To install packages in RStudio on my corporate network, I need to set system env variables for proxy authentication:
Sys.setenv(https_proxy_user = "userid:password")
Sys.setenv(https_proxy = "proxy.<my.domain>:8080")
This works, but has the disadvantage of exposing my Windows userid:password in full clear text in an R script or in my .RProfile.
Also, if I change my Windows login, I have to adjust the script.
Is it possible to tell RStudio/R to use my Windows credentials directly for proxy authentication, like for example this can be done in C#?
System.Net.CredentialCache.DefaultCredentials;
Using keyring to store encrypted credentials doesn't seem to be an option as I would need to update these credentials manually each time I change my Windows user password.
[EDIT] As no solution was found yet, I opened an RStudio enhancement request
After opening an RStudio enhancement request, I got following answer from @kevinushey :
It's unfortunately deprecated, but you might have better luck using
options(download.file.method = "wininet")on Windows.
Turns out this still works with R 4.3.1 and R 4.3.2 under Windows and is exactly what I was looking for :
options(download.file.method = "wininet")
Allowed me under RStudio to use package update / install menu without specifying https_proxy and without exposing my Windows user credentials.
[EDIT] As wininet is now superseded and might disappear in coming R versions, final solution with default curl method is (again credit @kevinushey):
Sys.setenv(https_proxy_user = ":")
Sys.setenv(https_proxy = 'proxy.<my.domain>:proxyport')