This is a script to install multiple versions of R on linux systems that are not using R studio server pro
The original documentation for installing multiple version of R on linux can be found here.
I. Resources
II. Installation
III. Example
IV. Installing Rstudio server
V. Troubleshooting
VI. Closing remarks
VII. Removing Rstudio server
Clone this repo from GitHub.
git@github.com:nasiegel88/installR.git
Once the script is downloaded you will need to make it executable.
chmod u+x installR.sh
Note the script needs to be run as root and will not start without root.
# Wrong
$ ./installR.sh
This script must be run as root.
-a
is the major R version and -b
is the minor R version
# Correct
$ sudo ./installR.sh
Some or all of the parameters are empty
Usage: ./installR.sh -a parameterA -b parameterB
-a Major R version i.e. 4
-b Minor R version i.e. 4.1.3
The code below will install R_4.1.3 to the /opt
directory.
sudo ./installR.sh -a '4' -b '4.1.3'
Assuming Rstudio server is installed on the system launch the server and 4.1.3
should be the version running in Rstudio.
sudo rstudio-server start
And if the default port is being used users should go to localhost:8787
using their browser of choice.
To install another version of R run the chunk below.
sudo ./installR.sh -a 4 -b 4.1.2
This will install a different version of R. In order to get Rstudio server to recognize the R version has been changed rserver.conf
will need to be edited. The shell script below will make rstudio studio run what ever installed version of R is passed through the -b
argument.
chmod u+x changeR.sh
sudo ./changeR.sh -b 4.1.2
Then the server will need to restarted to Rstudio to recognize the change.
sudo rstudio-server restart
To double check that the desired version of R is being run in Rstudio enter the command listed below in the Rstudio console.
R.version
platform x86_64-pc-linux-gnu
arch x86_64
os linux-gnu
system x86_64, linux-gnu
status
major 4
minor 1.2
year 2021
month 11
day 01
svn rev 81115
language R
version.string R version 4.1.2 (2021-11-01) # The correct version is being used!
nickname Bird Hippie
If Rstudio server is not running the desired version of R after restarting the server try to terminate the session and start a new one.
sudo apt-get install gdebi-core
# Download load the most recent version of R studio server
wget https://download2.rstudio.org/server/bionic/amd64/rstudio-server-2022.02.2-485-amd64.deb
# Run the executable
sudo gdebi rstudio-server-2022.02.2-485-amd64.deb
# clean up
rm rstudio-server-2022.02.2-485-amd64.deb
Rstudio server should now be ready to run. If there are issues starting the server try some of the solutions listed below...
I. Try telling rstudio server where to located the R
echo "export RSTUDIO_WHICH_R='/opt/R/4.1.3/bin/R'" >> ~/.profile
II. If the open source version of rstudio server is being used remove rserver.conf
and restart the server.
sudo rm /etc/rstudio/rserver.conf
III. If a very old version of R is being installed, such as anything pre-3.0 users may have an issue launching Rstudio server. If that is the case it is recommended to in install an older version of Rstudio server. Debian builds for Debian and Ubuntu can be found here. If the goal is to run R from the command line then then skip this step.
It is nice to be able to switch between R versions in Rstudio with a few clicks however, to ensure reproducibility it is recommended to run R in something like mybinder or rocker (docker images for R and Rstudio) and to manager software in an environment using a package manager such as conda.
sudo apt-get remove --purge rstudio-server