Setup for Data Analytics with R Training

Students should have a recent versions of the software below installed for the course:

1. R (https://cran.rstudio.com/)
2. RStudio Desktop Open Source Edition (https://posit.co/download/rstudio-desktop/) 
3. R packages as described below.

Install R, RStudio, and Packages

1. Install R (does not require IT help):https://cran.r-project.org/bin/windows/base/ (Windows) or https://cran.r-project.org/bin/macosx/ (Mac)
2. Install RStudio (may require IT admin privileges, call the USPS IT helpline at 1-800-877-7435):https://posit.co/download/rstudio-desktop/
3. To install the required R packages for this class, follow the following instructions:
   1. Open RStudio
   2. In the lower right pane, there is a tab named Packages - click this tab.

   3. Click the Install button

      

   4. This will open up an Install Packages modal. Paste the following text into the Packages (separate multiple with space or comma) field:

      dplyr,Hmisc,tidyverse,ggthemes,haven,readr,ggplot2,ggridges,viridis,tidyr,stringr

   5. Make sure Install dependencies is checked and click Install.

      

You are now all set to begin your Data Analytics with R Training!

Help on Common Issues

Installing the packages times out or throws another error

This issue is likely related to a government firewall. You can get around this by using a proxy server. To do this, run the following command in the R Console before going through the instructions to install the packages:

Sys.setenv(http_proxy = "http://56.0.142.24:8080", https_proxy = "http://56.0.142.24:8080")

Missing R Tools

If you get an error message about missing R Tools on Windows, you need to install R Tools. You can do so by going to the link that appears in the message, or going here: https://cran.r-project.org/bin/windows/Rtools/rtools44/rtools.html.

Click the link shown in the above screenshot. This will download the R Tools installer. Go through the installer, selecting all of the default options. The installation process may take a few minutes. After it is complete, try installing the packages again.