CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, shrink-to-fit=no"> <title>Chapter 11 The INSTALL file | Bioconductor Packages: Development, Maintenance, and Peer Review</title> <meta name="author" content="Kevin Rue-Albrecht"> <meta name="author" content="Daniela Cassol"> <meta name="author" content="Johannes Rainer"> <meta name="author" content="Lori Shepherd"> <meta name="description" content="An INSTALL file does not have to be included with the package. An INSTALL file is utilized for specifying external system requirements needed. It should be used in combination with the..."> <meta name="generator" content="bookdown 0.42 with bs4_book()"> <meta property="og:title" content="Chapter 11 The INSTALL file | Bioconductor Packages: Development, Maintenance, and Peer Review"> <meta property="og:type" content="book"> <meta property="og:description" content="An INSTALL file does not have to be included with the package. An INSTALL file is utilized for specifying external system requirements needed. It should be used in combination with the..."> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary"> <meta name="twitter:title" content="Chapter 11 The INSTALL file | Bioconductor Packages: Development, Maintenance, and Peer Review"> <meta name="twitter:description" content="An INSTALL file does not have to be included with the package. An INSTALL file is utilized for specifying external system requirements needed. It should be used in combination with the..."> <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/clipboard.js/2.0.6/clipboard.min.js" integrity="sha256-inc5kl9MA1hkeYUt+EC3BhlIgyp/2jDIyBLS6k3UxPI=" crossorigin="anonymous"></script><script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/fuse.js/6.4.6/fuse.js" integrity="sha512-zv6Ywkjyktsohkbp9bb45V6tEMoWhzFzXis+LrMehmJZZSys19Yxf1dopHx7WzIKxr5tK2dVcYmaCk2uqdjF4A==" crossorigin="anonymous"></script><script src="https://kit.fontawesome.com/6ecbd6c532.js" crossorigin="anonymous"></script><script src="libs/jquery-3.6.0/jquery-3.6.0.min.js"></script><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, shrink-to-fit=no"> <link href="libs/bootstrap-4.6.0/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet"> <script src="libs/bootstrap-4.6.0/bootstrap.bundle.min.js"></script><script src="libs/bs3compat-0.9.0/transition.js"></script><script src="libs/bs3compat-0.9.0/tabs.js"></script><script src="libs/bs3compat-0.9.0/bs3compat.js"></script><link href="libs/bs4_book-1.0.0/bs4_book.css" rel="stylesheet"> <script src="libs/bs4_book-1.0.0/bs4_book.js"></script><link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/font-awesome/6.0.0/css/all.min.css" integrity="sha512-9usAa10IRO0HhonpyAIVpjrylPvoDwiPUiKdWk5t3PyolY1cOd4DSE0Ga+ri4AuTroPR5aQvXU9xC6qOPnzFeg==" crossorigin="anonymous" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"> <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/autocomplete.js/0.38.0/autocomplete.jquery.min.js" integrity="sha512-GU9ayf+66Xx2TmpxqJpliWbT5PiGYxpaG8rfnBEk1LL8l1KGkRShhngwdXK1UgqhAzWpZHSiYPc09/NwDQIGyg==" crossorigin="anonymous"></script><script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/mark.js/8.11.1/mark.min.js" integrity="sha512-5CYOlHXGh6QpOFA/TeTylKLWfB3ftPsde7AnmhuitiTX4K5SqCLBeKro6sPS8ilsz1Q4NRx3v8Ko2IBiszzdww==" crossorigin="anonymous"></script><style type="text/css"> div.hanging-indent{margin-left: 1.5em; text-indent: -1.5em;} </style> </head> <body data-spy="scroll" data-target="#toc"> <div class="container-fluid"> <div class="row"> <header class="col-sm-12 col-lg-3 sidebar sidebar-book"><a class="sr-only sr-only-focusable" href="#content">Skip to main content</a> <div class="d-flex align-items-start justify-content-between"> <h1> <a href="index.html" title="">Bioconductor Packages: Development, Maintenance, and Peer Review</a> </h1> <button class="btn btn-outline-primary d-lg-none ml-2 mt-1" type="button" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#main-nav" aria-expanded="true" aria-controls="main-nav"><i class="fas fa-bars"></i><span class="sr-only">Show table of contents</span></button> </div> <div id="main-nav" class="collapse-lg"> <form role="search"> <input id="search" class="form-control" type="search" placeholder="Search" aria-label="Search"> </form> <nav aria-label="Table of contents"><h2>Table of contents</h2> <ul class="book-toc list-unstyled"> <li><a class="" href="index.html">Welcome</a></li> <li class="book-part">Package Submissions</li> <li><a class="" href="submission-overview.html">Overview</a></li> <li><a