Setting Up Your Environment

Step-by-step guide to installing Jekyll and preparing your development environment for creating Jekyll sites.

By Kevin McAleer,    2 Minutes

Introduction

Before diving into creating content and customizing your Jekyll site, it’s essential to set up your local development environment. This lesson will guide you through installing Jekyll, Ruby, and other necessary tools.

Prerequisites

• Ruby: Jekyll is built with Ruby. Ensure you have Ruby and the RubyGem package manager installed.
• Git: Version control is crucial for managing your site’s source code.

Installing Ruby

The installation process varies depending on your operating system.

Windows

1. Download and install Ruby using the RubyInstaller for Windows.
2. During installation, check the option to add Ruby to your PATH.

macOS

macOS comes with Ruby installed, but you may need to update it. Use Homebrew:

brew install ruby

Add Ruby to your PATH using the instructions provided by Homebrew.

Linux

Use your package manager to install Ruby. For example, on Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get install ruby-full

Installing Jekyll

With Ruby installed, you can install Jekyll and Bundler:

gem install jekyll bundler

Setting Up a Jekyll Project

Create a new Jekyll site in your desired directory:

jekyll new my-awesome-site

Change into your new directory:

cd my-awesome-site

Build the site and make it available on a local server:

bundle exec jekyll serve

Open your web browser and go to http://localhost:4000 to see your new site.

Version Control with Git

Initialize a Git repository in your project folder:

git init

Add and commit your Jekyll project:

git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"

Practice Exercise

1. Install Ruby, Jekyll, and Bundler following the steps above.
2. Create a new Jekyll project named learn-jekyll.
3. Run your site locally and take a screenshot of your browser displaying the site.

Additional Resources

• Jekyll Installation Documentation
• Ruby Official Website
• Git Official Website