Why is my jekyll command not working anymore?

Question

I've recently discovered that the jekyll command doesn't work anymore on my computer, after perfectly using it for several months.

Whenever I try to run a jekyll command, it says:

/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.3/usr/lib/ruby/2.3.0/rubygems/dependency.rb:319:in `to_specs':
    Could not find 'jekyll' (>= 0) among 34 total gem(s) (Gem::LoadError)
Checked in 'GEM_PATH=/Users/Mael/.gem/ruby/2.3.0:/Library/Ruby/Gems/2.3.0:/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.3/usr/lib/ruby/gems/2.3.0',
    execute `gem env` for more information
    from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.3/usr/lib/ruby/2.3.0/rubygems/dependency.rb:328:in `to_spec'
    from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.3/usr/lib/ruby/2.3.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_gem.rb:65:in `gem'
    from /usr/local/bin/jekyll:22:in `<main>'

I'm on macOS Sierra (10.12.6).

Xcode is installed

I have Xcode installed on my computer:

$ xcode-select --install
xcode-select: error: command line tools are already installed, use "Software Update" to install updates

Reinstalling Jekyll

Checking ruby version and (re)installing bundler

So I tried reinstalling Jekyll as I did the first time:

$ ruby -v
ruby 2.3.7p456 (2018-03-28 revision 63024) [universal.x86_64-darwin16]

$ sudo gem install bundler
Successfully installed bundler-1.17.1
Parsing documentation for bundler-1.17.1
Done installing documentation for bundler after 4 seconds
1 gem installed

Creating a Gemfile

I created a Gemfile which contains:

gem 'github-pages'
source 'https://rubygems.org'

Bundle install (here come the issues)

And ran, in the directory that contains the Gemfile:

$ bundle install

Here, the installation doesn't work, it says:

An error occurred while installing commonmarker (0.17.13), and Bundler cannot continue.
Make sure that `gem install commonmarker -v '0.17.13' --source 'https://rubygems.org/'` succeeds before bundling.

In Gemfile:
  github-pages was resolved to 192, which depends on
    jekyll-commonmark-ghpages was resolved to 0.1.5, which depends on
      jekyll-commonmark was resolved to 1.2.0, which depends on
        commonmarker

So I tried the gem install commonmarker -v '0.17.13' --source 'https://rubygems.org/' command, and it says:

Building native extensions.  This could take a while...
ERROR:  Error installing commonmarker:
        ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension.

    current directory: /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.3.0/gems/commonmarker-0.17.13/ext/commonmarker
/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.3/usr/bin/ruby -r ./siteconf20181112-6105-u9aca2.rb extconf.rb
creating Makefile

current directory: /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.3.0/gems/commonmarker-0.17.13/ext/commonmarker
make "DESTDIR=" clean

current directory: /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.3.0/gems/commonmarker-0.17.13/ext/commonmarker
make "DESTDIR="
make: *** No rule to make target `/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/MacOSX.platform/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.13.sdk/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.3/usr/include/ruby-2.3.0/universal-darwin16/ruby/config.h', needed by `arena.o'.  Stop.

make failed, exit code 2

Gem files will remain installed in /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.3.0/gems/commonmarker-0.17.13 for inspection.
Results logged to /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.3.0/extensions/universal-darwin-16/2.3.0/commonmarker-0.17.13/gem_make.out

I noticed that I have several jekyll and github-pages gems in my /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.0.0/gems (2.0.0) directory:

github-pages-146
github-pages-health-check-1.3.5
...
jekyll-3.4.5
jekyll-avatar-0.4.2
jekyll-coffeescript-1.0.1
[and several other jekyll directories]
...

But not in my /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.3.0/gems (2.3.0) directory! (the one which seems to be targeted by the GEM_PATH when running a jekyll command)

So, maybe I did something that changed the version or something. (I've recently installed osxfuse and sshfs (via brew), I don't know if it has anything to do with the issue?)

