# r-rich

## Summary

+ **Module Name:** r-rich
+ **Support Level:** Primary Support
+ **Software Access Level:** Open Access
+ **Home Page:** [https://www.r-project.org](https://www.r-project.org)

## Software Description

MSI now offers `r-rich` modules that provide compatible versions of R, RStudio, and common dependencies for R packages. These modules behave similarly to the previous R modules in most ways - you can use R interactively or in batch mode via the command line, or interactively using the RStudio interface.

The major difference between the `r-rich` modules and the earlier R modules is that you should not need to load additional modules in order to support installation of most R packages. For instance, in order to install the `sf` package for one of the older R modules, you would have needed to load modules for `udunits`, `proj`, `gdal`, and `geos`. With the `r-rich` modules, once you've loaded an `r-rich` module with the version of R you'd like to use, you can simply install the `sf` package without loading anything else.

This is accomplished by containerizing R, RStudio, and the dependencies using apptainer. This has the consequence that if you *do* need additional dependencies in order to install a particular package, other modules that you load are not likely to be compatible with the contents of the `r-rich` modules. So if you run into a package that you need to install that is not supported by a current `r-rich` module, please reach out to help@msi.umn.edu and we can help by either creating an updated `r-rich` module that meets your needs, or by providing support for you making your own modifications to a custom version of the module for your group's use.
## General Linux

Using the module via the command line works the same way that it always has - load the module and run R or Rscript as needed, e.g.

	module load r-rich/4.6.0_msi1.2
	R

To use the module via the RStudio OnDemand interface, you will need an additional step compared to the previous method.

- Select `RStudio Server` from the list of Interactive Apps on the OnDemand website
- Choose the `Resources` and `Time Limit` that you need for your work as usual
- Under `R Version` select `None (Custom Environment Provided)`
- Tick the box for `Customize Environment`
- Fill in the custom environment with the following:

```
module purge
module load r-rich/4.6.0_msi1.2
```

- Launch your job

### Versioning of the new modules

The `r-rich` modules have a two-part versioning label, indicating both the version of R that is installed and the version of the environment that MSI is providing around that R module in terms of dependencies. For instance the module:

	r-rich/4.6.0_msi1.2

provides R version 4.6.0, and the set of dependencies version 1.2. The set of dependencies that are included in any particular version of this module are too numerous to list in a useful way - there are over a thousand such dependencies in the 1.2 version.

The recommendation is to use the latest environment version available for the version of R you'd like to use, and try to install the packages you need. If that doesn't work, reach out to help@msi.umn.edu for guidance on which module might be more appropriate, or assistance with getting an appropriate module installed if one doesn't already exist.