Bundle install error in ruby docker image - ruby

Question

I am trying to create a docker image using a ruby app using the docker file:
FROM jruby:latest
# Install apt based dependencies required to run Rails as
# well as RubyGems. As the Ruby image itself is based on a
# Debian image, we use apt-get to install those.
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
build-essential \
nodejs \
git \
ruby-dev \
gcc \
libffi-dev \
make \
zlib1g-dev \
libssl-dev \
libreadline6-dev \
libyaml-dev
# Configure the main working directory. This is the base
# directory used in any further RUN, COPY, and ENTRYPOINT
# commands.
RUN mkdir -p /app
WORKDIR /app
# Copy the Gemfile as well as the Gemfile.lock and install
# the RubyGems. This is a separate step so the dependencies
# will be cached unless changes to one of those two files
# are made.
COPY Gemfile Gemfile.lock ./
RUN gem install bundler && bundle install --jobs 20 --retry 5
# Copy the main application.
COPY . ./
# Expose port 3000 to the Docker host, so we can access it
# from the outside.
EXPOSE 3000
but i get an error when i'm trying to build this docker image
the gem install RedCloth is giving an error saying that I need to install development tools first.
Gem::Ext::BuildError: ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension.
current directory: /usr/local/bundle/gems/RedCloth-4.3.2/ext/redcloth_scan
/opt/jruby/bin/jruby -r ./siteconf20181127-31-1zsapr.rb extconf.rb
checking for main() in -lc... RuntimeError: The compiler failed to generate an
executable file.
You have to install development tools first.
How do I fix this?

Answer 1

jruby has often has trouble with native extensions. In this case, the redcloth gem used to provide precompiled binaries for jruby but as of version 4.3 (the version you're attempting to install) they are no longer available:
Precompiled binary gems are provided for JRuby and Win32 platforms prior to version 4.3.
According to the README, you should be able to run rake compile to build the binaries. This may be a lot of extra work in your Docker image to make work, so I would recommend trying an older version of redcloth that has the binaries you need first. (keep in mind, the 4.2 series was released in 2011 and may not have the functionality you need)