Windows Install for COMPLETE beginner

[John V]

Despite being an experienced software dev, the instructions to install Ruby on Windows are just wrong and I am trying to make sense of it. 

It says to go to https://rubyinstaller.org/downloads/ and pick your version, download it and double click it to run.  Well, the Download is a 7Z  zip file NOT an EXE file so that obviously is wrong instructions. When you look in the extracted folders, there is NO installer in the root, and if you dig down to the BIN folder you find multiple .BAT files and 2 EXE files, one named RUBY and the other named RUBYW.  

So yeah, totally unhelpful.

Can I just download the ZIP for the RUBY version I want, put it in my PROGRAM FILES folder and add a path to it or something like that?  What's the simplest way to install the version you need?  For this particular situation I need an older version 3.2.2.

Thanks!

[Lars Kanis]

The 7ZIP file is intended for more experienced ruby devs. The
recommended way to install ruby is by the EXE installer file,
especially the Ruby+Devkit version. You're right, that there should be
a README in the 7ZIP file, which highlights this and contains
instructions about the manual setup of the ruby environment with a
7ZIP file. All the online instructions are about the EXE file - you
should download that one.

Also you shouldn't install version 3.2.2 but the latest patch release,
which is 3.2.9 currently. Patch releases often fix issues with online
resources like MSYS2 and are fully compatible.

Regards, Lars

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[John V]

Thanks, Lars.  The reason I am installing 3.2.2 is I need to build a project from GITHUB and its instructions say to use that version specifically.

There is no rubyinstaller download for that version anymore. The closest I could get would be 3.2.9-1 but I'm probably inviting more problems by not installing what they stated as requirement. I downloaded the RUBY zip file for 3.2.2. but there are not instructions for manual setup. I'm still searching for that.

I did realize my mistake, though. Knowing I was looking for an old version I looked straight to the bottom of the downloads page and thus got the 7-zip instead of the EXE.  Going too fast.