class="" href="bioconductor-package-submissions.html"><span class="header-section-number">1</span> Bioconductor Package Submissions</a></li> <li class="book-part">Package Development Guidelines</li> <li><a class="" href="develop-overview.html">Overview</a></li> <li><a class="" href="package-name.html"><span class="header-section-number">2</span> Package name</a></li> <li><a class="" href="general.html"><span class="header-section-number">3</span> General Bioconductor Package Development</a></li> <li><a class="" href="important-bioconductor-package-development-features.html"><span class="header-section-number">4</span> Important Bioconductor Package Development Features</a></li> <li><a class="" href="readme.html"><span class="header-section-number">5</span> The README file</a></li> <li><a class="" href="description.html"><span class="header-section-number">6</span> The DESCRIPTION file</a></li> <li><a class="" href="namespace.html"><span class="header-section-number">7</span> The NAMESPACE file</a></li> <li><a class="" href="news.html"><span class="header-section-number">8</span> The NEWS file</a></li> <li><a class="" href="license.html"><span class="header-section-number">9</span> The LICENSE file</a></li> <li><a class="" href="citation.html"><span class="header-section-number">10</span> The CITATION file</a></li> <li><a class="active" href="sysdep.html"><span class="header-section-number">11</span> The INSTALL file</a></li> <li><a class="" href="docs.html"><span class="header-section-number">12</span> Documentation</a></li> <li><a class="" href="data.html"><span class="header-section-number">13</span> Package data</a></li> <li><a class="" href="tests.html"><span class="header-section-number">14</span> Unit tests</a></li> <li><a class="" href="r-code.html"><span class="header-section-number">15</span> R code</a></li> <li><a class="" href="other-than-Rcode.html"><span class="header-section-number">16</span> Fortran / C / C++ / Python / Third-Party Code</a></li> <li><a class="" href="shiny.html"><span class="header-section-number">17</span> Shiny apps</a></li> <li><a class="" href="non-software.html"><span class="header-section-number">18</span> Non-Software Packages</a></li> <li><a class="" href="gitignore.html"><span class="header-section-number">19</span> The .gitignore file</a></li> <li><a class="" href="conclusion.html"><span class="header-section-number">20</span> Conclusion</a></li> <li class="book-part">Bioconductor Package Maintenance</li> <li><a class="" href="package-maintenance.html">Overview</a></li> <li><a class="" href="git-version-control.html"><span class="header-section-number">21</span> Git Version Control</a></li> <li><a class="" href="versionnum.html"><span class="header-section-number">22</span> Version Numbering</a></li> <li><a class="" href="troubleshooting-build-report.html"><span class="header-section-number">23</span> Troubleshooting Build Report</a></li> <li><a class="" href="debugging-cc-code.html"><span class="header-section-number">24</span> Debugging C/C++ code</a></li> <li><a class="" href="deprecation.html"><span class="header-section-number">25</span> Deprecation Guidelines</a></li> <li><a class="" href="package-end-of-life-policy.html"><span class="header-section-number">26</span> Package End of Life Policy</a></li> <li><a class="" href="branch-rename-faqs.html"><span class="header-section-number">27</span> Branch Rename FAQs</a></li> <li class="book-part">Package Reviewer Resources</li> <li><a class="" href="reviewer-resources-overview.html">Overview</a></li> <li><a class="" href="review-expectation.html"><span class="header-section-number">28</span> Review Expectations</a></li> <li><a class="" href="reviewtools.html"><span class="header-section-number">29</span> Reviewer Resources and Tools</a></li> <li><a class="" href="review-volunteer-chapter.html"><span class="header-section-number">30</span> Volunteer to Review</a></li> <li class="book-part">Appendix</li> <li><a class="" href="use-devel.html"><span class="header-section-number">A</span> Using the ‘Devel’ Version of Bioconductor</a></li> <li><a class="" href="long-tests.html"><span class="header-section-number">B</span> Long Tests</a></li> <li><a class="" href="querying-web-resources.html"><span class="header-section-number">C</span> Querying Web Resources</a></li> <li><a class="" href="c-fortran.html"><span class="header-section-number">D</span> C and Fortran code</a></li> <li><a class="" href="cmavericks-best-practices.html"><span