This document describes the steps you must take to ensure that you are able to use your laptop computer during the 2018 R Bootcamp.
You will need your Penn State Access Account user ID (e.g. rog1) in order to access the psu wifi. Your home department should set this up for you.
psu) wifi accessWe suggest that you setup access to the psu wifi prior to attending bootcamp. This will allow you to access all materials during the talks and to use the web-based version of RStudio provided by the Teaching and Learning with Technology group.
To setup access to the psu wifi, you need to be on campus.
Follow the instructions here for your specific device and operating system.
psu wifiOnce you have connected, try navigating to https://lxclusterapps.tlt.psu.edu:8787 to test whether you can connect to the cloud-based version of RStudio.
Although you need not access or use the materials from bootcamp during the meeting, many attendees may wish to step through the code in parallel with the instructor. You can access all data files and code at our GitHub repo. Note: We are still actively updating the materials in preparation for the workshop, so you may need to download updates to these materials over the course of the meeting (details below).
To download all course materials, you can clone the entire Github repository using the command git clone https://github.com/psu-psychology/r-bootcamp-2018.git. This should be run in a terminal window.
If you’ve already downloaded the materials, but the instructor suggests getting the latest updates, go to the directory where you’ve stored this the materials on your computer. Then, on the command line, type git pull.
You can also use Github Desktop to clone the repository using a more user-friendly interface: https://desktop.github.com
If Git is unfamiliar, you can obtain a zip archive of the current version of all files here: https://github.com/psu-psychology/r-bootcamp-2018/archive/master.zip. This link should auto-update, so you get updates by simply downloading this again.
We suggest having a copy of R and RStudio on your own machine so that you can use R whenever you like! Although you’ll have access to the TLT R server (which can be accessed through the browser), we recommend installing R and RStudio before the meeting.
If you are using a computer provided by Penn State (e.g., your supervisor’s laboratory), you may need assistance to install these tools. This software is provided under “Software Center” on Windows and “Self Service” on Macs, so with luck, you should be able to install them without needing IT to provide administrative permissions.
Install R first following instructions: www.r-project.org.
Install RStudio second.
Choose the installer for your computer platform from the files listed at www.rstudio.com/products/rstudio/download/#download.
Once you have installed RStudio, try opening it.
For the Slow-R track, you’ll only need to install the swirl package. From the R Console, enter install.packages('swirl').
For the meeting more generally, we suggest the following packages.
From the R Console, enter install.packages(c('ez', 'car', 'tidyverse', 'pacman', 'GGally', 'jtools')).
You should not need 2FA for the bootcamp, but you will need it for other Penn State services. While you are setting up your device(s), you may as well set up 2FA.
I find that 2FA works really well from my smartphone (iPhone). Follow the detailed instructions at www.identity.psu.edu/set-up-instructions/
It is not required for the bootcamp, but you may want to create a GitHub account so you can start using GitHub for your own reproducible workflows and contribute to other open source projects.
Visit github.com to create an account.
The VPN client allows you to connect to PSU’s network securely from an off campus location (like your home or favoriate coffee shop) and allows you to use some services that are otherwise only available to users who are on campus. The TLT RStudio server is one of these services. So, if you like the TLT RStudio server and want to use it while you are elsewhere, you’ll want to download, install, and use Cisco AnyConnect.
Follow the instructions at kb.its.psu.edu/article/891 to install the AnyConnect client on your device.