Containers

Containers are a tool for running code in self-contained environments.

Debugging r-devel using Docker

First install docker for your operating system.

Then get an r-devel container:

sudo docker pull rocker/drd

The run docker interactively while mounting your working directory:

sudo docker run -v WORKING/DIRECTORY:/mnt/WORKDIR -it rocker/drd:latest

Replace WORKING/DIRECTORY with the path to the directory whose files you want to access and WORKDIR with whatever you want it to be named inside the /mnt/ directory in the container.

This will open an interactive R console running r-devel.

Using containers in VS Code

If you use VS Code as your IDE you can develop inside a container. To setup this up follow the official instructions, which can be summarized as:

1. Install docker for your OS with non-sudo access (on Linux add your user to the docker group and logout)
2. Install the Dev Containers extension
3. Create a .devcontainers/devcontainer.json file to your project directory indicating which container to use, e.g,.

{
	"name": "r-devel",
	"image": "rocker/drd:latest"
}

This can be a little tricky to setup (don’t be afraid to ask for help), but when you open the project in VS Code you’ll be automatically working in the designated container.