BUNDLE-UPDATE(1) General Commands Manual BUNDLE-UPDATE(1)
NAME
bundle-update - Update your gems to the latest available versions
SYNOPSIS
bundle update *gems [--all] [--group=NAME] [--source=NAME] [--local]
[--ruby] [--bundler[=VERSION]] [--full-index] [--gemfile=GEMFILE]
[--jobs=NUMBER] [--quiet] [--patch|--minor|--major] [--pre] [--redown-
load] [--strict] [--conservative]
DESCRIPTION
Update the gems specified (all gems, if --all flag is used), ignoring
the previously installed gems specified in the Gemfile.lock. In general,
you should use bundle install(1) bundle-install.1.html to install the
same exact gems and versions across machines.
You would use bundle update to explicitly update the version of a gem.
OPTIONS
--all Update all gems specified in Gemfile.
--group=<list>, -g=<list>
Only update the gems in the specified group. For instance, you
can update all gems in the development group with bundle update
--group development. You can also call bundle update rails
--group test to update the rails gem and all gems in the test
group, for example.
--source=<list>
The name of a :git or :path source used in the Gemfile(5). For
instance, with a :git source of
http://github.com/rails/rails.git, you would call bundle update
--source rails
--local
Do not attempt to fetch gems remotely and use the gem cache in-
stead.
--ruby Update the locked version of Ruby to the current version of Ruby.
--bundler[=BUNDLER]
Update the locked version of bundler to the invoked bundler ver-
sion.
--full-index
Fall back to using the single-file index of all gems.
--gemfile=GEMFILE
Use the specified gemfile instead of [Gemfile(5)][Gemfile(5)].
--jobs=<number>, -j=<number>
Specify the number of jobs to run in parallel. The default is the
number of available processors.
--retry=[<number>]
Retry failed network or git requests for number times.
--quiet
Only output warnings and errors.
--redownload, --force
Force downloading every gem.
--patch
Prefer updating only to next patch version.
--minor
Prefer updating only to next minor version.
--major
Prefer updating to next major version (default).
--pre Always choose the highest allowed version, regardless of prere-
lease status.
--strict
Do not allow any gem to be updated past latest --patch | --minor
| --major.
--conservative
Use bundle install conservative update behavior and do not allow
indirect dependencies to be updated.
UPDATING ALL GEMS
If you run bundle update --all, bundler will ignore any previously in-
stalled gems and resolve all dependencies again based on the latest ver-
sions of all gems available in the sources.
Consider the following Gemfile(5):
source "https://rubygems.org"
gem "rails", "3.0.0.rc"
gem "nokogiri"
When you run bundle install(1) bundle-install.1.html the first time,
bundler will resolve all of the dependencies, all the way down, and in-
stall what you need:
Fetching gem metadata from https://rubygems.org/.........
Resolving dependencies...
Installing builder 2.1.2
Installing abstract 1.0.0
Installing rack 1.2.8
Using bundler 1.7.6
Installing rake 10.4.0
Installing polyglot 0.3.5
Installing mime-types 1.25.1
Installing i18n 0.4.2
Installing mini_portile 0.6.1
Installing tzinfo 0.3.42
Installing rack-mount 0.6.14
Installing rack-test 0.5.7
Installing treetop 1.4.15
Installing thor 0.14.6
Installing activesupport 3.0.0.rc
Installing erubis 2.6.6
Installing activemodel 3.0.0.rc
Installing arel 0.4.0
Installing mail 2.2.20
Installing activeresource 3.0.0.rc
Installing actionpack 3.0.0.rc
Installing activerecord 3.0.0.rc
Installing actionmailer 3.0.0.rc
Installing railties 3.0.0.rc
Installing rails 3.0.0.rc
Installing nokogiri 1.6.5
Bundle complete! 2 Gemfile dependencies, 26 gems total.
Use `bundle show [gemname]` to see where a bundled gem is installed.
