[setup-r-dependencies] Missing header files for cURL

[jpawlowski]

Describe the bug
After adding pkgdown action using usethis::use_github_action("pkgdown"), the Github workflow would fail to run. Apparently setup-r-dependencies does not install cURL OpenSSL header files to the Ubuntu system environment.

  * installing *source* package ‘curl’ ...
  ** package ‘curl’ successfully unpacked and MD5 sums checked
  ** using staged installation
  Package libcurl was not found in the pkg-config search path.
  Perhaps you should add the directory containing `libcurl.pc'
  to the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable
  No package 'libcurl' found
  Package libcurl was not found in the pkg-config search path.
  Perhaps you should add the directory containing `libcurl.pc'
  to the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable
  No package 'libcurl' found
  Using PKG_CFLAGS=
  Using PKG_LIBS=-lcurl
  ------------------------- ANTICONF ERROR ---------------------------
  Configuration failed because libcurl was not found. Try installing:
   * deb: libcurl4-openssl-dev (Debian, Ubuntu, etc)
   * rpm: libcurl-devel (Fedora, CentOS, RHEL)
   * csw: libcurl_dev (Solaris)
  If libcurl is already installed, check that 'pkg-config' is in your
  PATH and PKG_CONFIG_PATH contains a libcurl.pc file. If pkg-config
  is unavailable you can set INCLUDE_DIR and LIB_DIR manually via:
  R CMD INSTALL --configure-vars='INCLUDE_DIR=... LIB_DIR=...'
  --------------------------------------------------------------------
  ERROR: configuration failed for package ‘curl’
  * removing ‘/home/runner/work/dtsldown/dtsldown/renv/library/R-4.1/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu/curl’

To Reproduce
https://github.com/digatus-fwd/dtsldown/runs/3990207189

Expected behavior
The setup-r-dependencies build action should take care about system dependencies for pak to compile successfully.

Additional context
Header files must be installed separately in Debian environments:
actions/runner-images#37

[cderv]

I believe this is related to other issue with #370 and caused by r-lib/pak#315

Current workaround is to add curl package in extra-packages field so that the system dependencies are correctly found and installed. (or they need to be installed manually in Linux runners).

[riccardoporreca]

@jpawlowski, @cderv, we have been looking at r-lib/pak#315, where there is in fact no real issue, and as such does not seem to affect what reported here (not sure about the related #370).

From what I understand, there still is some potential issue related to the mentioned "Expected behavior"

The setup-r-dependencies build action should take care about system dependencies for pak to compile successfully.

Note however that, in a "conventional" usage of setup-r-dependencies, pak is installed from a pre-built binary without the need to install nor compile its dependencies. A minimal example showcasing this can be found in a small minimal playground repo, see run https://github.com/riccardoporreca/parity/runs/4074092280?check_suite_focus=true, where I am even testing the three pak versions recently exposed with https://github.com/r-lib/actions#415

The failure seen in the reported run https://github.com/digatus-fwd/dtsldown/runs/3990207189 is due to a "non-conventional" usage of setup-r-dependencies for a project setup with renv, which kicks in automatically at https://github.com/digatus-fwd/dtsldown/runs/3990207189#step:5:26 and installs pack and its dependencies from sources. setup-renv should be probably used instead.

All this does not necessarily mean everything is OK, as pak might require the missing system libraries at run-time, unless they are somehow bundled within pak itself or available in the runner upfront. Let me try to loop in @gaborcsardi: TL;DR: Is the lack of system requirements for pak (and its dependencies) an issue in the context of the setup-r-dependencies action?

[gaborcsardi]

Is the lack of system requirements for pak (and its dependencies) an issue in the context of the setup-r-dependencies action?

No, setup-r-dependencies uses self-contained pak binaries.

[cderv]

It seems like the change made fixed this too. I can now see

  ℹ Executing `sudo apt-get install -y libcurl4-openssl-dev`

in the log and curl installs correctly with adding it to extra-packages

It could be the same for #370 but I did not tested it.

[github-actions]

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