R is a programming language and also a software environment for statistical computing and graphics. It is mainly used by statisticians and data miners for developing statistical software and performing data analysis. It is free software supported by the R Foundation and is part of the GNU Bill of Rights.
What is an R script?
An R script is simply a text file containing the same commands that you would enter on the command line of R. The file extension of this script is ".R".
In this article, we will prepare an environment for application development with R on Ubuntu. Later, we will talk about running R script with Rscript.
How to install R?
The main package for R is called r-base. This package is available in Ubuntu repositories, you can also add the CRAN repository to get a more up-to-date version. We recommend using method 3 to install a specific R version.
Method-1: Install From Ubuntu Repository
First update the package repository:
foc@ubuntu22:~$ sudo apt update -y
Then install the r-base package:
foc@ubuntu22:~$ sudo apt install r-base -y
R version in Ubuntu repositories:
foc@ubuntu22:~$ R --version R version 4.1.2 (2021-11-01) -- "Bird Hippie" Copyright (C) 2021 The R Foundation for Statistical Computing Platform: x86_64-pc-linux-gnu (64-bit)
Installation completed successfully.
Method-2: Install From CRAN Repository
CRAN(The Comprehensive R Archive Network) is a network of ftp and web servers around the world that store identical, up-to-date, versions of code and documentation for R. With this repository you will install a current version.
Update package repositories:
foc@ubuntu22:~$ sudo apt update -y
Install two dependencies:
foc@ubuntu22:~$ sudo apt install --no-install-recommends software-properties-common dirmngr -y
Then download and load the key of the CRAN repository:
foc@ubuntu22:~$ 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
-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
mQENBEy9tcUBCACnWQfqdrcz7tQL/iCeWDYSYPwXpPMUMLE721HfFH7d8ErunPKP
Iwq1v4CrNmMjcainofbu/BfuZESSK1hBAItOk/5VTkzCJlzkrHY9g5v+XlBMPDQC
....
2jiqon7LxHKcTkL+MajTgwrtuH5bI7hL2445uew=
=xbQ3
-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Then add the CRAN repository:
foc@ubuntu22:~$ sudo add-apt-repository "deb https://cloud.r-project.org/bin/linux/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs)-cran40/"
Repository: 'deb https://cloud.r-project.org/bin/linux/ubuntu jammy-cran40/'
Description:
Archive for codename: jammy-cran40/ components:
More info: https://cloud.r-project.org/bin/linux/ubuntu
Adding repository.
Press [ENTER] to continue or Ctrl-c to cancel
Adding deb entry to /etc/apt/sources.list.d/archive_uri-https_cloud_r-project_org_bin_linux_ubuntu-jammy.list
Adding disabled deb-src entry to /etc/apt/sources.list.d/archive_uri-https_cloud_r-project_org_bin_linux_ubuntu-jammy.list
Hit:1 http://tr.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy InRelease
Hit:2 https://packages.cloud.google.com/apt cloud-sdk InRelease
Get:3 https://cloud.r-project.org/bin/linux/ubuntu jammy-cran40/ InRelease [3,626 B]
Hit:4 http://tr.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-updates InRelease
Hit:5 http://tr.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-backports InRelease
Get:6 https://cloud.r-project.org/bin/linux/ubuntu jammy-cran40/ Packages [23.6 kB]
Hit:7 http://tr.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-security InRelease
Fetched 27.2 kB in 1s (19.7 kB/s)
Reading package lists... Done
Now install the r-base package from this repository:
foc@ubuntu22:~$ sudo apt install --no-install-recommends r-base -y
R version installed from CRAN repository:
foc@ubuntu22:~$ R --version R version 4.2.2 Patched (2022-11-10 r83330) -- "Innocent and Trusting" Copyright (C) 2022 The R Foundation for Statistical Computing Platform: x86_64-pc-linux-gnu (64-bit)
Method-3: Install Specific R version
You may need a specific version of R for a specific reason. In this step, we will determine a version and install that version. Update the packages list:
foc@ubuntu22:~$ sudo apt update -y
Add the 4.2.0 version number as environment:
foc@ubuntu22:~$ export R_VERSION=4.2.0
Pull the ".deb" package with cul:
foc@ubuntu22:~$ curl -O https://cdn.rstudio.com/r/ubuntu-2204/pkgs/r-${R_VERSION}_1_amd64.deb
% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current
Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:-- 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:-- 6 60.2M 6 3947k 0 0 2436k 0 0:00:25 0:00:01 0:00:24 9 60.2M 9 5961k 0 0 2287k 0 0:00:26 0:00:02 0:00:24 12 60.2M 12 7776k 0 ...
