvm-prompt to its actual location seems to solve the problem, regardless of which order RVM and OMZ are loaded in. I'd still recommend RVM at the bottom.

Putting the RVM load into .zshenv as suggested above would load RVM twice in iTerm 2 (and no, it was not still in my .zshrc) and would result in the prompt displaying "system" even though rvm-prompt and rvm current showed a specific ruby version and gemset.

Do you have this line in your ~/.zshrc?

[[ -s "$HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm" ]] && . "$HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm" 

It might because the terminal not having rvm shell configuration loaded.

Try following from your terminal:

$ source ~/.rvm/scripts/rvm

then

$ type rvm | head -n 1

If the output is:

rvm is a function

You may need to add "source ~/.rvm/scripts/rvm" to your ~/.bash_profile file

The problem is that the commands rvm and rvmsudo are not in your PATH. The PATH is a variable that lists all of the directories that are searched for commands.

You need to find out where the rvm and rvmsudo commands are actually located; it could be in /usr/local somewhere or in /opt. If the RVM software was installed in /usr/local I would guess that it would work just fine; check /opt.

Then add the directories that contain commands to your PATH (on the command line and in .profile):

export PATH=$PATH:/opt/rvm/bin:/opt/rvm/sbin

(The directories are just examples.) Using $PATH preserves your current PATH and adds the two new directories on the end. Directories are searched from left to right and are separated by :.

More on this can be found in man bash or man sh or man ksh depending on your shell.

Installing zsh doesn't install Oh My Zsh, which might explain if you don't have an oh-my-zsh.sh file at all (this was the case for me).

You can install Oh My Zsh by running

sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/robbyrussell/oh-my-zsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

It seems that you are using a theme which uses rvm-prompt like "fino-time".

What went wrong?

During installation, rvm puts two lines (first one is a comment though) in ~/.bash_profile file to help bash recognize ruby binaries. But the problem is Ubuntu's bash ignores this file. As a result, it doesn't know that you already installed ruby and prompts you to install ruby!

The problem can be solved in two different way.

Solution 1: Using ~/.bashrc file

Open your ~/.bashrc file and put these two lines (or last one) there.

### Load RVM into a shell session *as a function*
[[ -s "$HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm" ]] && source "$HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm"

Solution 2: Make the regular shell session as login shell

Or you can turn on your virtual terminal's preference to consider the shell as Login Shell. The settings can be found in -

• Gnome Terminal: Menu > Edit > Profile Preference > Command Tab > Run command as a login shell

• Mate Terminal: Menu > Edit > Profile Preference > Title & Command Tab > Run command as a login shell

• Xfce4 Terminal: Menu > Edit > Preference > General Tab > Run command as login shell

Either one will do the job.

Another solution could be installing Ruby in System using Ubuntu's repository. But that defeats the purpose of using rvm at first place.

Install GCC 4.2 with homebrew and try again. This worked for me.

brew update
brew tap homebrew/dupes
brew install apple-gcc42

See also:

• Xcode 4.6 breaks rvm
• Cannot compile ruby 1.9.3
• Installation tips for RVM/Ruby on OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion

For me, I just had to add

source $HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm

to my ~/.zshrc and it started working, after having the same error message as in this SO question.

check your rc files

• .zshenv
• .zshrc
• .zlogin
• .zprofile

most likely in one of those PATH is reset after RVM was sourced

also some oh-my-zsh plugins can break stuff, try disabling them and enabling one by one.

After quite a bit of tinkering, rvm finally successfully loads its environment by default. Now, I don't know exactly what part of what I did fixed the issue, but hopefully, this will be of aid to someone.

Essentially, I went through and split up my zsh configuration into two files: the .zshenv file (which gets loaded by all programs) and the .zshrc file (which gets loaded by graphical programs). For those unfamiliar with how zsh works, these files are essentially analogs to .bash_profile and .bashrc.

