What is Shiny Server?

This program hosts Shiny R applications on Linux servers, giving each app its own URL and letting system users deploy their own. It handles WebSocket fallbacks for older browsers, restarts crashed R processes automatically, and reads its settings from a configuration file. The open-source edition uses AGPLv3; a paid Professional tier adds LDAP, Active Directory, Google OAuth, PAM, and flat-file authentication, plus SSL, a monitoring dashboard, and license management. Installers are provided as .deb and .rpm packages for Ubuntu, RHEL, and SUSE (x86-64 only), or the code can be built from source.

Should you self-host Shiny Server?

Shiny Server scores 57/100 on selfhost.directory (how scoring works) and ranks #2 of 20 in Application Management. It has 763 GitHub stars.

There was no stable release in the past 12 months, so check the repository's recent activity before you rely on it.

Setup is advanced: plan for several services and some ongoing maintenance. It is Other-licensed and written mostly in JavaScript.

Its closest alternative on selfhost.directory is hot-updater (62/100, 1 797 stars). It scores higher overall, so compare the two before you pick. See Shiny Server vs hot-updater side by side.

Features

Application timeouts
AuthenticationPro edition only
Auto-restart on crash
Configuration File
Custom Templates
Google Analytics Integration
Health check endpoint
License ManagementPro edition only
Monitoring dashboardPro edition only
Multi-application hosting
Process management
R Markdown support
SSL/TLS supportPro edition only
User application deployment
WebSocket fallback

FAQ

How can I set the trusted_ca for my LDAP server over SSL?

Use openssl s_client to retrieve the CA certificate, verify it works with curl, then add it to Shiny Server Pro configuration using the trusted_ca setting in auth_ldap.

Can I bulk-import users in flat-file authentication?

Yes, a shell script using the sspasswd tool can bulk-import usernames and passwords from a tab-delimited file, but be aware of security implications with passwords in process tables.

Why do some Shiny Docs not open when opening many at once in Firefox?

Firefox limits persistent connections to a single server. Increase network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server setting (e.g., to 50) to resolve.

How do I translate my 'application' settings to nested 'location's?

Shiny Server 0.4.2 introduced nested location directives. Existing application directives must be migrated to the nested location format to be supported by versions after 0.4.2.

Can I deploy Shiny Server on an isolated network?

Yes, Shiny Server does not require an Internet connection to work properly. Offline activation is available for Shiny Server Professional.

What are the hardware requirements for running Shiny Server?

Shiny R processes require a minimum of 50MB RAM each. CPU usage is single-threaded per R process unless parallel packages are used. Requirements depend heavily on the application's data loading.