Upgrading RStudio Workbench or RStudio Server

If you perform an upgrade of RStudio Workbench (previously RStudio Server Pro) or RStudio Server  Open Source, and an existing version of the server is currently running, then the upgrade process will also ensure that active sessions are immediately migrated to the new version. This includes the following behavior:

• Running R sessions are suspended so that future interactions with the server automatically launch the updated R session binary
• Currently connected browser clients are notified that a new version is available and automatically refresh themselves.
• The core server binary is restarted.

Upgrading from Open Source to Workbench

If you currently have RStudio Server Open Source installed and want to upgrade to RStudio Workbench, the process is very simple. You can do so with no worries about your current settings, configuration or files for RStudio Server.

First, stop the current version of RStudio Server: sudo rstudio-server stop

Next, remove the current version of RStudio Server using your package manager:

Finally, download the appropriate package for RStudio Workbench and install it using your package manager:

sudo gdebi <rstudio-server-package.deb>
or
sudo yum install --nogpgcheck <rstudio-server-package.rpm>

Note that your configuration and settings will be unchanged from the open-source version, so you may want to modify it to take into account the increased features and settings of RStudio Workbench.

Upgrading to a later version of RStudio Workbench or RStudio Server

Note: To upgrade to RStudio Workbench or RStudio Server Pro 1.4+, please see here for the new requirements.

If you are upgrading to a later version of RStudio Server Open Source or RStudio Workbench, we recommend taking the service offline completely while you do the upgrade.

In general, you will want to:

1. Notify users ahead of time of the upgrade (using the admin notifications feature, if you are using the Pro version, or manually if you are using the open-source version)
2. Check if there are any active sessions running (sudo rstudio-server active-sessions). If there are none, you can skip this step. If there are active sessions, suspend all active user sessions: sudo rstudio-server suspend-all
3. Put the old version of the server in offline mode: sudo rstudio-server offline
4. Install the new version of the server (see below)
5. Restart the server (sudo rstudio-server restart). The new version of the server will start in offline mode.
6. Put the new version online: sudo rstudio-server online

In that way, the service will never be truly down (in the sense that users see a failure to connect). The offline mode keeps users from trying to start new sessions while you’re doing the upgrade.

To perform the installation in step 4, you would download the newer package and installing it using your package manager:

sudo gdebi <rstudio-server-package.deb>
or
sudo yum install --nogpgcheck <rstudio-server-package.rpm>

Your configuration and settings will be unchanged from the previous version, and if you are running RStudio Workbench, your license status will remain untouched as well.