Configure the Virtual Frame Buffer on Linux: /home/

Configure the Virtual Frame Buffer on Linux

You may need to configure the X virtual frame buffer in order for graphics functions such as png() to work properly in R. This page walks you through an example installation and configuration of the X virtual frame buffer on Linux. For further information on when and why you would need to configure the virtual frame buffer, see Install and Set Up R.

Example Configuration

Linux Distro: Fedora 7
Kernel: 2.6.20-2936.fc7xen
Processor Type: x86_64

Install R

Make sure you have completed the steps to install and configure R. See Install and Set Up R for general setup steps. For Linux-specific instructions, see Configure R on Linux.

Install Xvfb

If the name of your machine is <YourServerName>, use the following:

[root@<YourServerName> R-2.6.1]# yum update xorg-x11-server-Xorg 
[root@<YourServerName> R-2.6.1]# yum install xorg-x11-server-Xvfb.x86_64

Start and Test Xvfb

To start Xvfb, use the following command:

[root@<YourServerName> R-2.6.1]# /usr/bin/Xvfb :2 -nolisten tcp -shmem

This starts a Display on servernumber = 2 and screen number = 0.

To test whether the X11, PNG and JPEG devices are available in R:

[root@<YourServerName> R-2.6.1]# export DISPLAY=:2.0 
[root@<YourServerName> R-2.6.1]# bin/R

You will see many lines of output. At the ">" prompt, run the capabilities() command. It will tell you whether the X11, JPEG and PNG devices are functioning. The following example output shows success:

> capabilities() 
    jpeg png tcltk X11 http/ftp sockets libxml fifo 
    TRUE TRUE TRUE TRUE TRUE TRUE TRUE TRUE 
  cledit iconv NLS profmem 
    TRUE TRUE TRUE FALSE

Make configuration changes to ensure that Xvfb is started at boot-time

You need to make sure that Xvfb runs at all times on the machine or R will not function as needed. There are many ways to do this. This example uses a simple start/stop script and treats it as a service.

The script:

[root@<YourServerName> R-2.6.1]# cd /etc/init.d 
[root@<YourServerName> init.d]# vi xvfb 
    #!/bin/bash 
    # 
    # /etc/rc.d/init.d/xvfb 
    # 
    # Author: Brian Connolly (LabKey.org) 
    # 
    # chkconfig: 345 98 90 
    # description: Starts Virtual Framebuffer process to enable the  
    # LabKey server to use R. 
    # 
    # 

    XVFB_OUTPUT=/usr/local/labkey/Xvfb.out 
    XVFB=/usr/bin/Xvfb 
    XVFB_OPTIONS=":2 -nolisten tcp -shmem" 

    # Source function library. 
    . /etc/init.d/functions 


    start() { 
            echo -n "Starting : X Virtual Frame Buffer " 
            $XVFB $XVFB_OPTIONS >>$XVFB_OUTPUT 2>&1& 
            RETVAL=$? 
            echo 
            return $RETVAL 
    } 

    stop() { 
            echo -n "Shutting down : X Virtual Frame Buffer" 
            echo 
            killproc Xvfb 
            echo 
            return 0 
    } 

    case "$1" in 
        start) 
            start 
            ;; 
        stop) 
            stop 
            ;; 
        *) 
            echo "Usage: xvfb {start|stop}" 
            exit 1 
            ;; 
    esac 
    exit $?

Now test the script with the standard:

[root@<YourServerName> etc]# /etc/init.d/xvfb start 
[root@<YourServerName> etc]# /etc/init.d/xvfb stop 
[root@<YourServerName> etc]# /etc/init.d/xvfb

This should work without a hitch.

Note: Any error messages produced by Xvfb will be sent to the file set in

$XVFB_OUTPUT.

If you experience problems, these messages can provide further guidance.

The last thing to do is to run chkconfig to finish off the configuration. This creates the appropriate start and kills links in the rc#.d directories. The script above contains a line in the header comments that says "# chkconfig: 345 98 90". This tells the chkconfig tool that xvfb script should be executed at runlevels 3,4,5. It also specifies the start and stop priority (98 for start and 90 for stop). You should change these appropriately.

[root@<YourServerName> init.d]# chkconfig --add xvfb

Check the results:

[root@<YourServerName> init.d]# chkconfig --list xvfb 
xvfb 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off

Verify that the appropriate soft links have been created:

[root@<YourServerName> init.d]# ls -la /etc/rc5.d/ | grep xvfb 
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 14 2008-01-22 18:05 S98xvfb -> ../init.d/xvfb

Start the Xvfb Process and Setup the DISPLAY Env Variable

Start the process using:

[root@<YourServerName> init.d]# /etc/init.d/xvfb start

Now you will need to the set the DISPLAY env variable for the user. This is the DISPLAY variable that is used to run the TOMCAT server. Add the following the .bash_profile for this user. On this serer, the TOMCAT process is run by the user tomcat

[root@<YourServerName> ~]# vi ~tomcat/.bash_profile 
[added] 
# Set DISPLAY variable for using LabKey and R. 
DISPLAY=:2.0 
export DISPLAY

Restart the LabKey Server or it will not have the DISPLAY variable set

On this server, we have created a start/stop script for TOMCAT within /etc/init.d. So I will use that to start and stop the server

[root@<YourServerName> ~]# /etc/init.d/tomcat restart

Test the configuration

The last step is to test that when R is run inside of the LabKey server, the X11,JPEG and PNG devices are available

Example:

The following steps enable R in a folder configured to track Issue/Bug Tracking:

Log into the Labkey Server with an account with Administrator privs
In any Project, create a new SubFolder
Choose a "Custom"-type folder
Uncheck all boxes on the right side of the screen except "Issues."
Hit Next
Click on the button "Views" and a drop-down will appear
Select "Create R View"
In the text box, enter "capabilities()" and hit the "Execute Script" button.

You should see the following output:

jpeg png tcltk X11 http/ftp sockets libxml fifo 
   TRUE TRUE TRUE TRUE TRUE TRUE TRUE TRUE 
  cledit iconv NLS profmem 
   FALSE TRUE TRUE FALSE 
> proc.time() 
   user system elapsed 
  0.600 0.040 0.631

The important thing to see here is that X11, png and jpeg all say "TRUE." If they do not, something is wrong.

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