I don't know anything about Ruby, Gems system, and so on. Maybe the solution is obvious but I've tried several things with no success.

(Sorry it's a bit long but I wanted to be as clear as possible!)

Ritualize

Answer 1

I found a solution, that I think is very not clean, but works for now.

I have two directories in /Library/Ruby/Gems/:

• 2.0.0/
  • gems/
  • specifications/
  • ...
• 2.3.0/
  • gems/
  • specifications/
  • ...

The error output, when I try to run jekyll, tells that it checks (among others) in /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.3.0, but as I said in my question, there aren't any jekyll-related file in there.

So, I manually copied all the files from /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.0.0/gems and /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.0.0/specifications and pasted them in /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.3.0/gems and /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.3.0/specifications respectively.

I guess that the files I've copied are maybe outdated for the Ruby version I have (?), but it works perfectly.

Maybe there is a more conventional way to make it work?

Ritualize

Answer 2

I also don't work with Ruby, but I had a similar problem on Mac OS 10.12.6 and here is how I solved it.

This is likely caused by some disagreement between the system Ruby environment and Jekyll, and the easiest way to fix it is to create a new environment altogether.

First you should use rvm to manage your ruby versions to avoid delete the system Ruby and break your OS. After you set up rvm, run

rvm install 2.3.3

to install Ruby 2.3.3 (which is what I used). After it finished, make this the default Ruby version in your system:

rvm --default use 2.3.3

then I did the following:

gem install bundler
gem install jekyll
bundle install

and Jekyll worked for me again.

Hope that helps.

Bice

I came across the same problem and used this answer in Ruby 2.4.0 and worked well. Thanks! – Mccowan

Yup, I'm on OSX Catalina and 2.3.3 can't be installed but 2.4.0 works – Arsine

Answer 3

I'm not a mac user and not real familiar with ruby, but when I see ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension it usually has to do with not having the ruby version that includes the devkit.

As I understand it, you can get ruby with the devkit or ruby without the devkit, if there is no devkit it can't build some of the gems it needs. On a PC the devkit is required in order to install all of the jekyll dependencies.

Peltier

Thanks for your answer! But as I understand it, Ruby Devkit is only for Windows systems – Andriaandriana

Answer 4

I have the same problem with jeklly to bundle new website.

try this:

xcode-select --install
gem install bundler jekyll

That's the way I don't need to sudo to install bundler jekyll.

Install the Command Line Tools:
  xcode-select --install

abcLabdeMacBook-Air:zeppelin-master abclab$ xcode-select --install
xcode-select: note: install requested for command line developer tools
abcLabdeMacBook-Air:zeppelin-master abclab$ gem install bundler jekyll
ERROR:  While executing gem ... (Gem::FilePermissionError)
    You don't have write permissions for the /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.3.0 directory.
abcLabdeMacBook-Air:zeppelin-master abclab$ bundle install
Ignoring eventmachine-1.2.7 because its extensions are not built.  Try: gem pristine eventmachine --version 1.2.7
Ignoring ffi-1.9.25 because its extensions are not built.  Try: gem pristine ffi --version 1.9.25
Ignoring http_parser.rb-0.6.0 because its extensions are not built.  Try: gem pristine http_parser.rb --version 0.6.0
Fetching gem metadata from http://rubygems.org/.................
Fetching gem metadata from http://rubygems.org/..
Resolving dependencies.....
Using concurrent-ruby 1.1.4
Following files may not be writable, so sudo is needed:
  /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.3.0
  /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.3.0/build_info
  /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.3.0/cache
  /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.3.0/doc
  /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.3.0/extensions
  /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.3.0/gems
  /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.3.0/specifications
Using i18n 0.9.5
Using minitest 5.11.3
Using thread_safe 0.3.6
Using tzinfo 1.2.5
Using activesupport 4.2.10
Using public_suffix 2.0.5
Using addressable 2.5.2
Using execjs 2.7.0
Using autoprefixer-rails 9.4.7
Using bundler 2.0.1
Using chunky_png 1.3.11
Using coffee-script-source 1.11.1
Using coffee-script 2.4.1
Using colorator 1.1.0
Using ruby-enum 0.7.2
Fetching commonmarker 0.17.13


Your user account isn't allowed to install to the system RubyGems.
  You can cancel this installation and run:

      bundle install --path vendor/bundle

  to install the gems into ./vendor/bundle/, or you can enter your password
  and install the bundled gems to RubyGems using sudo.

