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Install Microsoft R Client on Windows

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Important

This content is being retired and may not be updated in the future. The support for Machine Learning Server will end on July 1, 2022. For more information, see What's happening to Machine Learning Server?

Microsoft R Client is a free, data science tool for high-performance analytics that you can install on Windows client operating systems. R Client is built on top of Microsoft R Open so you can use any open-source R packages to build your analytics, and includes the R function libraries from Microsoft that execute locally on R Client or remotely on a more powerful Machine Learning Server.

R Client allows you to work with production data locally using the full set of RevoScaleR functions, with these constraints: data must fit in local memory, and processing is capped at two threads for RevoScaleR functions.

For information about the current release, see What's new in R Client.

System Requirements

Type Requirement
Operating Systems 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows 7, 8.1, and 10
Free disk space 600 MB recommended, after installation of all prerequisites
If pre-trained models are installed, 1.2 GB is recommended
Available RAM 4+ GB recommended
Internet access Needed to download R Client and any dependencies
.NET Framework 4.5.2 Framework component must be installed to run setup. Use the link provided in the setup wizard. Installing this component requires a computer restart.

The following additional components are included in Setup and required:

  • Microsoft R Open 3.5.2
  • Microsoft MPI 8.1
  • AS OLE DB (SQL Server 2016) provider
  • Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable

Optionally, you can install the pre-trained models for sentiment analysis and image detection.

Setup Requirements

On the machine onto which you are installing, follow this guidance before you begin installing:

  1. Always install Microsoft R Client to a local drive on your computer.

  2. You may need to disable your antivirus software. If you do, be sure to turn it back on immediately after installing.

  3. Close any other programs running on the system.

How to install (with internet access)

  1. Log in to the machine with administrator privileges.

  2. Download Microsoft R Client from the following link: https://aka.ms/rclient/

  3. Launch the Microsoft R Client setup and follow the prompts.

  4. Accept the default installation path for Microsoft R Client or choose another location.

  5. Review the components that are installed as part of Microsoft R Client.

    While most are required, you can choose to add additional components such as pre-trained models.

  6. Accept the Microsoft R Client license terms.

  7. Accept the Microsoft R Open license term. Microsoft R Client is built on Microsoft R Open, Microsoft's enhanced distribution of R. Setup installs the correct version of R Open for you automatically.

  8. Click Finish when installation is finished. A welcome screen opens to introduce you to the product and documentation.

How to offline install (without internet access)

Warning

Microsoft R Open is a requirement of Microsoft R Client. In offline scenarios when no internet connection is available on the target machine, you must manually download the R Open installer. Use only the link specified in the installer or installation guide. Do NOT go to MRAN and download it from there or you may inadvertently get the wrong version for your Microsoft R product.

  1. On a machine with unrestricted internet access:

    1. Download Microsoft R Client from https://aka.ms/rclient/.

    2. Download the Microsoft R Open (*.cab) needed to install R Client from https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=867186.

    3. Download .NET Framework 4.5.2 from https://www.microsoft.com/download/details.aspx?id=42642.

    4. Download, if desired, the .cab file for pre-trained machine learning models from: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=852727. Learn more about these pre-trained models.

    5. Copy the downloaded files to a network share or portable drive.

  2. On the machine with restricted internet access:

    1. Log in with administrator privileges.

    2. Copy the .cab file and R Client installer from the network share/portable drive on the first machine to the machine that has restricted internet access. Put the CAB files in the setup user's temp folder under %temp%.

    3. Copy and install the .NET Framework. Restart your computer if you installed the .NET Framework.

    4. Run RClientSetup.exe, which finds the cab file in the temp folder for you.

    5. Accept the default installation path for Microsoft R Client or choose another location.

    6. Review the components that are installed as part of Microsoft R Client.

      While most are required, you can choose to add additional components such as pre-trained models.

    7. Accept the Microsoft R Client license terms.

    8. Accept the Microsoft R Open license term. Microsoft R Client is built on Microsoft R Open, Microsoft's enhanced distribution of R. Setup installs the correct version of R Open for you automatically.

  3. Without internet access, we recommend disabling the auto-update check feature so that R Client can launch more quickly. Do so in the Rprofile.site file by adding a comment character (#) at the start of the line: mrupdate::mrCheckForUpdates()

Important

Review the recommendations in Package Management for instructions on how to set up a local package repository using MRAN or miniCRAN.

Silent and Passive Installs

To install Microsoft R Client from a script on Windows, use the following command-line switches:

Mode Install Command Description
Passive RClientSetup.exe /passive No prompts, but a progress indicator
Silent RClientSetup.exe /quiet No prompts nor progress indicator

Set environment variables

Create an MKL_CBWR environment variable to ensure consistent output from Intel Math Kernel Library (MKL) calculations.

  1. In Control Panel, click System and Security > System > Advanced System Settings > Environment Variables.

  2. Create a new User or System variable.

  • Set variable name to MKL_CBWR
  • Set the variable value to AUTO

This step requires a computer restart.

What's Installed with R Client

Microsoft R Client installs the R base packages and a set of enhanced and proprietary R packages that support parallel processing, improved performance, and connectivity to data sources including SQL Server and Hadoop. The R libraries are installed under the R Client installation directory, C:\Program Files\Microsoft\R Client\R_SERVER. Additionally, this directory contains the documentation for the R base packages, sample data, and the R library.

All tools for the standard base R (RTerm, Rgui.exe, and RScript) are also included with Microsoft R Client under <install-directory>\bin. Documentation for these tools can be found in the setup folder: <install-directory>\doc and in <install-directory>\doc\manual. One easy way to open these files is to open RGui, click Help, and select one of the options.

Note

By default, telemetry data is collected during your usage of R Client. To turn off this feature, use the RevoScaleR package function rxPrivacyControl(FALSE). To turn it back on, change the setting to TRUE.

How to uninstall

  • Remove Microsoft R Client like other applications using the Add/Remove dialog on Windows.

  • Alternately, you can use the same setup file used to install R Client to remove the program by specifying the /uninstall option on the command line such as: RClientSetup.exe /uninstall

Learn More

You can learn more with these guides: