What kind of sudo privileges would I need for PostgreSQL and Ruby on Rails?

Question

I'm trying to get a Ruby on Rails Web Application running on a server at school, and I need sudo privileges to do so. For this, I also need PostgreSQL installed as well.

I know that after installation, all that I'll need for PostgreSQL is the usr/local/pgsql/bin, usr/local/pgsql/inlcude, usr/local/pgsql/lib, and so on.. but I'm not particularly sure what kind of privileges I'm going to need during installation.

Also, is it possible for me to install Ruby on Rails without any sudo privileges?

The reason that I can't do everything as a root is because its a school server, and giving a student root access isn't particularly something that the server admin should do. She has to edit the /etc/sudoers file and assign me root access to the appropriate folder(s).

Answer 1

I believe if you use Ruby Version Manager you don't need sudo privileges as it just installs everything on your home directory. Also check out this answer: how to install gems without sudo

As for PostgreSQL you could use Homebrew for the install. If you are still having difficulty you should check out the detail PostgreSQL installation guides.