Running RStudio inside ShinyProxy

RStudio version: 2025.05.1 Build 513 R Version: 4.5.1

• Click here for a version using R 3.6.0
• Click here for a version using R 4.0.4
• Click here for a version using R 4.1.2
• Click here for a version using R 4.3.1

Screenshot

This repository explains how to run RStudio in ShinyProxy. RStudio 4.3.1 and later requires at least ShinyProxy 2.5.0.

Building the Docker image

To pull the image made in this repository from Docker Hub, use

sudo docker pull openanalytics/shinyproxy-rstudio-ide-demo:2025.05.1_513__4.5.1

The relevant Docker Hub repository can be found at https://hub.docker.com/r/openanalytics/shinyproxy-rstudio-ide-demo

To build the image from the Dockerfile, navigate into the root directory of this repository and run

sudo docker build -t openanalytics/shinyproxy-rstudio-ide-demo:2025.05.1_513__4.5.1 .

ShinyProxy Configuration

For deployment on ShinyProxy the environment variables DISABLE_AUTH must be set to true and WWW_ROOT_PATH to the path of the application, finally the port of the container must be configured to 8787, e.g.:

proxy:
  specs:
    - id: rstudio
      container-image: openanalytics/shinyproxy-rstudio-ide-demo:2025.05.1_513__4.5.1
      container-env:
        DISABLE_AUTH: true
        WWW_ROOT_PATH: "#{proxy.getRuntimeValue('SHINYPROXY_PUBLIC_PATH')}"
      port: 8787

Another useful option is to mount volume per user, e.g.:

    container-volumes: [ "/tmp/#{proxy.userId}:/home/rstudio" ]

Here /home/rstudio is used inside the container since "rstudio" is the default username in rocker/rstudio image. If desired, this can be changed by setting USER environment variable in the application specs as follows:

proxy:
  specs:
    - id: rstudio
      container-image: openanalytics/shinyproxy-rstudio-ide-demo:2025.05.1_513__4.5.1
      container-env:
        DISABLE_AUTH: true
        USER: "#{proxy.userId}"
        WWW_ROOT_PATH: "#{proxy.getRuntimeValue('SHINYPROXY_PUBLIC_PATH')}"
      port: 8787
      container-volumes: [ "/tmp/#{proxy.userId}:/home/#{proxy.userId}" ]

Optional features

Check the Dockerfile for instructions on how to change the default behavior of the Docker image to:

• use all environment variables in RStudio
• read /etc/profile when starting a R session

Screenshot

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