Installing Merb 1.0 at DreamHost

I’m using DreamHost as an initial hosting platform for yax.com development.

DreamHost is one of the least expensive web hosting services available. I’ve used EngineYard for production sites but given their pricing, it’s not an option for early stage development, so I’m trying DreamHost for this project. At DreamHost, one account gives me as many domains and sites as I need for any projects in development. DreamHost has an extensive wiki and active user forums for support. And despite what one might expect from the bargain price, I’ve been very happy with the quality of service from the DreamHost support staff. Since it’s shared hosting, I don’t have to wear the hat of a system administrator. And, for shared hosting, the service is fairly sophisticated. For example, I can run Merb, which I’m going to use for the yax.com project.

I’ve completed installing Merb 1.0 at DreamHost and confirmed, yes, Merb can be installed to run on a DreamHost shared server.

Did Merb run “out of the box” at DreamHost? With a “zero-configuration” install? No. First of all, there was some typical UNIX configuration overhead in creating a ~/.gem directory and modifying my ~/.bashrc file. Second, Merb is configured by default for Mongrel, not Passenger. Perhaps future versions of Merb will accommodate Passenger by default (see the currently open ticket) and installation may become a bit easier.

For me, the biggest challenge was sorting through several dozen blog entries that provided tips of varying usefulness.

To sort out the confusion, I created a wiki entry on the DreamHost support wiki that provides definitive and up-to-date instructions.

Here are some blog entries that were helpful (though dated):
PunNeng on Installing Merb on DreamHost
Merb, Passenger and DreamHost