Use rvmrc or ruby-version file to set a project gemset with RVM?

Question

I use RVM, the Ruby Version Manager to specify a Ruby version and a set of gems for each of my Rails projects.

I have a .rvmrc file to automatically select a Ruby version and gemset whenever I cd into a project directory.

After installing RVM 1.19.0, I get a message

You are using .rvmrc, it requires trusting, it is slower and it is not compatible with other ruby managers, you can switch to .ruby-version using rvm rvmrc to [.]ruby-version or ignore this warnings with rvm rvmrc warning ignore /Users/userName/code/railsapps/rails-prelaunch-signup/.rvmrc, .rvmrc will continue to be the default project file in RVM 1 and RVM 2, to ignore the warning for all files run rvm rvmrc warning ignore all.rvmrcs.

Should I continue using my .rvmrc file or should I switch to a .ruby-version file? Which is optimal? What are the ramifications?

Answer 1

If your .rvmrc file contains custom shell code, continue using .rvmrc as it allows you to include any shell code.

If your only aim is to switch Ruby versions, then use .ruby-version which is supported by other Ruby version switchers such as rbenv or chruby. This file also does not require trusting as it is just the name of a Ruby version and will not be executed in any way.

If you use .ruby-version you can include @gemset in the file but this will not be compatible with other switchers. To maintain compatibility use the gemset name in a separate file .ruby-gemset which is ignored by other tools (it works only together with .ruby-version).

For example, if you have a simple .rvmrc:

rvm use 1.9.3@my-app

It can be transformed to .ruby-version:

1.9.3

And .ruby-gemset:

my-app

Be sure to remove the .rvmrc file as it takes precedence over any other project configuration files:

rm .rvmrc