15 60.2M 15 9738k 0 0 2113k 0 0:00:29 0:00:04 0:00:25 18 60.2M 18 11.3M 0 0 2055k 0 0:00:30 0:00:05 0:00:25
...
100 60.2M 100 60.2M 0 0 1913k 0 0:00:32 0:00:32 --:--:-- 1877k
Install the Debian package:
foc@ubuntu22:~$ sudo apt install ./r-4.2.0_1_amd64.deb
Third party software is installed under the /opt directory. You can access R under opt:
foc@ubuntu22:~$ /opt/R/4.2.0/bin/R --version R version 4.2.0 (2022-04-22) -- "Vigorous Calisthenics" Copyright (C) 2022 The R Foundation for Statistical Computing Platform: x86_64-pc-linux-gnu (64-bit)
Link the executables under /usr/local/bin:
foc@ubuntu22:~$ sudo ln -s /opt/R/${R_VERSION}/bin/R /usr/local/bin/R foc@ubuntu22:~$ sudo ln -s /opt/R/${R_VERSION}/bin/Rscript /usr/local/bin/Rscript
You can now access R from anywhere in the terminal:
foc@ubuntu22:~$ R
R version 4.2.0 (2022-04-22) -- "Vigorous Calisthenics"
Copyright (C) 2022 The R Foundation for Statistical Computing
Platform: x86_64-pc-linux-gnu (64-bit)
...
Using R Programming Language (Example)
To use R, simply type R in the terminal and press enter:
foc@ubuntu22:~$ R R version 4.1.2 (2021-11-01) -- "Bird Hippie" Copyright (C) 2021 The R Foundation for Statistical Computing Platform: x86_64-pc-linux-gnu (64-bit) R is free software and comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. You are welcome to redistribute it under certain conditions. Type 'license()' or 'licence()' for distribution details. Natural language support but running in an English locale R is a collaborative project with many contributors. Type 'contributors()' for more information and 'citation()' on how to cite R or R packages in publications. Type 'demo()' for some demos, 'help()' for on-line help, or 'help.start()' for an HTML browser interface to help. Type 'q()' to quit R. > print('This article is about R') [1] "This article is about R" > > quit() Save workspace image? [y/n/c]:
To exit the R console, you must type quit() and press enter.
An Example R Script
Create a file with the ".R" extension:
foc@ubuntu22:~$ nano example.R
Write the following script content to this file:
#Example R script x = 42 y = 25 z = x + y # addition w = y/x # division #Print "z" z "w" w
Finally run the example.R script:
foc@ubuntu22:~$ Rscript example.R [1] "z" [1] 67 [1] "w" [1] 0.5952381
The result of the operations to be performed in the script is printed on the screen. In this way, you can code hundreds of lines of code more regularly and get faster results.
Summary
You can use the "--help" parameter to get local information about R:
foc@ubuntu22:~$ R --help
Usage: R [options] [< infile] [> outfile]
or: R CMD command [arguments]
Start R, a system for statistical computation and graphics, with the
specified options, or invoke an R tool via the 'R CMD' interface.
Options:
-h, --help Print short help message and exit
--version Print version info and exit
--encoding=ENC Specify encoding to be used for stdin
--encoding ENC
RHOME Print path to R home directory and exit
--save Do save workspace at the end of the session
--no-save Don't save it
We installed with 3 different methods. The choice is yours. Our recommendation is to use R by installing packages from the operating system's repositories if there is no reason.
References
cran.r-project.org - Install R
docs.rstudio.com - Install R
