---
title: "Installing Jekyll"
date: "2015-07-08"
category: "ruby"
slug: "installing-jekyll"
---

## Overview

[Jekyll](http://jekyllrb.com) is a lightweight blogging platform written in Ruby. It compiles into a static site with no dynamic endpoints, making it extremely secure and fast. Posts are written using [Markdown](https://guides.github.com/features/mastering-markdown/) syntax.

![A basic Jekyll blog](kb-image:jekyll-default-blog.png)
*A basic Jekyll blog*

## Quickstart

1. Log in to the [[accessing-terminal]].
2. Select a Ruby version using [[changing-ruby-versions]]. To use the system default:
    
    ```
    rvm use default
    ```
    
3. Install the Jekyll gem and its dependencies:
    
    ```
    gem install --no-rdoc --no-ri passenger rack passenger jekyll rack-jekyll
    ```
    
4. Create a filesystem layout and initialize Jekyll. Jekyll refuses to initialize in an existing directory unless `--force` is specified:
    
    cd /var/www
    mkdir jekyll/
    cd jekyll
    jekyll new --force .
    
    - **Note 1:** The `.` after `--force` is intentional -- it tells Jekyll to initialize in the current directory.
    - **Note 2:** Although Jekyll is a Ruby application, it generates a static site. A Passenger-compatible [[passenger-application-layout]] is not needed.
5. Build the site and link the output directory. Jekyll places output in `_site/` by default. Create a symlink to `public/` for use as the [[where-is-site-content-served-from]]:
    
    jekyll build
    ln -s \_site/ public
    
6. Attach `/var/www/jekyll/public` to a [[creating-subdomain]] (or [[creating-addon-domain]]) in the control panel.
7. Access your Jekyll site.

## Live Building

To have Jekyll automatically recompile when source files change, use `jekyll build --watch`:

Configuration file: /var/www/jekyll/\_config.yml
 Source: /var/www/jekyll
 Destination: \_site
 Generating... 
 done.
 Auto-regeneration: enabled for '/var/www/jekyll'
 Regenerating: 3 file(s) changed at 2015-07-08 14:59:50 ...done in 0.375904515 seconds

## See Also

- [Jekyll running](http://jekyll.sandbox.apnscp.com) on Sol, a [[determining-platform-version]]
- [Jekyll resources](http://jekyllrb.com/docs/resources/)
- [Jekyll documentation](http://jekyllrb.com/docs/frontmatter/)
- [Jekyll help community](https://talk.jekyllrb.com/)
