Initial Configuration

Once Posit Connect is installed, there are several configuration options that are available. This section provides an example of how you can manually edit the Connect configuration file to configure the public URL of your server. See additional configuration options in the Configuration Appendix.

Editing the configuration file

Connect is controlled primarily by the /etc/rstudio-connect/rstudio-connect.gcfg configuration file.

Edit this file to make server-wide configuration changes to the system. Learn about its file format and available options in the Configuration Appendix.

Although the Setup Tool, if used, configures the Server.Address property during the installation, we are going to manually configure the Server.Address server property in the following section to provide an example of how to edit the Connect configuration file.

Server address

The Server.Address property is the public URL used to access the server. This setting lets email include links pointing back to your server.

Note

Whenever Connect is deployed behind a proxy, you must configure Server.Address with the proxied location and not the local hostname of the Connect server.

Server.Address must contain hostname and port when your installation uses a non-standard port. You do not need to include port for an https:// URL on the standard HTTPS port 443 or an http:// URL on the standard HTTP port 80.

Here is a sample configuration with Server.Address:

; /etc/rstudio-connect/rstudio-connect.gcfg
[Server]
Address = https://posit-connect.company.com/

Here is a sample configuration with Connect using a non-standard port:

; /etc/rstudio-connect/rstudio-connect.gcfg
[Server]
Address = http://posit-connect.company.com:3939/

This example has Connect available underneath a specific URL path. It’s possible to have this situation when Connect is accessed through a proxy:

; /etc/rstudio-connect/rstudio-connect.gcfg
[Server]
SenderEmail = posit-connect@company.com
Address = https://proxy.company.com/connect/

Important

Please use a publicly available URL (like the one you set in Server.Address) when connecting rsconnect or the RStudio IDE to your Connect server. If a non-public address (e.g., localhost) is used for publishing content, rsconnect cannot automatically open the published content in the user’s browser.

Restart Connect after altering the rstudio-connect.gcfg configuration file:

sudo systemctl restart rstudio-connect

Note

Your platform may use alternate commands to restart Connect. Please see the Stopping and Starting section for instructions specific to your operating system version.

Sign in

Use a web browser to visit the Connect dashboard. This has a default location of http://your-connect-server:3939/. Click the Sign In link. If you are using an external authentication provider, specify your login credentials. If you are using password authentication, follow the Create a new account link and configure your account.

Note

By default, the first user to log into Connect is assigned administrative privileges. Additional users default to the viewer role. For publishing privileges, users need to be promoted to the publisher role.

Learn more about user provisioning and management in the User Management section of this guide.

Email sending

The email features in Connect are disabled unless email sending is properly configured. In this state, notifications that would be sent via email are only visible in the logs. Also, the built-in authentication cannot rely on emails for account confirmation or password reset. These operations instead require an administrator to act as an intermediary.

For additional information about the available email sending methods and configurations, please review the documentation for the following:

Note

The Server.Address property must be configured for email sending.

After adjusting your email configuration, you must restart Connect (see Stopping and Starting) and then send yourself a test message.

Sign into the Connect dashboard as an administrator and visit the Admin>Mail Settings page. Use the Send Test Email button to send yourself a message. Once that message arrives, you know that Connect is ready to send email.

Need help?

Posit provides professional support pursuant to our Support Agreement.

Please see our Support documentation for information such as opening an support ticket.