R Upgrade Glitch

2026-04-30 · Source: OR in an OB World · Field: Technology & Digital — Software Development & Engineering, Data Science & Analytics · Depth: Intermediate, quick

Summary

The author successfully upgraded their R programming language installation to version 4.6, following a previously established method for retaining user libraries. This process involved copying packages from the prior R 4.5 installation to the new 4.6 environment. During the subsequent update check, the "devtools" package was flagged for an update, which initially failed due to a missing symbol definition in the "rlang" package. Resolving this required uninstalling and reinstalling "rlang", followed by a similar uninstall and reinstall of the "vctrs" package, after which the "devtools" update completed successfully.

Key takeaway

For R users performing a major version upgrade (e.g., to 4.6), be prepared for dependency conflicts. If a package update fails with missing symbol errors, systematically uninstall and reinstall the reported dependency packages before retrying the original update. This iterative approach can resolve complex library interactions.

Key insights

R package upgrades may require manual reinstallation of dependencies to resolve symbol definition errors.

Principles

• Retain user libraries during R upgrades.
• Address dependency errors iteratively.

Method

Copy existing R user packages to the new version's library path. Identify and update flagged packages. If updates fail due to missing symbols, uninstall and reinstall the reported dependency, then retry the original package update.

In practice

• Copy R 4.5 packages to R 4.6.
• Reinstall "rlang" if "devtools" update fails.
• Reinstall "vctrs" if subsequent errors occur.

Topics

• R Programming Language
• R Upgrade
• Package Management
• devtools Package
• rlang Package

Best for: Data Scientist, Machine Learning Engineer, Software Engineer

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Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by OR in an OB World.