[R] xvfb? cron job updates R packages, fails on some requiring X11

[Dirk Eddelbuettel]

Paul,

Just prefix the command as you would with, say, /usr/bin/time.  An example is here:

  https://github.com/RcppCore/rcpp-logs/blob/master/scripts/runRcppDepends.r#L140L-L142

from the script I use to test all Rcpp dependencies -- now over 900 -- unattended.

Some packages also need OpenGL which the default does not give you. But the
r-cran.mk script building several hundred r-cran-* package for the Debian and
Ubuntu distros -- as well as several _thousand_ r-cran-* packages via Michael
Rutter's repos for Ubuntu, and included in every installation, does this:


  ## xvfb-run with GL extension and default resolution
  xvfbSrvArgs 	= -screen 0 1024x768x24 -ac +extension GLX +render -noreset

  [...]

		if test -f /usr/bin/xvfb-run; then 			\
			$(makeFlagsCall) xvfb-run -a -n 20              \
                                                  -s "${xvfbSrvArgs}"   \
				R CMD INSTALL -l $(debRlib) --clean     \
					$(extraInstallFlags) .   	\
					$(builttimeStamp)   	        \
					;                               \


I guess you can piece the rest together.  Now, if you just used Ubuntu LTS
instead of insisting on CentOS you wouldn't even have to compile them
locally.  Might be worth a consideration or test deployment.

Dirk

-- 
http://dirk.eddelbuettel.com | @eddelbuettel | edd at debian.org