Adding custom R packages

IBM Software Hub administrators and RStudio users can install custom R packages to use with RStudio.

Users can install the following types of R packages to use in RStudio:

Administrators can install these package types:

  • Global R packages
  • System R packages

For administrator content, see IBM Software Hub documentation.

User R packages

All RStudio users can install custom R packages to their home folder at /home/wsuser/R/library. User R packages are not shared with other users or with other projects.

User R packages take precedence over global and system R packages in the runtime image.

R packages that are located in a Storage volume

To install packages located in any user-defined storage volume:

  1. Create a corresponding Connection asset in the project. For details, refer to Managing assets in projects.
  2. Restart RStudio if it is running.
  3. Install the package. For example:
    install.packages("zoo", lib="/mnts/YourRpackages")

To load a package located in a user-defined storage volume, use this sample code:

library("zoo", lib.loc="/mnts/YourRpackages")

Shiny apps added to a deployment space can also use packages located in a storage volume. The deployment space must have a valid Connection asset for the storage volume. For details, refer to Deploying Shiny apps from a deployment space.

How to add a custom path to .libPaths

If you have custom packages in a storage volume, you can register their custom destination by using the .libPaths() command in your applications. This will enable you to load a package by using a plain library command, without having to provide the lib.loc parameter each time.

To register a custom path in your application, use the following template:

.libPaths(c("/home/wsuser/R/library","<your path>",.libPaths()))

  • A plain install.packages() command writes files to the first path from .libPaths() by default.
  • It is recommended that you begin the list of paths in .libPaths() with a local directory that gets reset when you start a new RStudio session or Shiny deployment. This makes sure that your applications do not accidentally change packages in a permanent directory.
  • In user-defined storage volumes, the mount path usually begins with /mnts followed by the volume name. To register a custom path for user-defined storage volumes, replace <your path> with a real path. For example /mnts/YourRpackages.

Parent topic: RStudio