R Software

Issue/Question

• How do I install R?
• How do I install RStudio?

Environment

• Oregon State University
• Windows
• Mac
• Linux
• R
• RStudio

Cause/Explanation

R is free software used in statistics for importing data, creating data plots, and performing extensive calculations on data sets. It is free to download, and there are installers for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux.

It is recommended to also install RStudio to improve the visual representations for coding and debugging while working with R Scripts. 

Resolution

Windows Installation

1. To access the installers for R, Navigate to http://ftp.osuosl.org/pub/cran/
2. Select “Download R for Windows”.
3. Select the option “install R for the first time”.
4. Select “Download R x.x.x for Windows”, this is the most recent version of R.
5. Run the downloaded installer.
6. Change the default options while installing if there is a specific configuration that is required.
7. To access the installer for R Studio (optional, but recommended), Navigate to https://rstudio.com/products/rstudio/download/
8. Select “Download” for the RStudio Desktop Open Source License Free.
9. If you have not already installed R with the steps above, there will be an option to install R 3.0.1 from the site in step 1. This is the minimum required version to be able to use RStudio.
10. If you have already installed R, select “Download RStudio for Windows”.
11. Run the downloaded installer.
12. Change the default options while installing if there is a specific configuration that is required.

Mac Installation

1. To access the installers for R, Navigate to http://ftp.osuosl.org/pub/cran/
2. Select “Download R for (Mac) OS X”.
3. Scroll down to the Latest Release section.
4. The first option will be the most up-to-date version of R for MacOS.  The Current minimum compatible MacOS is 10.13 (High Sierra).
5. Change the default options while installing if there is a specific configuration that is required.
6. To access the installers for RStudio, please go to https://rstudio.com/products/rstudio/download/#download
7. Select “Download” for the RStudio Desktop Open Source License Free.
8. Scroll down to the “All installers” section.
9. Download the MacOS installer.
10. Run the downloaded installer.
11. Change the default options while installing if there is a specific configuration that is required.

Linux Installation

1. Instructions for Installing on Ubuntu (Linux) can be found here:  https://ftp.osuosl.org/pub/cran/
2. Launch terminal and run the lines dictated in the article.  (if root then remove the "sudo" lines)
3. Run "sudo apt install --no-install-recommends r-base" (without quotes)
   1. Optional: Run the command for "Get 5000+ CRAN Packages" to add more options for R installation.

Assistance

For assistance, contact the Service Desk.