  Password: 


Your user account isn't allowed to install to the system RubyGems.
  You can cancel this installation and run:

      bundle install --path vendor/bundle

  to install the gems into ./vendor/bundle/, or you can enter your password
  and install the bundled gems to RubyGems using sudo.

  Password: 
Installing commonmarker 0.17.13 with native extensions
Fetching multi_json 1.13.1
Installing multi_json 1.13.1
Fetching sass 3.4.25
Installing sass 3.4.25
Fetching compass-core 1.0.3
Installing compass-core 1.0.3
Fetching compass-import-once 1.0.5
Installing compass-import-once 1.0.5
Using rb-fsevent 0.10.3
Fetching ffi 1.10.0
Installing ffi 1.10.0 with native extensions
Fetching rb-inotify 0.10.0
Installing rb-inotify 0.10.0
Fetching compass 1.0.3
Installing compass 1.0.3
Fetching dnsruby 1.61.2
Installing dnsruby 1.61.2
Fetching eventmachine 1.2.7
Installing eventmachine 1.2.7 with native extensions
Fetching http_parser.rb 0.6.0
Installing http_parser.rb 0.6.0 with native extensions
Using em-websocket 0.5.1
Fetching ethon 0.12.0
Installing ethon 0.12.0
Fetching multipart-post 2.0.0
Installing multipart-post 2.0.0
Fetching faraday 0.15.4
Installing faraday 0.15.4
Using forwardable-extended 2.6.0
Fetching gemoji 3.0.0
Installing gemoji 3.0.0
Fetching sawyer 0.8.1
Installing sawyer 0.8.1
Fetching octokit 4.13.0
Installing octokit 4.13.0
Fetching typhoeus 1.3.1
Installing typhoeus 1.3.1
Fetching github-pages-health-check 1.8.1
Installing github-pages-health-check 1.8.1
Using jekyll-sass-converter 1.5.2
Using ruby_dep 1.5.0
Using listen 3.1.5
Fetching jekyll-watch 2.1.2
Installing jekyll-watch 2.1.2
Using kramdown 1.17.0
Using liquid 4.0.0
Using mercenary 0.3.6
Fetching pathutil 0.16.2
Installing pathutil 0.16.2
Fetching rouge 2.2.1
Installing rouge 2.2.1
Using safe_yaml 1.0.4
Fetching jekyll 3.7.4
Installing jekyll 3.7.4
Fetching jekyll-avatar 0.6.0
Installing jekyll-avatar 0.6.0
Fetching jekyll-coffeescript 1.1.1
Installing jekyll-coffeescript 1.1.1
Fetching jekyll-commonmark 1.2.0
Installing jekyll-commonmark 1.2.0
Fetching jekyll-commonmark-ghpages 0.1.5
Installing jekyll-commonmark-ghpages 0.1.5
Fetching jekyll-default-layout 0.1.4
Installing jekyll-default-layout 0.1.4
Fetching jekyll-feed 0.11.0
Installing jekyll-feed 0.11.0
Fetching jekyll-gist 1.5.0
Installing jekyll-gist 1.5.0
Fetching jekyll-github-metadata 2.9.4
Installing jekyll-github-metadata 2.9.4
Fetching mini_portile2 2.4.0
Installing mini_portile2 2.4.0
Fetching nokogiri 1.10.1
Installing nokogiri 1.10.1 with native extensions
Fetching html-pipeline 2.10.0
Installing html-pipeline 2.10.0
Fetching jekyll-mentions 1.4.1
Installing jekyll-mentions 1.4.1
Fetching jekyll-optional-front-matter 0.3.0
Installing jekyll-optional-front-matter 0.3.0
Fetching jekyll-paginate 1.1.0
Installing jekyll-paginate 1.1.0
Fetching jekyll-readme-index 0.2.0
Installing jekyll-readme-index 0.2.0
Fetching jekyll-redirect-from 0.14.0
Installing jekyll-redirect-from 0.14.0
