Why am I getting an error when installing lunr.js search on Jekyll?

Question

I'm trying to install lunr.js on a jekyll site, and I get this error:

Users/tjohnson/projects/resolve/_plugins/jekyll_lunr_js_search.rb:5:in `require': cannot load such file -- v8 (LoadError)
from /Users/tjohnson/projects/resolve/_plugins/jekyll_lunr_js_search.rb:5:in `<top (required)>'
from /Users/tjohnson/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481/gems/jekyll-2.4.0/lib/jekyll/plugin_manager.rb:58:in `require'
from /Users/tjohnson/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481/gems/jekyll-2.4.0/lib/jekyll/plugin_manager.rb:58:in `block (2 levels) in require_plugin_files'
from /Users/tjohnson/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481/gems/jekyll-2.4.0/lib/jekyll/plugin_manager.rb:57:in `each'
from /Users/tjohnson/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481/gems/jekyll-2.4.0/lib/jekyll/plugin_manager.rb:57:in `block in require_plugin_files'
from /Users/tjohnson/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481/gems/jekyll-2.4.0/lib/jekyll/plugin_manager.rb:56:in `each'
from /Users/tjohnson/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481/gems/jekyll-2.4.0/lib/jekyll/plugin_manager.rb:56:in `require_plugin_files'
from /Users/tjohnson/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481/gems/jekyll-2.4.0/lib/jekyll/plugin_manager.rb:18:in `conscientious_require'
from /Users/tjohnson/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481/gems/jekyll-2.4.0/lib/jekyll/site.rb:74:in `setup'
from /Users/tjohnson/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481/gems/jekyll-2.4.0/lib/jekyll/site.rb:36:in `initialize'
from /Users/tjohnson/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481/gems/jekyll-2.4.0/lib/jekyll/commands/build.rb:28:in `new'
from /Users/tjohnson/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481/gems/jekyll-2.4.0/lib/jekyll/commands/build.rb:28:in `process'
from /Users/tjohnson/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481/gems/jekyll-2.4.0/lib/jekyll/commands/serve.rb:25:in `block (2 levels) in init_with_program'
from /Users/tjohnson/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481/gems/mercenary-0.3.5/lib/mercenary/command.rb:220:in `call'
from /Users/tjohnson/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481/gems/mercenary-0.3.5/lib/mercenary/command.rb:220:in `block in execute'
from /Users/tjohnson/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481/gems/mercenary-0.3.5/lib/mercenary/command.rb:220:in `each'
from /Users/tjohnson/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481/gems/mercenary-0.3.5/lib/mercenary/command.rb:220:in `execute'
from /Users/tjohnson/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481/gems/mercenary-0.3.5/lib/mercenary/program.rb:42:in `go'
from /Users/tjohnson/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481/gems/mercenary-0.3.5/lib/mercenary.rb:19:in `program'
from /Users/tjohnson/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481/gems/jekyll-2.4.0/bin/jekyll:18:in `<top (required)>'
from /Users/tjohnson/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481/bin/jekyll:23:in `load'
from /Users/tjohnson/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481/bin/jekyll:23:in `<main>'
from /Users/tjohnson/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481/bin/ruby_executable_hooks:15:in `eval'
from /Users/tjohnson/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481/bin/ruby_executable_hooks:15:in `<main>'

I'm trying to follow the instructions on https://github.com/slashdotdash/jekyll-lunr-js-search, but I'm somewhat new to Jekyll, so I may not be understanding everything. There are two ways to install it: using a rubygem or downloading the pre-built plugin file directly. I chose the latter. Here are the steps I took:

1. Cloned the repo to my local machine.
2. Moved jekyll_lunr_js_search.rb and jekyll_lunr_js_search folder into my _plugins directory.
3. Downloaded minified search.min.js file (which contains a lot of other js) and added it to my javascript directory.
4. Added jquery.lunr.search.js to my javascript directory.
5. Added the following references to my default.html file:

<script src="{{ "/javascripts/search.min.js" | prepend:site.baseurl }}">
    </script>
    <script src="{{ "/javascripts/jquery.lunr.search.js" | prepend:site.baseurl}}"></script>

6. Added this script to my default.html (through an include) as well:

 <script type="text/javascript">
    $(function() {
    $('#search-query').lunrSearch({
         indexUrl: '/js/index.json',   // Url for the .json file containing search index data
          results : '#search-results',  // selector for containing search results element
          entries : '.entries',         // selector for search entries containing element (contained within results above)
          template: '#search-results-template'  // selector for Mustache.js template
        });
      });
    </script>

7. Added this search form to a page:

 <div id="search">
      <form action="/search" method="get">
        <input type="text" id="search-query" name="q" placeholder="Search" autocomplete="off">
      </form>
        </div>

and this results container right below the form on the same page:

 <section id="search-results" style="display: none;">
      <p>Search results</p>
      <div class="entries">
      </div>
    </section>

and this mustache template right below it:

 {% raw %}
    <script id="search-results-template" type="text/mustache">
      {{#entries}}
        <article>
          <h3>
            {{#date}}<small><time datetime="{{pubdate}}" pubdate>{{displaydate}}</time></small>{{/date}}
            <a href="{{url}}">{{title}}</a>
          </h3>
        </article>
      {{/entries}}
    </script>
    {% endraw %}

Now when I build my jekyll site, I get the error I listed earlier. (I don't get this error without the plugin.) Any ideas? I really need a search feature on my site, and this one seems to be the best.

Answer 1

Try installing the libv8 Ruby gem first.

gem install libv8 -v '3.16.14.7'

or

gem install libv8 -v '3.16.14.7' -- --with-system-v8

Then install the latest version of the jekyll_lunr_js_search gem.

gem install jekyll-lunr-js-search

Finally, include a reference to the plugin gem in your Jekyll site's _config.yml config file.

gems: ['jekyll-lunr-js-search']