brew - permission denied

Question

My system is OSX 10.11.6.

I'm running into this error:

System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/usr/lib/ruby/2.0.0/rubygems/specification.rb:959:in `read': Permission denied - /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.0.0/specifications/terminal-notifier-1.6.0.gemspec (Errno::EACCES)
from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/usr/lib/ruby/2.0.0/rubygems/specification.rb:959:in `load'
from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/usr/lib/ruby/2.0.0/rubygems/specification.rb:644:in `block (2 levels) in each_spec'
from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/usr/lib/ruby/2.0.0/rubygems/specification.rb:643:in `each'
from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/usr/lib/ruby/2.0.0/rubygems/specification.rb:643:in `block in each_spec'
from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/usr/lib/ruby/2.0.0/rubygems/specification.rb:642:in `each'
from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/usr/lib/ruby/2.0.0/rubygems/specification.rb:642:in `each_spec'
from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/usr/lib/ruby/2.0.0/rubygems/specification.rb:658:in `each_normal'
from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/usr/lib/ruby/2.0.0/rubygems/specification.rb:669:in `_all'
from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/usr/lib/ruby/2.0.0/rubygems/specification.rb:822:in `each'
from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/usr/lib/ruby/2.0.0/rubygems/dependency.rb:253:in `find_all'
from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/usr/lib/ruby/2.0.0/rubygems/dependency.rb:253:in `matching_specs'
from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/usr/lib/ruby/2.0.0/rubygems/dependency.rb:277:in `to_specs'
from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/usr/lib/ruby/2.0.0/rubygems/dependency.rb:307:in `to_spec'
from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/usr/lib/ruby/2.0.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_gem.rb:47:in `gem'
from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/usr/lib/ruby/2.0.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:46:in `require'
from /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/download_strategy.rb:1:in `<top (required)>'
from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/usr/lib/ruby/2.0.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:55:in `require'
from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/usr/lib/ruby/2.0.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:55:in `require'
from /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/resource.rb:1:in `<top (required)>'
from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/usr/lib/ruby/2.0.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:55:in `require'
from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/usr/lib/ruby/2.0.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:55:in `require'
from /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/extend/pathname.rb:2:in `<top (required)>'
from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/usr/lib/ruby/2.0.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:55:in `require'
from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/usr/lib/ruby/2.0.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:55:in `require'
from /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/global.rb:3:in `<top (required)>'
from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/usr/lib/ruby/2.0.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:55:in `require'
from /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/usr/lib/ruby/2.0.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:55:in `require'
from /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/brew.rb:14:in `<main>'

I have tried running brew doctor but I end up with the exact same error.

I have tried the solution in here: Cannot update brew in MAC OS X el capitan and keep getting a Load error with require. I have also tried reinstalling brew and I end up with the same error. Even if I type in brew, I get the same error. However, when I type brew update it will tell me that Already up-to-date.

I type in brew cleanup I get the same error.

What is wrong? Is it some permission issue?

Answer 1

I have the same issue. File "/Library/Ruby/Gems/2.0.0/specifications/terminal-notifier-1.6.0.gemspec" has invalid permissions by some reason (read only for owner, not for group). It can be fixed by just adding read permission to group for this file like:

sudo chmod g+r /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.0.0/specifications/terminal-notifier-1.6.0.gemspec