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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-25T00:18:23+00:00

when I type the command mkdir rails_projects to follow along with a tutorial I

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when I type the command 

mkdir rails_projects

to follow along with a tutorial I am using on http://www.railstutorial.org I get this problem:

~ DUFF$ mkdir rails_projects
mkdir: rails_projects: Permission denied

Does anyone know what this is happening? I tried to quit terminal and come back, but that didn’t work. I was thinking I may some how not have access to the current directory I am in, but I am not sure how to check that and I am the only user (that I am aware of on the computer). I looked around at the other threads but it seemed like they were not the same issue and most were PHP based.

I am not sure what commands I use to find out the directory I am currently in. Also, I am new to programming so I am not sure where these things reside on my system. Any help would be appreciated. You all were very helpful with my questions yesterday. I have seen a few posts saying you never need to use sudo and I should have access to create a directory, so I am not sure what is happening.

Again, thanks in advance.

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    What operating system are you using? If it’s Linux/OS X, you can use the pwd command to list your current directory.

    I would recommend you then switch directories to your user’s home directory and start work there. You can do this with the cd ~

    ~ is simply a shortcut for the full path to the user’s home directory, which, in OS X is generally /Users/username

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