Author: Claus O. Wilke
Date: 2026-04-16

# Setting up a Rust build environment

#### Claus O. Wilke

#### 2026-04-16

Regardless of which operating system you use, we recommend using rustup to install and maintain your Rust toolchain. On Linux and OS X, you simply run the following command in a shell:

    curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

No further action should be needed.

On Windows, things are a little more involved. First download `rustup‑init.exe` from the rustup site and run it, following the on-screen instructions. Rust may require installation of VC++ build tools (more instructions can be found here). Once installed, execute the following rustup commands:

    rustup default stable-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc
    rustup target add x86_64-pc-windows-gnu
    rustup target add i686-pc-windows-gnu

Second, install Rtools. The latest installer is available on CRAN. Alternatively, Rtools can be installed using chocolatey:

    choco install rtools -y

Finally, make sure that environment variables are set up correctly. `R_HOME` should point to the R folder, e.g. `C:\Program Files\R\R-4.1.0` (be careful with spaces in the path). `RTOOLS40_HOME` should point to the Rtools folder (usually set up automatically by the installer), which is `C:\rtools40` by default. `PATH` should contain paths to `%R_HOME%\bin` and `%RTOOLS40_HOME%\usr\bin`, as well as cargo, which is found at `%USERPROFILE%\.cargo\bin` if installed using `rustup-init.exe`.