Installing the IBM_DB Ruby driver and Rails adapter as a Ruby gem

The IBM_DB Ruby driver and Rails adapter is available as a Ruby gem for installation in the IBM® data server clients. Ruby Gems is the standard packaging and installation framework for libraries and applications in the Ruby runtime environment. A single file for each bundle is called a gem, which complies to the standardized package format. This package is then distributed and stored in a central repository, allowing simultaneous deployment of multiple versions of the same library or application.

Before you begin

Similar to package management and bundles (.rpm, .deb) used in Linux® distributions, these gems can also be queried, installed, uninstalled, and manipulated through the gem utility.

The gem utility can: seamlessly query the remote Gemcutter central repository; and look up and install any of the many readily available utilities. When the IBM_DB gem is installed, the IBM_DB Ruby driver and Rails adapter is immediately accessible from any application in the Ruby runtime environment, through the require command:

require 'ibm_db'
or on Windows:
require 'mswin32/ibm_db'

Procedure

To install the IBM_DB Ruby driver and Rails adapter as a Ruby gem:

  1. On all supported platforms, issue the gem install command to install the IBM_DB Ruby driver and Rails adapter: 
    $ gem install ibm_db
    If you are installing the gem from the IBM data server product, specify the gem file location with the gem install command:
    $ gem install /home/db2inst1/sqllib/ruby64/ibm_db-X.X.XX.gem
  2. Before running any Ruby script that connects to the IBM database server, you must ensure that the IBM_DB Ruby driver can access the CLI driver on Linux or UNIX platforms by adding the libdb2.so file path to the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environmental variable. If the IBM_DB Ruby driver cannot access the CLI driver, the missing libraries - libdb2.so.1 error message is returned to your Ruby program.

    When using the IBM Data Server Driver Package software, the libdb2.so file is in the odbc_cli_driver/linux/clidriver/lib directory.

    In the IBM data server product environment, libdb2.so is in the sqllib/lib/ path.