[ARROW-12981] [R] Install source package from CRAN alone - ASF JIRA

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Details

Type: Wish
Status: Resolved
Priority: Major
Resolution: Fixed
Affects Version/s: 4.0.1
Fix Version/s: 6.0.0
Component/s: Packaging, R
Labels:
- pull-request-available
Environment:
Linux

External issue URL:
https://github.com/apache/arrow/issues/28699

Description

Hello,

I would like to install Arrow on Linux using only CRAN, without downloading additional files from Github, Apache, or Ursa Labs. I understand this is a big ask, and might not be a priority for you all. Feel free to close if you feel that this is out of scope.

Why is a CRAN-only installation useful?

It's common for organizations to set up firewalls that prevent arbitrary downloads, but allow access to their own internal CRAN mirror.
- Sometimes these firewalls also allow requests to Github, but often not.
On a broader level, my favorite thing about R is CRAN, the CRAN maintainers, and their policy that "Source packages may not contain any form of binary executable code." By distributing most of the Arrow code separately (either as source C++ or a compiled library), automated code archives and other source-based tools become much less useful.

Of course, arrow isn't the only R package to depend on external libraries or distribute code separately. If a CRAN-only approach isn't viable, it would still be useful to have an all-offline method. I'm also having trouble getting an offline install to work, even with a local copy of the Arrow repo. (See the bottom of the script below.)

What does does installing offline look like now?
Here's a bash script that approximates installing behind a firewall.

git clone --depth 1 git@github.com:apache/arrow.git test_arrow

cd test_arrow
wget 'https://cran.r-project.org/src/contrib/arrow_4.0.1.tar.gz'

# Set up a temporary R library (optional)
mkdir test_r_lib
export R_LIBS_USER=test_r_lib

export ARROW_R_DEV=true
export LIBARROW_MINIMAL=false
export LIBARROW_DOWNLOAD=false
export LIBARROW_BINARY=false
export LIBARROW_BUILD=true

# These are all of the direct dependencies, including Suggests
# This isn't required if the packages are already installed
Rscript -e "install.packages(c('assertthat', 'bit64', 'purrr', 'R6', 'rlang', 'tidyselect', 'vctrs', 'cpp11', 'decor', 'distro', 'dplyr', 'hms', 'knitr', 'lubridate', 'pkgload', 'reticulate', 'rmarkdown', 'stringr', 'testthat', 'tibble', 'withr'))"



# Disable your internet connection here.



# Now try to install the R package we downloaded with wget.
# This is an approximation of being behind a firewall.
Rscript -e 'install.packages("arrow_4.0.1.tar.gz", repos=NULL)'

# It successfully installs the R component, but not the C++ library, 
# even with LIBARROW_BUILD=true
Rscript -e "arrow::arrow_available()"
# [1] FALSE


# As mentioned in the installation vignette, 
# we can R CMD INSTALL in the git repo.

R CMD INSTALL r

# This will try to build the C++ library, but fails when mimalloc and 
# jemalloc can't be downloaded from Github.
# (Seems not to be affected by LIBARROW_DOWNLOAD=false).
# When C++ compilation fails, the R component still installs.