Fetching jekyll-relative-links 0.5.3
Installing jekyll-relative-links 0.5.3
Fetching rubyzip 1.2.2
Installing rubyzip 1.2.2
Fetching jekyll-remote-theme 0.3.1
Installing jekyll-remote-theme 0.3.1
Using jekyll-seo-tag 2.5.0
Fetching jekyll-sitemap 1.2.0
Installing jekyll-sitemap 1.2.0
Fetching jekyll-swiss 0.4.0
Installing jekyll-swiss 0.4.0
Fetching jekyll-theme-architect 0.1.1
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Fetching jekyll-theme-hacker 0.1.1
Installing jekyll-theme-hacker 0.1.1
Fetching jekyll-theme-leap-day 0.1.1
Installing jekyll-theme-leap-day 0.1.1
Fetching jekyll-theme-merlot 0.1.1
Installing jekyll-theme-merlot 0.1.1
Fetching jekyll-theme-midnight 0.1.1
Installing jekyll-theme-midnight 0.1.1
Fetching jekyll-theme-minimal 0.1.1
Installing jekyll-theme-minimal 0.1.1
Fetching jekyll-theme-modernist 0.1.1
Installing jekyll-theme-modernist 0.1.1
Fetching jekyll-theme-primer 0.5.3
Installing jekyll-theme-primer 0.5.3
Fetching jekyll-theme-slate 0.1.1
Installing jekyll-theme-slate 0.1.1
Fetching jekyll-theme-tactile 0.1.1
Installing jekyll-theme-tactile 0.1.1
Fetching jekyll-theme-time-machine 0.1.1
Installing jekyll-theme-time-machine 0.1.1
Fetching jekyll-titles-from-headings 0.5.1
Installing jekyll-titles-from-headings 0.5.1
Fetching jemoji 0.10.1
Installing jemoji 0.10.1
Using minima 2.5.0
Fetching unicode-display_width 1.4.1
Installing unicode-display_width 1.4.1
Fetching terminal-table 1.8.0
Installing terminal-table 1.8.0
Fetching github-pages 193
Installing github-pages 193
Fetching sass-media_query_combiner 0.0.7
Installing sass-media_query_combiner 0.0.7
Bundle complete! 4 Gemfile dependencies, 91 gems now installed.
Use `bundle info [gemname]` to see where a bundled gem is installed.
Post-install message from compass:
    Compass is charityware. If you love it, please donate on our behalf at http://umdf.org/compass Thanks!
Post-install message from dnsruby:
Installing dnsruby...
  For issues and source code: https://github.com/alexdalitz/dnsruby
  For general discussion (please tell us how you use dnsruby): https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/dnsruby
Post-install message from html-pipeline:
-------------------------------------------------
Thank you for installing html-pipeline!
You must bundle Filter gem dependencies.
See html-pipeline README.md for more details.
https://github.com/jch/html-pipeline#dependencies
-------------------------------------------------

Ginni

The problem I had seemed to be related to the version used by Ruby or my jekyll command, as I said in my accepted answer. Are you saying that you could solve your problem with the gem install bundler jekyll? – Andriaandriana

Answer 5

It might also be that you have mistakenly installed multiple dependencies of Jekyll. In that case

$ /usr/bin/jekyll serve

might work, or remove the one or more installation of Jekyll.

Find

$ whereis jekyll

and then keep the above one and remove the rest of the installations.

Genevieve