Posit Package Manager Administration

This course will provide you with the knowledge you need to install and configure a single server installation of Posit Package Manager. By the end of this training, you will be able to:

  • Describe how Posit Package Manager operates
  • Understand how users rely on Posit Package Manager and how to support them
  • Install and configure Posit Package Manager
  • Highlight some best practices and strategies for the configuration of Posit Package Manager

Time Commitment

Going through the entire training should take between 2 and 4 hours depending on your level of experience working with the command line and the topics covered in the documentation.

The labs are independent of each other and the training can be completed over the course of several days.

Pre-requisites

The course assumes you have some experience with Linux. Specifically, you will need to be comfortable:

  • Executing Linux commands
  • Navigating the file system from the terminal
  • Editing configuration files using vim or nano
  • Accessing and reading server logs

Training Structure

This course starts with a general introduction to Posit Package Manager that focuses on what Package Manager is and how data science teams use it. After, you will go through a series of hands-on labs that guide you through the steps required to install and configure Posit Package Manager.

Each section is split into two parts: first you will go through some required reading and background about the steps involved in the installation and configuration; then, you will get a chance to practice these skills in hands-on labs. The reading helps you get familiar with the structure and content of the Admin Guide that you will rely on regularly as an Admin of the Posit products. We recommend you go through the required reading and read through all the instructions before doing the hands-on labs.

The hands-on labs are hosted on Instruqt. For each lab, you will have access to:

  • A terminal to interact with a virtual machine running Ubuntu 24.04
  • A tab that gives you access to your installation of Posit Package Manager (once you have installed and configured it correctly)
  • The website for this training
  • A timer that indicates how much time you have left before the session runs out

Once you have completed all the assignments listed in a lab, clicking the “Check” button (bottom right) runs a script that verifies your work and records your progress.

Content Overview

  1. Introduction - Learn what Package Manager is, its repository and source model, and how it supports data science teams
  2. Installation Overview and Lab 1 - Install Package Manager and create your first CRAN and PyPI repositories
  3. Securing Access with HTTPS and Lab 2 - Configure TLS certificates to serve packages over HTTPS
  4. Distributing Internal Packages and Lab 3 - Distribute internally developed packages from Git
  5. Controlling Which Packages Users Can Install and Lab 4 - Block or limit package installation with blocklist rules and curated sources
  6. Restricting Access with Authenticated Repositories and Lab 5 - Restrict repository access to users with an API token
  7. Integrating with Workbench and Connect and Lab 6 - Configure Workbench and Connect to use Package Manager

Next steps

In the next lesson, you will learn more about Package Manager and how it supports data science teams.