How to create fixtures (for a Devise user) as a yml.erb in rails (4.1.5)?

You should pass the password in plain text too. I am sure there is a User model validation errors preventing your fixture users from being created. Here’s an example from my users fixture which works:

tom:
  first_name: Tom
  last_name: Test
  email: [email protected]
  password: 123greetings
  encrypted_password: <%= User.new.send(:password_digest, '123greetings') %>

If it still fails, please check the log/test.log file for errors and check for missing required fields or other validation rules you set in your User model.

Update:
It turns out that author found the issue himself – used .yml.erb file extension rather than .yml which made rails bypass that fixtures file. ERB works in yml fixtures as rails runs the fixture file through ERB before parsing it.