My .zshenv:

# -------------------------------------------------------------
# Maintainer: Itai Ferber
#             http://itaiferber.net - [email protected]
#
# Version: 1.0 - 19/02/12
#
# Sections:
# -> RVM
# -> Environment Variables
# -> Aliases
# -> File Manipulation
# -> Process Manipulation
# -> Terminal Manipulation
# -> zsh Options
#
# Revisions:
# -> 1.0.0: Initial revision (settings copied over from .zshrc where logical).
# -------------------------------------------------------------

# -------------------------------------------------------------
# => RVM
# -------------------------------------------------------------
[[ -s ~/.rvm/scripts/rvm ]] && source ~/.rvm/scripts/rvm

# -------------------------------------------------------------
# => Environment Variables
# -------------------------------------------------------------
# Path
export PATH=.:~/.rvm/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:~/Library/Haskell/bin:/usr/local/texlive/2011/bin/universal-darwin:/usr/local/narwhal/bin:$PATH

# History
export HISTFILE=~/dotfiles/.zsh_history
export HISTSIZE=10000
export HISTCONTROL=ignoredups
export SAVEHIST=10000

# Editor
export EDITOR=vim

# Localization
export LC_TYPE=en_US.UTF-8

# Frameworks
export NODE_PATH=/usr/local/lib/node/:$NODE_PATH
export CAPP_BUILD='/Users/itaiferber/Desktop/Cappuccino Build'
export NARWHAL_ENGINE=jsc

# -------------------------------------------------------------
# => Aliases
# -------------------------------------------------------------
# Command Aliases
alias ..='cd ..'
alias ...='cd ../..'
alias internet='lsof -inP | cut -f 1 -d " " | uniq'
alias restart='sudo shutdown -r NOW'

# Expansions
alias ls='ls -AFGp'
alias tree='tree -aCFl --charset=UTF8 --du --si'

# Root Aliases
[ $UID = 0 ] && \
    alias rm='rm -i' && \
    alias mv='mv -i' && \
    alias cp='cp -i'

# -------------------------------------------------------------
# => Terminal Manipulation
# -------------------------------------------------------------
# Usage: reset
# Description: 'resets' the terminal by clearing and returning to default directory
reset () {
    cd ~/Desktop && clear
}

# -------------------------------------------------------------
# => Process Manipulation
# -------------------------------------------------------------
# Usage: pid <procname>
# Description: returns the pid of the process with the given name
# Notes: if multiple processes with the given name are running, no guarantee is made to which pid is returned
pid () {
    ps Ao pid,comm | grep -im1 $1 | awk '{match($0,/([0-9]+)/); print substr($0,RSTART,RLENGTH);}'
}

# Usage: fp <pattern>
# Description: list processes matching the given partial-match pattern
fp () {
    ps Ao pid,comm | awk '{match($0,/[^\/]+$/); print substr($0,RSTART,RLENGTH)": "$1}' | grep -i $1 | grep -v grep
}

# Usage: fk <pattern>
# Description: list process matching the given partial-match pattern to kill
fk () {
    IFS=$'\n'
    PS3='Kill which process? (1 to cancel): '
    select OPT in 'Cancel' $(fp $1); do
        if [ $OPT != 'Cancel' ]; then
            kill $(echo $OPT | awk '{print $NF}')
        fi
        break
    done
    unset IFS
    unset PS3
}

# Usage: console <procname>
# Description: get the latest logs for the given process name
console () {
    if [[ $# > 0 ]]; then
        query=$(echo "$*" | tr - s ' ' '|')
        tail -f /var/log/system.log | grep -i --color=auto -E "$query"
    else
        tail -f /var/log/system.log
    fi
}

# -------------------------------------------------------------
# => File Manipulation
# -------------------------------------------------------------
# Usage: rm <file>
# Description: if called with no arguments, move files to trash instead of deleting outright
rm () {
    local path
    for path in "$@"; do
        if [[ "$path" = -* ]]; then
            /bin/rm $@
            break
        else
            local file=${path##*/}
            while [ -e ~/.Trash/"$file" ]; do
                file="$file "$(date +%H-%M-%S)
            done
            /bin/mv "$path" ~/.Trash/"$file"
        fi
    done
}

# Usage: extract <file>
# Description: extracts archived files / mounts disk images
extract () {
    if [ -f $1 ]; then
        case $1 in
            *.bz2) bunzip2 $1;;
            *.dmg) hdiutil mount $1;;
            *.gz) gunzip $1;;
            *.tar) tar -xvf $1;;
            *.tar.bz2|*.tbz2) tar -jxvf $1;;
            *.tar.gz|*.tgz) tar -zxvf $1;;
            *.zip) unzip $1;;
            *.Z) uncompress $1;;
            *) echo "'$1' not recognized.";;
        esac
    else
        echo "'$1' not found."
    fi
}

