Install Posit Professional Drivers for Linux

Install on desktop methods  >  Install Pro Drivers for Linux

Overview

How to install Posit Professional Drivers for Linux.

Linux OS

RPM/DEB installation - Recommended

On Linux you can install Posit Professional Drivers using RPM/DEB packages with these instructions.

This installation method gives you immediate access to all available drivers and provides a streamlined upgrade process for multiple drivers.

Individual driver installation

If you can’t install RPM/DEB packages on your Linux Desktop, you can use the following steps below.

Step 1. Install dependencies

  • Install an OBDC driver manager using your system package manager:

    sudo yum install unixODBC unixODBC-devel
    sudo apt-get install unixodbc unixodbc-dev gdebi
    sudo zypper install unixODBC unixODBC-devel

    There are known issues using older versions of unixODBC.

    Running the command odbcinst --version should tell you which version your Linux installation provides. If you have a unixODBC version below 2.3.5, please use the following steps to upgrade it to the latest:

    curl -O http://www.unixodbc.org/unixODBC-2.3.16.tar.gz
tar -xvf unixODBC-2.3.16.tar.gz && cd unixODBC-2.3.16
./configure && make
sudo make install

    Then confirm the installation with version 2.3.16 with odbcinst --version.

    After this, you must reinstall the odbc package in R, if already installed.

    By default, sudo make install adds libraries to /usr/local/lib. In some default installations of R, this path isn’t present on the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable set by R at startup.

    Verify the following within RStudio:

    Sys.getenv("LD_LIBRARY_PATH")

    If /usr/local/lib isn’t present at the beginning of this list, modify the ldpaths script for your version/versions of R to ensure that it’s set at the beginning of the LD_LIBRARY_PATH variable.

    The path to the ldpaths script is a symlink at <R installation directory>/etc/ldpaths. For default R installations, this is /usr/lib/R/etc/ldpaths, which links to /etc/R/ldpaths, by default.

    It’s usually sufficient to change /etc/R/ldpaths like so: {.bash filename="File: /etc/R/ldpaths} ... LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/usr/local/lib:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}" export LD_LIBRARY_PATH

    Verify that the library paths are correct before reinstalling the ODBC package.

    If the wrong version of the library loads, user-installed drivers don’t work.

    Only then you should reinstall the odbc package:

    install.packages(c("odbc"))

    If you are working with the Oracle database, you must:

    • Install version 19.21 of the Oracle Instant Client
    • Link the Oracle library directory to the Posit Professional Drivers library directory by running the following command:
    Terminal
    ln -s /usr/lib/oracle/19.x/client64/lib/* /opt/rstudio-drivers/oracle/bin/lib/

    Please adjust the directory minor version (x) according to the installed version of the Oracle Instant Client.

    For more information on connecting to Oracle Databases, see the Connecting to Oracle databases with Posit Professional Drivers support article.

Step 2. Install the drivers

Install the drivers using RStudio Desktop Pro:

  • Open RStudio Desktop Pro.
  • In the Connections pane, click New Connection.
  • Select the data source from the list.
  • Specify the installation location for the driver (the default path is /home/<user>/.local/share/rstudio/odbc/drivers).
  • Click Next.
  • After the installation completes, click Next. The driver has now been installed.
  • You can either:
    • Click Cancel.
    • Enter the connection details to test and/or establish a connection.

Installing the drivers this way automatically updates entries in the odbcinst.ini file used by unixODBC.

  • To determine the path to the file that’s used, run the following in the terminal:

    Terminal
    odbcinst -j

    The output could resemble:

    Terminal
    unixODBC 2.3.16
DRIVERS............: /usr/local/etc/odbcinst.ini
SYSTEM DATA SOURCES: /usr/local/etc/odbc.ini
FILE DATA SOURCES..: /usr/local/etc/ODBCDataSources
USER DATA SOURCES..: /home/username/.odbc.ini
SQLULEN Size.......: 8
SQLLEN Size........: 8
SQLSETPOSIROW Size.: 8

    The DRIVERS... entry shows the location of the odbcinst.ini file.

Step 3. Testing database connectivity

Test the database connectivity directly from within RStudio Desktop Pro:

  • Open RStudio Desktop Pro.

  • In the Connections pane, click New Connection.

  • Select the data source from the list.

  • Enter the requested information and click Test.

  • If prompted, enter the database password.

    If you prefer, you can also set up ODBC DSNs to test and make database connections.

    • Define the DSNs in ~/.odbc.ini. For example:

      File: ~/.odbc.ini
      [test]
Driver = SQLServer
Server = my.server.name
Database = dbname
Port = 1433

    • Then, access the DSN directly from the New Connection dialog or test from the terminal with the following:

      Terminal
      isql test

Uninstallation

Uninstall the drivers using RStudio Desktop Pro:

  1. Open RStudio Desktop Pro.
  2. In the Connections pane, click New Connection.
  3. Select the data source from the list.
  4. Click Uninstall….
  5. When prompted to uninstall the driver, click Yes.

This removes the driver files and deletes the driver entry from odbcinst.ini.

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