[R] Installing pre-compiled R in Linux

[Michael Hannon]

Hi, Sasi.  Yes, I think that getting familiar with R in a "friendly"
context before dealing with your embedded system is a good idea.  Note
that the non-GUI part of R is more or less identical across platforms.
Hence, you could experiment with it on a Macbook, a Surface tablet,
etc., etc., if you're just seeking to get established in R.

The hardware configuration of your embedded system seems reasonable,
but again, I don't know what your run-time requirements will be.  Note
in particular that R likes to have objects resident in memory, so if
you're trying to process a 40GB data file on your embedded system,
you're probably out of luck.

I would certainly start by trying to install the Debian package for R.
Even if you don't have apt-get, I would think you'd at least have the
"dpkg" utility:

https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-faq/ch-pkgtools.en.html

If so, you could use that to install R (provided you have managed to
download the appropriate <*.deb> package for R).



On Wed, Oct 7, 2015 at 3:45 PM, Sasikumar Kandhasamy <ckmsasi at gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks Mike. From source, i am able to compile and use R in my red hat linux
> box. I was trying to get hands on using R in linux box before trying R on
> the embedded box.
>
> My requirement is to run R (R scripts) on my embedded box which has
> customized debian linux (kernel version 2.6.32) in batch mode without GUI
> support. The embedded box have multi-core MIPS processor with nearly 30GB
> RAM. I hope hardware resources on the embedded box shouldn't be an issue to
> run R (correct me if i am wrong), but linux version running here is an
> customized one with limited supporting services such as light weight shell
> etc.
>
> Given this, do i need to cross compile R package for my embedded box or i
> can directly install the debian MIPS version of R package. But there is no
> apt-get or other installer in the embedded box.
>
>
> Regards
> Sasi
>
> On Wed, Oct 7, 2015 at 1:46 AM, Michael Hannon <jmhannon.ucdavis at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>>
>> I don't think kernel compatibility is a significant issue for most
>> applications.  I can say for certain that I update the kernels on my
>> linux boxes without having to reinstall R.
>>
>> There *are* R packages for RHEL and friends.  Have a look at:
>>
>> https://cran.r-project.org/bin/linux/redhat/README
>>
>> Note that there's a bit of fiddling required, but I don't think it's
>> particularly complicated.
>>
>> It's usually not particularly difficult to install R from source.  If
>> you prefer to do that, have a look at:
>>
>> https://cran.r-project.org/doc/manuals/r-release/R-admin.html
>>
>> Also, you don't specify your requirements, but don't overlook the
>> possibility of installing a virtual machine on your RHEL server.
>> (It's somewhat easier to get an R package for Fedora or Ubuntu than
>> for RHEL, for instance.)
>>
>> I don't know the answer to your question about embedded systems.  I
>> would think R would not be a great choice for an embedded system, but
>> I don't know what your requirements are.
>>
>> -- Mike
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Oct 6, 2015 at 9:42 PM, Sasikumar Kandhasamy <ckmsasi at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> > Thanks a lot Mike. The Linux distribution we use is "Red Hat Enterprise
>> > Linux Server release 6.2".
>> >
>> > Also, couple of clarifications,
>> >
>> > 1. Do we have a R package compatibility matrix against the Linux kernel
>> > version? Or for the Red Hat Linux with kernel version 2.6.32-279, do you
>> > have any suggestion/recommendation on R package to be used?
>> >
>> > 2. If we need to use Rscripts in embedded systems such as routers and
>> > switches, do we need to install the complete R package in the  system
>> > also?
>> > Or just libR.so and Rscript should be ok?
>> >
>> > Thanks again Mike.
>> >
>> > Regards
>> > Sasi
>> >
>> > On Tue, Oct 6, 2015 at 5:57 PM, Michael Hannon
>> > <jmhannon.ucdavis at gmail.com>
>> > wrote:
>> >>
>> >> It's very likely that there is already an R package for your linux
>> >> system, and, if so, you'd probably be well-served to use that one.
>> >> You've given us the version of the kernel you're using (not a recent
>> >> one, BTW), but what linux distribution are you using?
>> >>
>> >> -- Mike
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> On Tue, Oct 6, 2015 at 3:59 PM, Sasikumar Kandhasamy
>> >> <ckmsasi at gmail.com>
>> >> wrote:
>> >> > Hi,
>> >> >
>> >> > I have downloaded the pre-compiled version of R package:
>> >> > r-base-core(3.2.2-1) for i386 platform. Unzipped the package under my
>> >> > tmp
>> >> > directory (/tmp). The directories "et"c and "usr" got created with
>> >> > binaries
>> >> > R and Rscript under /tmp/usr/bin/.
>> >> >
>> >> > Executing the R (/tmp/usr/bin/R) or Rscript (/tmp/usr/bin/Rscipt)
>> >> > reports
>> >> > the below error,
>> >> >
>> >> > ./usr/bin/R
>> >> >                                              ./usr/bin/R: line 238:
>> >> > /usr/lib/R/etc/ldpaths: No such file or directory
>> >> > ERROR: R_HOME ('/usr/lib/R') not found
>> >> >
>> >> > How to reconfigure the R environment variables? Because, i tried
>> >> > setting
>> >> > the R_HOME directory to "/tmp/usr/lib/R" but still not working.
>> >> >
>> >> > The Linux version i am using is  2.6.32. Please help me with the
>> >> > steps
>> >> > to
>> >> > install the R correctly. Thanks.
>> >> >
>> >> > Regards
>> >> > Sasi
>> >> >
>> >> >         [[alternative HTML version deleted]]
>> >> >
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>> >
>> >
>
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