Installing R/Rcmdr

Submitted by Amy S. Wagaman on Friday, 1/21/2011, at 11:37 AM

To install R and Rcmdr on your Windows personal computer, follow these steps. (For Macs scroll down to second set of instructions)

1. Direct your web browser to http://www.r-project.org/.

2. Under Download, Packages, select CRAN.

3. Scroll down to the U.S. options and select a mirror for the download.

4. Choose your operating system from the top 3 choices (Linux, MacOS, Windows), and then select an install file. For Windows, select base on the next page. Current build is 2.11.1.

5. Download and install the file. This will install R on your computer.

6. To install Rcmdr, you must wait till R has finished installing. Then, begin R.

7. Under the Packages menu, select install packages. You will need to select a mirror again for the download, then scroll down the list till you find Rcmdr. This will install Rcmdr.

8. Now, under the Packages menu, select the first option of load package, and select Rcmdr from the list. The computer should prompt you that it needs additional packages and asks if you want to install them. Select yes. This process can take 10-15 minutes as R installs the packages that Rcmdr needs to run properly.

R and Rcmdr should both be installed then. To use Rcmdr, after starting R, use the Package>Load package> Rcmdr selection from the menu.

 

Instructions for Mac Users: directions are below (thanks to Andy in IT).

1) If you are running Mac OS X 10.4, look in the folder /Applications/Utilities to see if you have X11 installed; if you don't, visit the web site https://www.amherst.edu/offices/it/help/software/unix/nx#InstallingX11onaMacintoshComputer and follow the instructions there.

2) Visit the web site http://software.rc.fas.harvard.edu/mirrors/R/ .

3) Click on the link for MacOS X .

4) For the version of the operating system you have, Mac OS X 10.4 or, hopefully, Mac OS X  10.5 or later, click on the link for R-2.11.1.pkg .

5) The above file will download, and it will automatically be mounted and the installer will run. Use all of the defaults, and close it when it's finished.

6) If you are running 10.5 or later:

            a) Return to the R download web site for Mac OS X (Steps 1-3).

            b) Click on the link for the tools directory .

            c) Click on the link for tcltk-8.5.5-x11.dmg .

            d) The above file will download, and it will automatically be mounted and the installer will run. Use all of the defaults, and close it when it's finished.

7) Locate R or R64 in your Applications folder and double-click on it.

8) When R has finished starting up, menu Packages & Data > Package Installer .

9) In the dialog R Package Installer, make sure CRAN (binaries) is selected, and click on the button Get List.

10) In the dialog CRAN mirror, scroll down to and click on the item USA (MA), and then click the button OK (you can say Yes to the dialog Set as default?).

11) Back in the dialog R Package Installer, scroll down to the item Rcmdr and click on it.

12) Make sure the button At System Level (in R framework) is selected.

13) Check the box install dependencies .

14) Click on the button Install Selected .

15) Close the dialog R Package Installer .

16) In the window R Console, test the installation by typing library(Rcmdr) ; the X11 program should start and the window R Commander will open.

17) Later, to start R Commander, you can either:

            • In the window R Console, type library(Rcmdr) ; or

            • Menu Packages & Data > Package Installer, and in the window R Package Manager, scroll down to R Commander and click on the button not loaded.