[R] R linux install: FORTRAN compiling error

[Marc Schwartz]

On Jun 3, 2010, at 10:38 AM, vaneet wrote:

> 
> I tried downloading the pre-built binaries of R from this website and then
> installing the rpms but is seems they depend on so many other packages to be
> installed first.  I tried simply the R package first:
> 
> warning: R-2.11.0-1.el5.x86_64.rpm: Header V3 DSA signature: NOKEY, key ID
> 217521f6
> error: Failed dependencies:
>        R-devel = 2.11.0-1.el5 is needed by R-2.11.0-1.el5.x86_64
>        libRmath-devel = 2.11.0-1.el5 is needed by R-2.11.0-1.el5.x86_64
> 
> Then when I tried to install those packages there were more dependencies:
> 
> warning: R-devel-2.11.0-1.el5.x86_64.rpm: Header V3 DSA signature: NOKEY,
> key ID 217521f6
> error: Failed dependencies:
>        R-core = 2.11.0-1.el5 is needed by R-devel-2.11.0-1.el5.x86_64
>        bzip2-devel is needed by R-devel-2.11.0-1.el5.x86_64
>        gcc-gfortran is needed by R-devel-2.11.0-1.el5.x86_64
>        libX11-devel is needed by R-devel-2.11.0-1.el5.x86_64
>        pcre-devel is needed by R-devel-2.11.0-1.el5.x86_64
>        pkgconfig is needed by R-devel-2.11.0-1.el5.x86_64
>        tcl-devel is needed by R-devel-2.11.0-1.el5.x86_64
>        tetex-latex is needed by R-devel-2.11.0-1.el5.x86_64
>        tk-devel is needed by R-devel-2.11.0-1.el5.x86_64
> 
> So I thought perhaps R-core would have everything needed to install and run
> R but still:
> 
> warning: R-core-2.11.0-1.el5.x86_64.rpm: Header V3 DSA signature: NOKEY, key
> ID 217521f6
> error: Failed dependencies:
>        libgfortran.so.1()(64bit) is needed by R-core-2.11.0-1.el5.x86_64
>        perl(File::Copy::Recursive) is needed by R-core-2.11.0-1.el5.x86_64
>        tetex-latex is needed by R-core-2.11.0-1.el5.x86_64
>        xdg-utils is needed by R-core-2.11.0-1.el5.x86_64
> 
> Is there any way I can get an RPM that has all the necessary packages built
> in to install and run R? Or do I have to find all these packages that are
> needed to install these 'R' rpms for which many are not found on the
> FedoraProject website (libgfortran, gcc-fortran....).  Also which 'R' rpm
> would I use to simply run R on the linux machine, would it be R-core?
> 
> Thanks


The whole point of using 'yum' from the CLI to install RPMs, rather then downloading them separately and using 'rpm' from the CLI, is that yum will reconcile the dependencies of any packages required to install the RPMs that you actually want. Unless the RPM packagers goofed and messed up the dependency specifications (which happens now and then), yum should be pretty straightforward.

What you have above, is what is colloquially known as "RPM Dependency Hell", which is what yum was designed to avoid.  :-)

If you install the EPEL configuration RPM (as root), as is noted on the 'How To Use EPEL' page that I linked to, then all you should need to do is use the yum command (as root) that I provided to install R. Any required dependencies will be installed during that process. yum will get any needed RPMS from either the EPEL or the RHEL repos as may be required, to satisfy them.

And to answer your follow up question, yes, you will need to be root to engage in a system-wide R installation (and for the other missing system wide components). I don't know that the required RPMs are 'relocatable' to enable a local user install. For that, you might very well need to compile R from source, with appropriate configure/install time location options defined. 

However, as noted, you are missing required system wide components, for which you will need to be root anyway. So you may as well get root access and move forward from there.

HTH,

Marc