As you can see, even though you have two gems in the Gemfile(5), your
application needs 26 different gems in order to run. Bundler remembers
the exact versions it installed in Gemfile.lock. The next time you run
bundle install(1) bundle-install.1.html, bundler skips the dependency
resolution and installs the same gems as it installed last time.
After checking in the Gemfile.lock into version control and cloning it
on another machine, running bundle install(1) bundle-install.1.html will
still install the gems that you installed last time. You don't need to
worry that a new release of erubis or mail changes the gems you use.
However, from time to time, you might want to update the gems you are
using to the newest versions that still match the gems in your Gem-
file(5).
To do this, run bundle update --all, which will ignore the Gemfile.lock,
and resolve all the dependencies again. Keep in mind that this process
can result in a significantly different set of the 25 gems, based on the
requirements of new gems that the gem authors released since the last
time you ran bundle update --all.
UPDATING A LIST OF GEMS
Sometimes, you want to update a single gem in the Gemfile(5), and leave
the rest of the gems that you specified locked to the versions in the
Gemfile.lock.
For instance, in the scenario above, imagine that nokogiri releases ver-
sion 1.4.4, and you want to update it without updating Rails and all of
its dependencies. To do this, run bundle update nokogiri.
Bundler will update nokogiri and any of its dependencies, but leave
alone Rails and its dependencies.
OVERLAPPING DEPENDENCIES
Sometimes, multiple gems declared in your Gemfile(5) are satisfied by
the same second-level dependency. For instance, consider the case of
thin and rack-perftools-profiler.
source "https://rubygems.org"
gem "thin"
gem "rack-perftools-profiler"
The thin gem depends on rack >= 1.0, while rack-perftools-profiler de-
pends on rack ~> 1.0. If you run bundle install, you get:
Fetching source index for https://rubygems.org/
Installing daemons (1.1.0)
Installing eventmachine (0.12.10) with native extensions
Installing open4 (1.0.1)
Installing perftools.rb (0.4.7) with native extensions
Installing rack (1.2.1)
Installing rack-perftools_profiler (0.0.2)
Installing thin (1.2.7) with native extensions
Using bundler (1.0.0.rc.3)
In this case, the two gems have their own set of dependencies, but they
share rack in common. If you run bundle update thin, bundler will update
daemons, eventmachine and rack, which are dependencies of thin, but not
open4 or perftools.rb, which are dependencies of rack-perftools_pro-
filer. Note that bundle update thin will update rack even though it's
also a dependency of rack-perftools_profiler.
In short, by default, when you update a gem using bundle update, bundler
will update all dependencies of that gem, including those that are also
dependencies of another gem.
To prevent updating indirect dependencies, prior to version 1.14 the
only option was the CONSERVATIVE UPDATING behavior in bundle install(1)
bundle-install.1.html:
In this scenario, updating the thin version manually in the Gemfile(5),
and then running bundle install(1) bundle-install.1.html will only up-
date daemons and eventmachine, but not rack. For more information, see
the CONSERVATIVE UPDATING section of bundle install(1) bundle-in-
stall.1.html.
Starting with 1.14, specifying the --conservative option will also pre-
vent indirect dependencies from being updated.
PATCH LEVEL OPTIONS
Version 1.14 introduced 4 patch-level options that will influence how
gem versions are resolved. One of the following options can be used:
--patch, --minor or --major. --strict can be added to further influence
resolution.
--patch
Prefer updating only to next patch version.
--minor
Prefer updating only to next minor version.
--major
Prefer updating to next major version (default).
--strict
Do not allow any gem to be updated past latest --patch | --minor
| --major.
When Bundler is resolving what versions to use to satisfy declared re-
quirements in the Gemfile or in parent gems, it looks up all available
versions, filters out any versions that don't satisfy the requirement,
and then, by default, sorts them from newest to oldest, considering them
in that order.
Providing one of the patch level options (e.g. --patch) changes the sort
order of the satisfying versions, causing Bundler to consider the latest
--patch or --minor version available before other versions. Note that
versions outside the stated patch level could still be resolved to if
necessary to find a suitable dependency graph.
