How to install R packages on Unix

First download the contributed R package source files extension .tar.gz from the CRAN web site to a new directory and then execute the following command:

        mkdir -p ~/.R/libs/

To inform R where to look for the libraries that you installed you should create a file called .Renviron in your home directory containing the line:

        R_LIBS=~/.R/libs/

This can be done using the following command:

        echo 'R_LIBS=~/.R/libs/' >> ~/.Renviron

This sets the environment variable R_LIBS whenever you start R and adds the path to the list of paths visible by the R command .libPaths() that can be executed when inside R.

 

Installing NetCDF:

Note: It may be necessary to download the NetCDF source from the following website: ftp://ftp.unidata.ucar.edu/pub/netcdf/netcdf.tar.gz in order to install packages "ncdf" and "RNetCDF".

Extract the netcdf.tar.gz file into your home directory:

          tar -zxvf netcdf.tar.gz

Then compile NetCDF:

          cd netcdf-*

          ./configure --prefix=$HOME/netcdf

          make install   

          make check

To install packages execute the commands in install_packages_unix.txt.

To use the packages start R and type the commands found in library_unix.txt.