Step 2: Configure the server's address and email properties

Now that you have successfully installed RStudio Connect, you must define the following:

Property Description
Server.SenderEmail The email address from which RStudio Connect sends emails.
Server.Address The public URL of your RStudio Connect server.
Server.EmailProvider Determines how RStudio Connect sends emails.

Important

By default, RStudio Connect's email functionality is disabled until it is properly configured. We strongly recommend configuring it now so all of RStudio Connect's features are available right away.

To configure these properties, open the following file:

/etc/rstudio-connect/rstudio-connect.gcfg

Update the file based on the examples shown below.

Step 2a: Server email address

Configure the email address from which RStudio Connect sends emails by defining the Server.SenderEmail property, for example:

[Server]
SenderEmail = account@company.com

Step 2b: Server address

Next, specify the server address/public URL of your server by defining the Server.Address property:

[Server]
Address = https://rstudio-connect.company.com

Caution

If you don't properly configure the Server.Address you will not be able to add a user to the server because the account confirmation links require the Server.Address to be configured. Additionally, some other RStudio Connect features will not be available without this property defined.

Step 2c: Server email provider

The email provider configuration options are:

Property Description
none This is the default setting. If none is used, then any existing legacy email settings stored in the database are used. Otherwise, if there are no legacy settings in the database, then all email features are disabled and email notifications are logged instead.
SMTP This option sends email using an SMTP endpoint.
Sendmail This option sends messages locally on your server and relies on a working sendmail configuration or some equivalent replacement.

Now, select one of the email providers listed above add the EmailProvider property to the file, for example:

[Server]
EmailProvider = SMTP

Using SMTP as an example, you would add the following section to the /etc/rstudio-connect/rstudio-connect.gcfg file and then populate the fields:

[SMTP]
Host = 
Port = 
SSL = 
User = 
Password = 

Info

RStudio recommends using SMTP as your Server.EmailProvider. For additional information about the SMTP configuration options, see the Admin Guide's SMTP section.

Step 2d: Apply your changes to RStudio Connect

Save your changes and restart RStudio Connect:

Terminal

$ sudo systemctl restart rstudio-connect

Note

Although most newer distributions use systemd, Red Hat/CentOS 6 use Upstart. The documentation for restarting RStudio Connect for distributions using Upstart is available here.

For more information about the functionality and the configuration of these properties, see the Editing the Configuration File section of the Admin Guide.