For example, if gem 'foo' is locked at 1.0.2, with no gem requirement
defined in the Gemfile, and versions 1.0.3, 1.0.4, 1.1.0, 1.1.1, 2.0.0
all exist, the default order of preference by default (--major) will be
"2.0.0, 1.1.1, 1.1.0, 1.0.4, 1.0.3, 1.0.2".
If the --patch option is used, the order of preference will change to
"1.0.4, 1.0.3, 1.0.2, 1.1.1, 1.1.0, 2.0.0".
If the --minor option is used, the order of preference will change to
"1.1.1, 1.1.0, 1.0.4, 1.0.3, 1.0.2, 2.0.0".
Combining the --strict option with any of the patch level options will
remove any versions beyond the scope of the patch level option, to en-
sure that no gem is updated that far.
To continue the previous example, if both --patch and --strict options
are used, the available versions for resolution would be "1.0.4, 1.0.3,
1.0.2". If --minor and --strict are used, it would be "1.1.1, 1.1.0,
1.0.4, 1.0.3, 1.0.2".
Gem requirements as defined in the Gemfile will still be the first de-
termining factor for what versions are available. If the gem requirement
for foo in the Gemfile is '~> 1.0', that will accomplish the same thing
as providing the --minor and --strict options.
PATCH LEVEL EXAMPLES
Given the following gem specifications:
foo 1.4.3, requires: ~> bar 2.0
foo 1.4.4, requires: ~> bar 2.0
foo 1.4.5, requires: ~> bar 2.1
foo 1.5.0, requires: ~> bar 2.1
foo 1.5.1, requires: ~> bar 3.0
bar with versions 2.0.3, 2.0.4, 2.1.0, 2.1.1, 3.0.0
Gemfile:
gem 'foo'
Gemfile.lock:
foo (1.4.3)
bar (~> 2.0)
bar (2.0.3)
Cases:
# Command Line Result
------------------------------------------------------------
1 bundle update --patch 'foo 1.4.5', 'bar 2.1.1'
2 bundle update --patch foo 'foo 1.4.5', 'bar 2.1.1'
3 bundle update --minor 'foo 1.5.1', 'bar 3.0.0'
4 bundle update --minor --strict 'foo 1.5.0', 'bar 2.1.1'
5 bundle update --patch --strict 'foo 1.4.4', 'bar 2.0.4'
In case 1, bar is upgraded to 2.1.1, a minor version increase, because
the dependency from foo 1.4.5 required it.
In case 2, only foo is requested to be unlocked, but bar is also allowed
to move because it's not a declared dependency in the Gemfile.
In case 3, bar goes up a whole major release, because a minor increase
is preferred now for foo, and when it goes to 1.5.1, it requires 3.0.0
of bar.
In case 4, foo is preferred up to a minor version, but 1.5.1 won't work
because the --strict flag removes bar 3.0.0 from consideration since
it's a major increment.
In case 5, both foo and bar have any minor or major increments removed
from consideration because of the --strict flag, so the most they can
move is up to 1.4.4 and 2.0.4.
RECOMMENDED WORKFLOW
In general, when working with an application managed with bundler, you
should use the following workflow:
• After you create your Gemfile(5) for the first time, run
$ bundle install
• Check the resulting Gemfile.lock into version control
$ git add Gemfile.lock
• When checking out this repository on another development machine,
run
$ bundle install
• When checking out this repository on a deployment machine, run
$ bundle install --deployment
• After changing the Gemfile(5) to reflect a new or update dependency,
run
$ bundle install
• Make sure to check the updated Gemfile.lock into version control
$ git add Gemfile.lock
• If bundle install(1) bundle-install.1.html reports a conflict, manu-
ally update the specific gems that you changed in the Gemfile(5)
$ bundle update rails thin
• If you want to update all the gems to the latest possible versions
that still match the gems listed in the Gemfile(5), run
$ bundle update --all
March 2025 BUNDLE-UPDATE(1)
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