rails console require cannot load such file readline

Question

I am new to Ruby on Rails, and I install ruby by source.

Ruby version is 2.3.0 and rails version is Rails 4.2.5.

I can't run rails c or rails console.

It giving me the following error:

Running via Spring preloader in process 4267
/usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.3.0/gems/activesupport-4.2.5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:274:in `require': cannot load such file -- readline (LoadError)
from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.3.0/gems/activesupport-4.2.5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:274:in `block in require'
from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.3.0/gems/activesupport-4.2.5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:240:in `load_dependency'
from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.3.0/gems/activesupport-4.2.5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:274:in `require'
from /usr/local/lib/ruby/2.3.0/irb/completion.rb:10:in `<top (required)>'
from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.3.0/gems/activesupport-4.2.5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:274:in `require'
from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.3.0/gems/activesupport-4.2.5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:274:in `block in require'
from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.3.0/gems/activesupport-4.2.5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:240:in `load_dependency'
from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.3.0/gems/activesupport-4.2.5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:274:in `require'
from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.3.0/gems/railties-4.2.5/lib/rails/commands/console.rb:3:in `<top (required)>'
from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.3.0/gems/activesupport-4.2.5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:274:in `require'
from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.3.0/gems/activesupport-4.2.5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:274:in `block in require'
from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.3.0/gems/activesupport-4.2.5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:240:in `load_dependency'
from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.3.0/gems/activesupport-4.2.5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:274:in `require'
from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.3.0/gems/railties-4.2.5/lib/rails/commands/commands_tasks.rb:123:in `require_command!'
from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.3.0/gems/railties-4.2.5/lib/rails/commands/commands_tasks.rb:58:in `console'
from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.3.0/gems/railties-4.2.5/lib/rails/commands/commands_tasks.rb:39:in `run_command!'
from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.3.0/gems/railties-4.2.5/lib/rails/commands.rb:17:in `<top (required)>'
from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.3.0/gems/activesupport-4.2.5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:274:in `require'
from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.3.0/gems/activesupport-4.2.5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:274:in `block in require'
from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.3.0/gems/activesupport-4.2.5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:240:in `load_dependency'
from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.3.0/gems/activesupport-4.2.5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:274:in `require'
from /home/james/Desktop/myapp/bin/rails:9:in `<top (required)>'
from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.3.0/gems/activesupport-4.2.5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:268:in `load'
from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.3.0/gems/activesupport-4.2.5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:268:in `block in load'
from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.3.0/gems/activesupport-4.2.5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:240:in `load_dependency'
from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.3.0/gems/activesupport-4.2.5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:268:in `load'
from /usr/local/lib/ruby/2.3.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:55:in `require'
from /usr/local/lib/ruby/2.3.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:55:in `require'
from -e:1:in `<main>'

EDIT

I try second solution in @Vasfed link, and it give me following error:

make: *** No rule to make target `/internal.h', needed by `readline.o'.  Stop.

i tried, but still running via Spring preloader. Btw, what is Spring? — James, Jan 19 '16 at 11:23
so remove it from `Gemfile` than in console `bundle` than `rails c` — Oleh Sobchuk, Jan 19 '16 at 11:24
Are you using a ruby built with readline? try `require 'readline'` in `irb` — Vasfed, Jan 19 '16 at 11:28
Possibly duplicate of http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4385549/no-such-file-to-load-readline — Vasfed, Jan 19 '16 at 11:30
I already install `libreadline-dev`. I try reinstall `spring`,too. Still the same error — James, Jan 19 '16 at 11:35

score 12 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 19 '16 at 12:32

12

Readline gem is required by your application but not specified in your Gemfile

Please add this to your gem file

gem 'rb-readline'

Also reinstall

libreadline-dev

answered Jan 19 '16 at 12:32

Arun Mathew Kurian

546
3
15

try removing the ruby version and reinstalling it and then do the above steps.I hope it works because it will recreate ruby dependencies – Arun Mathew Kurian Jan 19 '16 at 15:07

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 20 '16 at 03:05

If you installed from source, install libredline-dev first and then go to ruby-2.3.0/ext/readline (or wherever the source code is)/ext/readline.

ruby extconf.rb

make

make install

if you get an error, edit Makefile after runing extconf.rb and add top_srcdir = ../.. after archdir = $(rubyarchdir).

Then, run make && make install again.

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 04 '17 at 05:15

You need some extra dependencies

sudo apt-get install build-essential libssl-dev curl libcurl3 libreadline-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev libffi-dev libgdbm3 libgdbm-dev

After installing dependences, do this in ruby source code folder:

.configure
make
sudo make install

David Rz Ayala · Answer 4 · 2019-09-19T14:52:06.690

1

The accepted answer (installing the gem rb-readline) is a workaround.

Don't do that, instead, your ruby should be installed with ext/readline.

For that you need ncurses devel and readline devel libraries

In CentOS that is

yum install readline readline-devel ncurses ncurses-devel

For Ubuntu, read Abel's anwer.

Oh, and after installing the libraries, you should recompile your ruby.

edited Sep 19 '19 at 14:52

answered Mar 07 '17 at 06:10

David Rz Ayala

2,165
1
20
22

rails console require cannot load such file readline

4 Answers4