19.1 Testing the Shiny Server

Shiny can be difficult to debug because, when run as a web service, the R output is hidden in system log files that are hard to find and read. One useful approach to debugging is to use port forwarding, as follows.

First, on the remote machine (including the VM), make sure R’s working directory is set to the directory of the Shiny app (e.g., setwd(/path/to/pecan/shiny/WorkflowPlots), or just open the app as an RStudio project). Then, in the R console, run the app as:

shiny::runApp(port = XXXX)
# E.g. shiny::runApp(port = 5638)

Then, on your local machine, open a terminal and run the following command, matching XXXX to the port above and YYYY to any unused port on your local machine (any 4-digit number should work).

ssh -L YYYY:localhost:XXXX <remote connection>
# E.g., for the PEcAn VM, given the above port:
# ssh -L 5639:localhost:5638 carya@localhost -p 6422

Now, in a web browser on your local machine, browse to localhost:YYYY (e.g., localhost:5639) to run whatever app you started with shiny::runApp in the previous step. All of the output should display in the R console where the shiny::runApp command was executed. Note that this includes any print, message, logger.*, etc. statements in your Shiny app.

If the Shiny app hits an R error, the backtrace should include a line like Hit error at of server.R#LXX – that XX being a line number that you can use to track down the error. To return from the error to a normal R prompt, hit <Control>-C (alternatively, the “Stop” button in RStudio). To restart the app, run shiny::runApp(port = XXXX) again (keeping the same port).

Note that Shiny runs any code in the pecan/shiny/<app> directory at the moment the app is launched. So, any changes you make to the code in server.R and ui.R or scripts loaded therein will take effect the next time the app is started.

If for whatever reason this doesn’t work with RStudio, you can always run R from the command line. Also, note that the ability to forward ports (ssh -L) may depend on the ssh configuration of your remote machine. These instructions have been tested on the PEcAn VM (v.1.5.2+).