Install R from Source#
These instructions describe how to install R from source on a Linux server.
We recommend installing R from precompiled binaries instead, following these steps.
Install required dependencies#
- First follow the steps to enable the required and optional repositories, as listed here.
-
Next, install the build dependencies for R:
$ sudo yum-builddep R
$ sudo apt-get build-dep r-base
$ sudo zypper install \ gcc \ gcc-c++ \ gcc-fortran \ readline-devel \ xorg-x11-devel \ liblzma5 \ xz-devel \ pcre-devel \ libcurl-devel \ make
Specify R version#
-
Define the version of R that you want to install:
Terminal$ export R_VERSION=4.1.3
Available versions of R
Versions of R that are available include:
4.2.0, 4.1.3, 4.1.2, 4.1.1, 4.1.0, 4.0.5, 4.0.4, 4.0.3, 4.0.2, 4.0.1, 4.0.0
3.6.3, 3.6.2, 3.6.1, 3.6.0, 3.5.3, 3.5.2, 3.5.1, 3.5.0, 3.5.0, 3.4.4, 3.4.3, 3.4.2, 3.4.1, 3.4.0, 3.3.3, 3.3.2, 3.3.1, 3.3.0
If you need to use an earlier version of R, then you will need to modify the export command shown above:
Terminal$ export R_VERSION=3.X.X
Please see the cran.r-project index for all available versions of R.
Download and extract R#
-
Download and extract the version of R that you want to install:
Terminal$ curl -O https://cran.rstudio.com/src/base/R-4/R-${R_VERSION}.tar.gz $ tar -xzvf R-${R_VERSION}.tar.gz $ cd R-${R_VERSION}
Info
If you need to use R version 3.X.X, then replace
R-4
withR-3
in thecurl
command listed above.
Build and install R#
-
Build and install R by running the following commands:
Terminal$ ./configure \ --prefix=/opt/R/${R_VERSION} \ --enable-memory-profiling \ --enable-R-shlib \ --with-blas \ --with-lapack $ make $ sudo make install
Verify R installation#
-
Test that R was successfully installed by running:
Terminal$ /opt/R/${R_VERSION}/bin/R --version
Create a symlink to R#
-
To ensure that R is available on the default system
PATH
variable, create symbolic links to the version of R that you installed:Terminal$ sudo ln -s /opt/R/${R_VERSION}/bin/R /usr/local/bin/R $ sudo ln -s /opt/R/${R_VERSION}/bin/Rscript /usr/local/bin/Rscript
(Optional) Install recommended packages#
We recommend installing several optional system dependencies that are used by common R packages. Additional information about installing them is provided in our documentation.
(Optional) Install multiple versions of R#
If you want to install multiple versions of R on the same server, you can repeat these steps to specify, download, and install a different version of R alongside existing versions.