Get beginner setup advice for R package installation on Linux

Produces a practical checklist for users who are new to R on GNU/Linux. It recommends binary package repositories where available, explains when R Project operating system repositories are relevant, lists source build tools, and can add package-specific system requirements. It never runs sudo, edits the system R configuration, or changes operating system repositories; the user remains in control.

Usage

setup_advice(
  packages = NULL,
  platform = NULL,
  backend = c("auto", "bundled", "ppm", "pak"),
  repo = "cran",
  check_installed = TRUE,
  include_r_project_repo = TRUE,
  script = NULL
)

Arguments

packages

Optional R package names to check.

platform

Platform specification accepted by resolve_platform().

backend

One of "auto", "bundled", "ppm", or "pak".

repo

Repository name used for Posit Package Manager and sysreq lookup.

check_installed

Whether to check installed system packages on the current host when possible.

include_r_project_repo

Whether to include optional R Project operating system repository commands for supported Linux distributions.

script

Optional path. When supplied, an executable shell script is written with the safe setup commands.

Value

A sysreqr_setup_advice object.

See also

Other setup: explain(), print.sysreqr_setup_advice()

Examples

advice <- setup_advice(
  "xml2",
  platform = "ubuntu-22.04",
  backend = "bundled"
)
print(advice)
#> R package installation setup advice
#> 
#> Platform: Ubuntu 22.04
#> Package manager: apt
#> 
#> 1. Prefer binary R packages when available
#> Posit Package Manager repository:
#>   https://packagemanager.posit.co/cran/__linux__/jammy/latest
#> Preview .Rprofile lines:
#>   options(
#>     repos = c(
#>       CRAN = "https://packagemanager.posit.co/cran/__linux__/jammy/latest"
#>     )
#>   )
#> 
#> Using binary packages can avoid many source compilation failures. This changes only R's repository option when you choose to apply it.
#> 
#> 2. Install source build tools when source packages are needed
#>   sudo apt-get update
#>   sudo apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends r-base-dev build-essential gfortran make pkg-config
#> 
#> On Debian and Ubuntu, r-base-dev is needed for compiling many R packages from source.
#> 
#> 3. Optional R Project operating system repository
#>   sudo apt update -qq
#>   sudo apt install --no-install-recommends software-properties-common dirmngr
#>   wget -qO- https://cloud.r-project.org/bin/linux/ubuntu/marutter_pubkey.asc | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/cran_ubuntu_key.asc
#>   sudo add-apt-repository "deb https://cloud.r-project.org/bin/linux/ubuntu jammy-cran40/"
#>   sudo apt install --no-install-recommends r-base
#> 
#> Use the R Project Ubuntu repository when your system R is too old. For many package install failures, try Posit Package Manager or system requirements first. On Ubuntu 24.04 and newer, the trusted.gpg.d step may print a deprecation warning; it still works.
#> 
#> 4. Package-specific system requirements
#> R packages checked: xml2
#>   sudo apt-get update
#>   sudo apt-get install -y libxml2-dev
#> 

# \donttest{
# Write a reviewable shell script:
setup_advice(
  c("xml2", "curl"),
  platform = "ubuntu-22.04",
  backend = "bundled",
  script = tempfile(fileext = ".sh")
)
#> R package installation setup advice
#> 
#> Platform: Ubuntu 22.04
#> Package manager: apt
#> 
#> 1. Prefer binary R packages when available
#> Posit Package Manager repository:
#>   https://packagemanager.posit.co/cran/__linux__/jammy/latest
#> Preview .Rprofile lines:
#>   options(
#>     repos = c(
#>       CRAN = "https://packagemanager.posit.co/cran/__linux__/jammy/latest"
#>     )
#>   )
#> 
#> Using binary packages can avoid many source compilation failures. This changes only R's repository option when you choose to apply it.
#> 
#> 2. Install source build tools when source packages are needed
#>   sudo apt-get update
#>   sudo apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends r-base-dev build-essential gfortran make pkg-config
#> 
#> On Debian and Ubuntu, r-base-dev is needed for compiling many R packages from source.
#> 
#> 3. Optional R Project operating system repository
#>   sudo apt update -qq
#>   sudo apt install --no-install-recommends software-properties-common dirmngr
#>   wget -qO- https://cloud.r-project.org/bin/linux/ubuntu/marutter_pubkey.asc | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/cran_ubuntu_key.asc
#>   sudo add-apt-repository "deb https://cloud.r-project.org/bin/linux/ubuntu jammy-cran40/"
#>   sudo apt install --no-install-recommends r-base
#> 
#> Use the R Project Ubuntu repository when your system R is too old. For many package install failures, try Posit Package Manager or system requirements first. On Ubuntu 24.04 and newer, the trusted.gpg.d step may print a deprecation warning; it still works.
#> 
#> 4. Package-specific system requirements
#> R packages checked: xml2, curl
#>   sudo apt-get update
#>   sudo apt-get install -y libcurl4-openssl-dev libssl-dev libxml2-dev
#> 
#> 
#> Script written to: /tmp/Rtmp8WFNrU/file199b65aa2f5c.sh
# }