rstudio/r-base repository overview

⁠Posit R Docker Images

Posit creates and distributes an opinionated set of R binaries⁠ for different Linux distributions. These Docker images are built to use those R binaries. The images are intentionally minimal, their primary purpose is to serve as the basis for other images requiring R.

For a quick way to get started with R or RStudio, refer to the Rocker project⁠.

⁠Sample Usage

These images can be used to execute R:

docker run --rm -it posit/r-base:4.5-noble

These images can also be used as the basis for other custom images. To get started, use an image as the base in a Dockerfile:

FROM posit/r-base:4.5-noble

⁠Releases and Tags

The images follow these tag patterns:

The following distributions are supported for both x86_64/amd64 and aarch64/arm64:

The supported R versions are the current release and the four previous minor versions. For example, if R 4.5 is the current version, images are available for R 4.5, 4.4, 4.3, 4.2, and 4.1.

New versions of R are added when they're available on the Posit CDN⁠, though there may be some delay between the release of R and the release of the Docker image.

New operating systems are added on a less frequent basis.

arm64 images are not supported for CentOS 7.

⁠What is R?

R is a language and environment for statistical computing and graphics. For more information:

• R Home⁠
• R for Data Science⁠

⁠Resources

• Using Docker with R⁠
• Running Posit Products in Containers⁠

⁠Support

Posit does not provide professional support for these images or the R language. The best place to ask questions and provide feedback is the Posit Community⁠.

⁠License

View license information for R⁠.

⁠Developer Resources

The following section contains information for those wishing to build these images themselves.

In general, the structure consists of the following:

• base: Base images that start with a minimal OS and add the necessary system requirements required by R.
• x.y: Images for each major.minor version of R. These images start from the base images and add R, copied from the RStudio CDN.

⁠Building Images

# Build and test all images
make

# Build and test images for a specific R version
make VERSIONS=4.4

# Build and test images for a specific distro
make VARIANTS=noble

# Build a specific image
make build-4.4-noble
# Build a specific patch version
make build-4.4.3-noble

# Test a specific image
make test-4.4-noble
# Test a specific patch version
make test-4.4.3-noble

# Build and test all images, including historic patch versions
make INCLUDE_PATCH_VERSIONS=yes

⁠Updating Images

1. Update update.sh⁠ and Makefile⁠ with the new distro or R version
2. Update README.md⁠
3. Create a new /base//Dockerfile
4. Generate new Dockerfiles:

   make update-all
   
   # Or, using Docker
   make update-all-docker
   

   Copy
5. Build and test the new images locally
6. Submit a pull request

⁠Rebuilding Images

Rebuild images when the R build has been updated but there are no Dockerfile or base image changes. This ignores the Docker cache and reinstalls R in the image.

# rebuild all images
make rebuild-all

# Rebuild a specific image.
make rebuild-4.4-noble

⁠Publishing Images

See build.yml⁠ for the GitHub Actions workflow that builds these images.