class="header-section-number">E</span> C++/Mavericks Best Practices</a></li> <li><a class="" href="man-links.html"><span class="header-section-number">F</span> Debug: Links in Rd files</a></li> <li><a class="" href="booknews.html"><span class="header-section-number">G</span> NEWS</a></li> </ul> <div class="book-extra"> <p><a id="book-repo" href="https://github.com/Bioconductor/pkgrevdocs">View book source <i class="fab fa-github"></i></a></p> </div> </nav> </div> </header><main class="col-sm-12 col-md-9 col-lg-7" id="content"><div id="sysdep" class="section level1" number="11"> <h1> <span class="header-section-number">11</span> The INSTALL file<a class="anchor" aria-label="anchor" href="#sysdep"><i class="fas fa-link"></i></a> </h1> <p>An INSTALL file does not have to be included with the package. An INSTALL file is utilized for specifying external system requirements needed. It should be used in combination with the <code>SystemRequirements</code> field of the <a href="description.html#description-sysdep">Description file</a>. This file should provide instructions for installing the external software on the 3 major OS that we support: Linux, Windows, and Mac. This will not only help your users get the external software on their machines, but it will also help us install it on the build machines if it’s not already there.</p> <p>Specifying this requirement does not guarantee that <em>Bioconductor</em> will agree to install the external system requirement. It is encouraged to discuss any additional system requirements on the <a href="mailto:bioc-devel@r-project.org" class="email">bioc-devel@r-project.org</a> before development.</p> <p>System requirements should never be exclusive to a particular version. Maintainers are expected to have their package work with whatever the current version of external software is available.</p> <p>See also <a href="other-than-Rcode.html#third-party-code">third party code</a></p> </div> <div class="chapter-nav"> <div class="prev"><a href="citation.html"><span class="header-section-number">10</span> The CITATION file</a></div> <div class="next"><a href="docs.html"><span class="header-section-number">12</span> Documentation</a></div> </div></main><div class="col-md-3 col-lg-2 d-none d-md-block sidebar sidebar-chapter"> <nav id="toc" data-toggle="toc" aria-label="On this page"><h2>On this page</h2> <ul class="nav navbar-nav"><li><a class="nav-link" href="#sysdep"><span class="header-section-number">11</span> The INSTALL file</a></li></ul> <div class="book-extra"> <ul class="list-unstyled"> <li><a id="book-source" href="https://github.com/Bioconductor/pkgrevdocs/blob/devel/install-file.Rmd">View source <i class="fab fa-github"></i></a></li> <li><a id="book-edit" href="https://github.com/Bioconductor/pkgrevdocs/edit/devel/install-file.Rmd">Edit this page <i class="fab fa-github"></i></a></li> </ul> </div> </nav> </div> </div> </div>  <footer class="bg-primary text-light mt-5"><div class="container"><div class="row"> <div class="col-12 col-md-6 mt-3"> <p>"<strong>Bioconductor Packages: Development, Maintenance, and Peer Review</strong>" was written by Kevin Rue-Albrecht, Daniela Cassol, Johannes Rainer, Lori Shepherd. It was last built on 2025-02-24.</p> </div> <div class="col-12 col-md-6 mt-3"> <p>This book was built by the <a class="text-light" href="https://bookdown.org">bookdown</a> R package.</p> </div> </div></div> </footer><script> (function () { var script = document.createElement("script"); script.type = "text/javascript"; var src = "true"; if (src === "" || src === "true") src = "https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/mathjax/2.7.9/latest.js?config=TeX-MML-AM_CHTML"; if (location.protocol !== "file:") if (/^https?:/.test(src)) src = src.replace(/^https?:/, ''); script.src = src; document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(script); })(); </script><script type="text/x-mathjax-config">const popovers = document.querySelectorAll('a.footnote-ref[data-toggle="popover"]'); for (let popover of popovers) { const div = document.createElement('div'); div.setAttribute('style', 'position: absolute; top: 0, left:0; width:0, height:0, overflow: hidden; visibility: hidden;'); div.innerHTML = popover.getAttribute('data-content'); var has_math = div.querySelector("span.math"); if (has_math) { document.body.appendChild(div); MathJax.Hub.Queue(["Typeset", MathJax.Hub, div]); MathJax.Hub.Queue(function() { popover.setAttribute('data-content', div.innerHTML); document.body.removeChild(div); }) } } </script> </body> </html>