Can't install or update packages like rlang in R 3.6.2; what am I missing?

Question

I am on a work computer and unfortunately they are using an older version of R 3.6.2. I also have installed Rtools 3.5.

When running install.packages("rlang") and allowing compilation from the source I am presented with the following:

*** arch - i386
C:/Rtools/mingw_32/bin/gcc   -I"C:/PROGRA~1/R/R-36~1.2/include" -DNDEBUG -I./rlang/  -o3 -wall -std=gnu99 -mtune=generic -c capture.c -o capture.o

make:*** [C:/PROGRA~1/R/R-36~1.2/etc/i386/Makeconf:208: capture.o] Error 217

ERROR: compilation failed for package 'rlang'

I have followed the install steps in the readme by setting up a .Renviron file with PATH="C:\Rtools\bin;{PATH}" and BINPREF="C:/Rtools/migw_$(WIN)/bin/"

I was expecting this to work, but nothing has been corrected. I am unsure where to go from here.

Answer 1

Apart from addressing your specific problem, it seems worthwhile to generally describe the procedure how to install packages for older R versions:

1. Find the release date of your R version. This is printed by the R shell when it is started up.

2. Got to the archive link on the CRAN package site, e.g. for rlang to https://cran.r-project.org/src/contrib/Archive/rlang

3. Download a version close to the release date of your R version (slightly later versions usually work)

4. Install the version from the command line (the shell of your operating system, e.g. bash or zsh) with ("$" is the shell prompt)

   $ R CMD INSTALL package-version.tar.gz