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Installation Guide

Overview

The paws package provides comprehensive access to AWS services through R. However, on Linux systems, the paws.analytics package can take a significant amount of time to compile from source. This guide provides several alternatives to avoid lengthy compilation times.

Installation Options

Option 1: Install specific service packages

Instead of installing the full paws package, you can install only the service package you need. This is the fastest and most lightweight approach.

Each AWS service is organized into specific packages:

# For S3, install paws.storage
install.packages("paws.storage")

# For EC2, install paws.compute
install.packages("paws.compute")

# For DynamoDB, install paws.database
install.packages("paws.database")

To find which package contains your AWS service, see the Paws service reference index.

Option 2: Install from R-Universe binaries

The R-Universe provides pre-compiled binaries for all platforms, including Linux:

install.packages(
  'paws',
  repos = c(
    pawsr = 'https://paws-r.r-universe.dev',
    CRAN = 'https://cloud.r-project.org'
  )
)

You can browse available builds and versions at the Paws R-Universe page.

Option 3: Install from Paws pre-built binaries (Ubuntu)

Paws provides pre-built binaries specifically for Ubuntu systems:

install.packages(
  'paws',
  repos = c(
    pawsr = 'https://paws-r-builds.s3.amazonaws.com/packages/latest/',
    CRAN = 'https://cloud.r-project.org'
  )
)

This repository is updated regularly and provides the latest stable releases.

Option 4: Install from Posit Package Manager

Posit Package Manager (formerly RStudio Package Manager) provides pre-compiled binaries for multiple Linux distributions:

  1. Visit the Posit Package Manager setup page

  2. Select your operating system and R version

  3. Follow the provided instructions to configure your repository

  4. Install paws:

install.packages('paws')

Option 5: Use r2u (Ubuntu)

r2u provides fast CRAN package installation on Ubuntu through pre-built binaries:

  1. Follow the r2u installation guide to set up the repository

  2. Install paws using the standard command:

install.packages('paws')

r2u automatically uses system binaries when available, significantly reducing installation time.

Option 6: Use renv with package sources

If you're using renv for package management, you can configure it to use binary sources:

# In your project, configure renv to use R-Universe
options(repos = c(
  pawsr = 'https://paws-r.r-universe.dev',
  CRAN = 'https://cloud.r-project.org'
))

renv::install('paws')

For more advanced configurations, see the renv package sources guide.

Standard CRAN Installation

If you don't mind the compilation time or are on macOS/Windows (which use pre-compiled binaries by default), you can install directly from CRAN:

install.packages('paws')

Note: On Linux, this will compile paws.analytics from source, which may take 10-30 minutes or more depending on your system.

Related Issues

For more context on Linux compilation times and related discussions, see: