/r-macos-rtools

Scripts to build an **unofficial** Rtools-esq installer for the macOS R toolchain

Primary LanguageShell

This installer has been superceded by the {macrtools} R package, which automatically installs and configures the R toolchain for compiled code on macOS.

Please do not use the r-macos-rtools installer package as it is notably out of date.

Installer Package for macOS R toolchain License

The repository contains the scripts used to create an installer package (.pkg) that contains binaries used to create the CRAN official macOS R binary.

Specifically, the installer will try to download and install:

Moreover, the installer will attempt to clean up previous installations by removing configuration files ~/.R/Makevars and ~/.Renviron that are no longer used. Backups for each file will be presented with .bck appended to the end.

For those interested, the installer can be obtained on either the project's release page. The pre-built binaries this installer encloses can be found at https://developer.apple.com/download/more/ and https://github.com/fxcoudert/gfortran-for-macOS/releases.

Note The installer package was developed by James Joseph Balamuta and has no connection with the R project’s macOS CRAN maintainers. Financial support was provided to sign the installer by Professor Timothy Bates of the University of Edinburgh.

How do I use the installer?

  1. Download it from the project's release page.
  2. Open the installer by either double click or right clicking to bring up menu and selecting "Open".
  3. From here, navigate through it like a normal macOS installer.

That's it.

Once installed, you can start using compiled code in R like normal.

If you want to see behind the curtain, continue reading...

What does the installer do?

The macOS R toolchain installer performs four actions that require the user's password to accomplish. These actions are:

  1. download and install XCode CLI via secure Apple product update
  2. remove any existing ~/.R/Makevars or ~/.Renviron (backups available with .bck)s
  3. determine which gfortran version to use
  4. download, verify, and install the appropriate gfortran version

Note: The installer will remove any existing ~/.R/Makevars and ~/.Renviron files. The existing files will be copied to a backup file, e.g. ~/.R/Makevars.bck and ~/.Renvion.bck.

Verify steps are conducted using embedded md5 hashes of the files. If the hash is not identical to what was embedded, the installer will exit. For details as to how this was implemented please see Issue 8: Verify pkg hash and the Pull Request 10: Feature Pkg Hash Verification.

Verify the Installer

Thanks to the financial support provided by Professor Timothy Bates of the University of Edinburgh to join the Apple Developer program. The installer is now signed using developer credentials.

As a result, the installer should have a "lock" icon in the upper right corner:

Signed Installer Lock Icon

Clicking the lock icon will reveal the signed developer certificate:

Signed Developer Certificate

With this being said, the code used to generate the installer has been made publically available under an open source license (GPL >= 2).

Overview of Files

Below is an abridged version of the actions of each file provided.

  • scripts/postinstall
  • make_installer.sh
    • Create the installer package R binary installer .pkg
      • Builds the package from the extracted tar using pkgbuild
      • Analyzing the package using productbuild to create a distribution.xml
      • Inserts customizations into the distribution.xml (title, background, ...)
      • Calls productbuild to rebuild the package.
  • distribution.xml
    • Customization options (e.g. title, background) of installer built by analyzing a temporary .pkg
  • build_files/Rlogo.png
    • R logo
  • build_files/LICENSE.rtf
    • License of the Xcode CLI, LLVM installer, and gfortran
  • build_files/WELCOME_DISPLAY.rtf
    • Text displayed on welcome screen

License

GPL (>= 2)