Workaounds for Rails apps on Dreamhost

First things first, Dreamhost can be a complete nightmare, so be prepared to loose your sanity over this.

1. I need gem x

Follow the instructions at http://wiki.dreamhost.com/index.php/RubyGems to make your own gem installation, then add the following to the top of your config/environment.rb

ENV['GEM_PATH'] = "/home/username/.gems:/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8"

2. Out of date RedCloth

The RedCloth gem on Dreamhost is still version 3.x, and for some bizarre reason Rails doesn't like to pick 4.x up properly even if you install it.

The solution? Stick RedCloth in vendor, then add the following at the end of config/environment.rb:

Object.send(:remove_const, :RedCloth) if Object.const_defined?(:RedCloth)
require "#{RAILS_ROOT}/vendor/redcloth/lib/redcloth"

3. I am running a cron job (script/runner ...) but it cannot find a gem

Add the following to script/runner

ENV['GEM_PATH'] = "/home/username/.gems:/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8"

4. My app is slow, it just broke, and now nothing works!

If you are looking for stability and reliability, don't use Dreamhost. Instead invest in a nice VPS.