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Generate a reproducible Dockerfile for an R project

Source: R/generate-dockerfile.R
generate_dockerfile.Rd

generate_dockerfile() inspects an R project's dependencies via an renv lockfile and writes a ready-to-use Dockerfile to the specified output directory. It supports multiple Rocker base images, optional system libraries, Quarto installation, file copying, user creation, and inline documentation comments.

Usage

generate_dockerfile(
  verbose = FALSE,
  r_version = "current",
  data_file = NULL,
  code_file = NULL,
  misc_file = NULL,
  add_user = NULL,
  home_dir = "/home",
  install_quarto = FALSE,
  expose_port = "8787",
  r_mode = "base",
  install_syslibs = TRUE,
  comments = FALSE,
  output = tempdir()
)

Arguments

verbose

Logical. If TRUE, prints progress messages as each section of the Dockerfile is written. Defaults to FALSE.

r_version

A character string specifying the R version to use, e.g. "4.3.0". Defaults to "current", which resolves to the version of R running in the current session.

data_file

A character string. Path to an optional data file to copy into the container under /home/data/. Defaults to NULL.

code_file

A character string. Path to an optional script file (e.g. .R, .qmd, .rmd) to copy into the container under /home/. Defaults to NULL.

misc_file

A character string. Path to an optional miscellaneous file (e.g. an image or shell script) to copy into the container under /home/. Defaults to NULL.

add_user

A character string. Name of a Linux user to create inside the container with sudo access. Defaults to NULL.

home_dir

A character string. The working directory set inside the container via WORKDIR. Defaults to "/home".

install_quarto

Logical. If TRUE, downloads and installs the Quarto CLI inside the container. Defaults to FALSE.

expose_port

A character string. The port to expose when r_mode is "rstudio". Defaults to "8787". Ignored when r_mode is not "rstudio".

r_mode

A character string selecting the Rocker base image. Inspired by the Rocker Project. One of "base" for plain R, "tidyverse" for R with the tidyverse, "rstudio" for RStudio Server, or "tidystudio" for tidyverse plus TeX Live and publishing-related packages. Defaults to "base".

install_syslibs

Logical. If TRUE, installs system libraries commonly required by R packages and needed for source compilation (e.g. libcurl4-openssl-dev, libxml2-dev). Defaults to TRUE.

comments

Logical. If TRUE, annotates each Dockerfile instruction with an explanatory comment. Useful for learning or sharing. Defaults to FALSE.

output

A character string. Directory path where the Dockerfile will be written. Defaults to tempdir().

Value

Called for its side effects. Writes a Dockerfile to output. Returns invisible(NULL).

Examples

# Generate a minimal Dockerfile using a pinned R version
generate_dockerfile(r_version = "4.4.0", output = tempdir())

# Pin a specific R version with the tidyverse image
generate_dockerfile(r_version = "4.3.0", r_mode = "tidyverse", output = tempdir())

# Include a data file and annotate the Dockerfile with comments
if (FALSE) { # \dontrun{
generate_dockerfile(
  r_version = "4.3.0",
  data_file = "data/penguins.csv",
  comments  = TRUE,
  output    = "."
)
} # }