Installation of R and RStudio

You will need a recent version of BOTH the R programming language and the RStudio integrated development environment (IDE) installed for this workshop.

Even if you already have R installed, follow these steps to make sure the latest releases are installed.

Windows Requirement: Either Windows 10 or 11.
macOS Requirement: 13 (Ventura), 14 (Sonoma), or 15 (Sequoia).

On systems where you have admin rights

(Instructions adapted from https://datacarpentry.github.io/R-ecology-lesson/#preparations)

For Windows

Download R from the CRAN website.
Run the .exe file that was just downloaded
Go to the RStudio download page
The website should autodetect your OS and give you a link to "Download RStudio for Windows"
- Alternatively, under Installers select Windows Vista 10/11 - RSTUDIO-xxxx.yy.z-zzz.exe (where x = year, y = month, and z represent version numbers)
Double click the downloaded file to install it
Once it's installed, open RStudio to make sure it works and you don't get any error messages.

For MacOS

Download R from the CRAN website.
Select the .pkg file for the latest R version.
- For newer M-series Macs, choose the arm64.pkg option.
- For older, Intel Macs, choose the x86_64.pkg option.
- Not sure? Choose the x86_64.pkg option, the Intel version will work on newer Macs, but slightly less optimally.
Double click on the downloaded file to install R
Go to the RStudio download page
The website should autodetect your OS and give you a link to "Download RStudio for macOS 13+"
- Alternatively, Under Installers select Mac OS 13+ - RSTUDIO-xxxx.yy.z-zzz.dmg (where x = year, y = month, and z represent version numbers)
- Although we require macOS 13 (Ventura) or newer, this older version of RStudio will work for macOS 12 (Monterey): https://dailies.rstudio.com/rstudio/cranberry-hibiscus/electron/macos/2024-09-1-394/
Double click the file to open the disk image and then copy RStudio to your Applications folder.
Once it's installed, open RStudio to make sure it works and you don't get any error messages.

On SI managed computers (NO admin rights required)

You can install R and RStudio on SI managed computers without needing administrative rights. Software Center on Windows and Self Service have Macs have options for installing this software.

Note: You must install BOTH R and RStudio.