Installation and Setup

Install Red Arrow and configure your Ruby environment for Apache Arrow

Installation and Setup

This guide covers how to install and configure Red Arrow in your Ruby environment.

Prerequisites

Red Arrow requires the Apache Arrow GLib library to be installed on your system. The installation process varies by platform.

System Requirements

• Ruby 2.7 or later (or JRuby)
• Apache Arrow GLib (C library)
• GObject Introspection library

Quick Installation

Using Bundler (Recommended)

The easiest way to install Red Arrow is using Bundler with the rubygems-requirements-system plugin, which automatically handles system dependencies.

Add to your Gemfile:

plugin "rubygems-requirements-system"

gem "red-arrow"

Then run:

bundle install

The plugin will automatically:

1. Detect your operating system
2. Install Apache Arrow GLib if needed
3. Install Red Arrow gem

Using RubyGems

Install directly with gem:

gem install rubygems-requirements-system red-arrow

Platform-Specific Installation

macOS with Homebrew

Install Apache Arrow using Homebrew:

# Install Apache Arrow C++
brew install apache-arrow

# Install Apache Arrow GLib
brew install apache-arrow-glib

# Install Red Arrow
gem install red-arrow

For development with the latest version:

brew install apache-arrow --head
brew install apache-arrow-glib --head

Ubuntu/Debian

Add Apache Arrow APT repository and install:

# Add Apache Arrow repository
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y -V ca-certificates lsb-release wget
wget https://apache.jfrog.io/artifactory/arrow/$(lsb_release --id --short | tr 'A-Z' 'a-z')/apache-arrow-apt-source-latest-$(lsb_release --codename --short).deb
sudo apt install -y -V ./apache-arrow-apt-source-latest-$(lsb_release --codename --short).deb
sudo apt update

# Install Arrow GLib
sudo apt install -y -V libarrow-glib-dev

# Install Red Arrow
gem install red-arrow

CentOS/RHEL/AlmaLinux

Add Apache Arrow YUM repository:

# For CentOS/RHEL 9
sudo dnf install -y epel-release
sudo dnf install -y https://apache.jfrog.io/artifactory/arrow/centos/$(cut -d: -f5 /etc/system-release-cpe | cut -d. -f1)/apache-arrow-release-latest.rpm
sudo dnf install -y arrow-glib-devel

# Install Red Arrow
gem install red-arrow

Amazon Linux

sudo yum install -y https://apache.jfrog.io/artifactory/arrow/amazon-linux/$(cut -d: -f6 /etc/system-release-cpe)/apache-arrow-release-latest.rpm
sudo yum install -y arrow-glib-devel

gem install red-arrow

Fedora

sudo dnf install -y libarrow-glib-devel
gem install red-arrow

Conda

If you’re using Conda:

conda install -c conda-forge arrow-c-glib
gem install red-arrow

Windows (MSYS2)

pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-arrow
gem install red-arrow

JRuby Installation

For JRuby, Arrow Java libraries are automatically managed:

# Gemfile
gem "red-arrow", platform: :jruby

The required Java dependencies (arrow-vector and arrow-memory-netty) are specified in the gemspec and will be resolved automatically.

Additional Packages

Install additional Red Arrow packages for extended functionality:

Parquet Support

gem install red-parquet

require 'parquet'

table = Arrow::Table.load('data.parquet', format: :parquet)

Dataset API (S3, Multiple Files)

gem install red-arrow-dataset

require 'arrow-dataset'

# Read from S3
table = Arrow::Table.load(URI('s3://bucket/data.parquet'))

# Read from folder
table = Arrow::Table.load(URI('file:///path/to/folder/'), format: :parquet)

CUDA/GPU Support

gem install red-arrow-cuda

Flight RPC

gem install red-arrow-flight

Gandiva (Expression Compiler)

gem install red-gandiva

Verification

Verify your installation:

require 'arrow'

# Check version
puts Arrow::Version::MAJOR
puts Arrow::Version::MINOR
puts Arrow::Version::MICRO

# Create a simple table
table = Arrow::Table.new('x' => [1, 2, 3])
puts table.to_s

You should see output like:

     x
(int64)
0      1
1      2
2      3

Development Setup

For development work on Red Arrow itself:

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/apache/arrow.git
cd arrow/ruby/red-arrow

# Install dependencies
bundle install

# Run tests
bundle exec rake test

Building from Source

To build Apache Arrow C++ and GLib from source, refer to:

• Apache Arrow C++ Build Guide
• Apache Arrow GLib README

Troubleshooting

Missing System Libraries

If you see errors about missing libraries:

Gobject-introspection typelib file for arrow-glib not found

Ensure Apache Arrow GLib is properly installed and PKG_CONFIG_PATH includes Arrow’s .pc files:

export PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/usr/local/lib/pkgconfig:$PKG_CONFIG_PATH

Version Mismatch

Red Arrow requires matching versions with Arrow GLib. If you encounter version errors, ensure:

# Check installed Arrow GLib version
pkg-config --modversion arrow-glib

# Should match Red Arrow gem version (major.minor.micro)

macOS Library Paths

On macOS, you may need to set library paths:

export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="$(brew --prefix)/lib/pkgconfig"
export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH="$(brew --prefix)/lib:$DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH"

Next Steps

Now that Red Arrow is installed, learn how to use it:

• Basic Usage - Core concepts and operations
• Overview - Library features and architecture