System Checks

Documentation for Posit Connect Administrators

The information on this page is for Connect users with the Administrator role.

Overview

Posit Connect system checks perform diagnostic tests of the running Connect server and its process execution environments. Connect administrators can run these tests and view or download the results as a report.

System check reports are useful for:

Verifying your Connect installation is working correctly
Troubleshooting issues with content deployment or execution
Diagnosing problems with R or Python environments
Preparing information for Posit Support tickets or bug reports

A warning or failure in a system check report does not necessarily mean your Connect installation is dysfunctional. Depending on your configuration settings, some checks might fail by design. The report is an educational tool for troubleshooting basic issues.

Running system checks

To run system checks:

Click System from the top menu bar.
Click the System Checks tab.
Click Run New Report.
If there are multiple active hosts registered, select one or run a report on all hosts.
Once all checks complete, review the report by selecting it from the report table.

You can also download completed reports for offline review or to share with Posit Support.

What system checks test

System checks run a series of diagnostic tests organized into groups. The specific checks that run depend on your Connect configuration and the runtimes installed on your server.

Server checks

Server checks test core Connect server functionality:

Check	Description
Connect versions	Verifies all active hosts are running the same Connect version
Product support	Checks whether your Connect version is within its support window
Deprecated settings	Identifies deprecated configuration settings currently in use
Notifications config	Validates that notification configurations are correctly formatted
LDAP groups sources	(LDAP only) Verifies LDAP group source configurations are consistent
Database latency	Measures database query response times
Queue depth	Checks the number of items in the job queue
Self-connectivity	Tests that Connect can reach its own endpoints

Sandbox environment checks

Sandbox envrionment checks test the process execution sandbox used to run content:

Check	Description
Base sandbox tests	Verifies the sandbox environment can execute basic commands

Python environment checks

Python environment checks test the following for each configured Python installation:

Check	Description
Package restore	Verifies Python can restore packages from configured repositories
Environment management	Tests virtual environment creation and package installation

R environment checks

R environment checks test the following for each configured R installation:

Check	Description
Package restore	Verifies R can restore packages using renv or packrat
Package repository connectivity	Tests connectivity to each configured R package repository
R Markdown rendering	Verifies R Markdown documents can be rendered

When to run system checks

Consider running system checks:

After initial Connect installation or upgrade
After making configuration changes (such as adding R or Python versions)
When troubleshooting content deployment or execution issues
Before reaching out to Posit Support
As part of regular maintenance to identify potential issues

Scheduling system checks

You can configure Connect to run system checks automatically. Configure these settings in the Connect configuration file:

Setting	Description
`Server.SystemCheckOnStartup`	Run checks every time Connect starts
`Server.SystemCheckFrequency`	Run checks periodically (for example, `3d` for every 3 days)

Example configuration:

/etc/rstudio-connect/rstudio-connect.gcfg

[Server]
SystemCheckOnStartup = true
SystemCheckFrequency = 3d

For more information about troubleshooting and using system checks, see the Troubleshooting section of the Admin Guide.