# -------------------------------------------------------------
# => zsh Options
# -------------------------------------------------------------
# Directories
setopt AUTO_CD AUTO_PUSHD CD_ABLE_VARS CHASE_DOTS CHASE_LINKS

# Completion
setopt AUTO_LIST AUTO_MENU AUTO_PARAM_SLASH COMPLETE_IN_WORD LIST_TYPES MENU_COMPLETE REC_EXACT

# History
setopt APPEND_HISTORY EXTENDED_HISTORY

# Input/Output
setopt CORRECT

# Scripts and Functions
setopt MULTIOS

# Other
setopt NO_BEEP ZLE

# Key Bindings
bindkey "^[[3~" delete-char

My .zshrc:

# -------------------------------------------------------------
#  Maintainer: Itai Ferber
#              http://itaiferber.net - [email protected]
#
#  Version: 1.0 - 19/02/12
#
#  Sections:
#  -> zshenv
#  -> screen
#  -> Environment Variables
#  -> Prompt
#  -> zsh Autocompletion
#
#  Revisions:
#  -> 1.0.0: Initial revision. Style copied from vimrc.
# -------------------------------------------------------------

# -------------------------------------------------------------
# => zshenv
# -------------------------------------------------------------
source ~/.zshenv

# -------------------------------------------------------------
# => screen
# -------------------------------------------------------------
if [[ $TERM != 'screen' ]]; then
    exec screen -aADRU
fi

reset

# -------------------------------------------------------------
# => Environment Variables
# -------------------------------------------------------------
export TERM=xterm-256color
export CLICOLOR=AxFxcxdxBxegbdHbGgcdBd

# -------------------------------------------------------------
# => Prompt
# -------------------------------------------------------------
if [[ $UID = 0 ]]; then
    export PROMPT="%~ +=> "
else
    export PROMPT="%~ => "
fi

export RPROMPT="%*"

# -------------------------------------------------------------
# => zsh Autocompletion
# -------------------------------------------------------------
# Enable autocompletion.
autoload -U compinit && compinit -C && autoload -U zstyle+

# Attempt to complete as much as possible.
zstyle ':completion:*' completer _complete _list _oldlist _expand _ignored _match _correct
zstyle ':completion:*::::' completer _expand _complete _ignored _approximate

# Sort files by name.
zstyle ':completion:*' file-sort name

# Allow for case-insensitive completion.
zstyle ':completion:*' matcher-list 'm:{a-zA-Z}={A-Za-z}'

# Color completions.
zstyle ':completion:*' list-colors ${CLICOLOR}
zstyle ':completion:*:*:kill:*:processes' command 'ps -axco pid,user,command'
zstyle ':completion:*:*:kill:*:processes' list-colors '=(#b) #([0-9]#)*=0=01;31'

# Set the amount of completions that triggers the menu.
zstyle ':completion:*' menu select=long

# Ignore certain patterns.
zstyle ':completion:*:functions' ignored-patterns '_*'
zstyle ':completion:*:complete:-command-::commands' ignored-patterns '*\~'
zstyle ':completion:*:*:(^rm):*:*files' ignored-patterns '*?.(o|c~|old|pro|zwc)'

# Cache completions.
zstyle ':completion::complete:*' use-cache 1
zstyle ':completion::complete:*' cache-path ~/.zcompcache/$HOST

# Allow errors.
zstyle -e ':completion:*:approximate:*' max-errors 'reply=( $(( ($#PREFIX+$#SUFFIX)/2 )) numeric )'

# Insert all expansions for expand completer (eh, don't know what this does).
zstyle ':completion:*:expand:*' tag-order all-expansions

# Formatting and messages.
zstyle ':completion:*' list-prompt '%SAt %p: Hit TAB for more, or the character to insert%s'
zstyle ':completion:*' verbose yes
zstyle ':completion:*:descriptions' format '%B%d%b'
zstyle ':completion:*:messages' format '%d'
zstyle ':completion:*:warnings' format 'No matches for: %d'
zstyle ':completion:*:corrections' format '%B%d (errors: %e)%b'
zstyle ':completion:*' group-name ''

# Offer indexes before parameters in subscripts.
zstyle ':completion:*:*:-subscript-:*' tag-order indexes parameters

Hopefully, this can serve as a little guide to tip off anyone else having the same problems I did.