R CRAN package installation failing

I have recently upgraded the institute workstations to Debian 10. Since the R version got bumped to 3.5.2 (from 3.3) I have removed my ~/R directory and was just going to install the new packages.

This is the R version that I have:

R version 3.5.2 (2018-12-20) -- "Eggshell Igloo"
Copyright (C) 2018 The R Foundation for Statistical Computing
Platform: x86_64-pc-linux-gnu (64-bit)

Doing install.packages('jsonlite') got me asked whether I want to create a new user library and the installation went through.

When trying to install ggplot2, it fails on the package vctrs:

begin installing package vctrs
* installing *source* package 'purrr' ...
** package 'purrr' successfully unpacked and MD5 sums checked
** libs
make[1]: Entering directory '/tmp/RtmpCnH2Uv/R.INSTALL291734261852/purrr/src'
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c backports.c -o backports.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c coerce.c -o coerce.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c conditions.c -o conditions.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c flatten.c -o flatten.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c init.c -o init.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c map.c -o map.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c pluck.c -o pluck.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c transpose.c -o transpose.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c utils.c -o utils.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -shared -L/usr/lib/R/lib -Wl,-z,relro -o purrr.so backports.o coerce.o conditions.o flatten.o init.o map.o pluck.o transpose.o utils.o -L/usr/lib/R/lib -lR
make[1]: Leaving directory '/tmp/RtmpCnH2Uv/R.INSTALL291734261852/purrr/src'
installing to /home/ueding/R/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-library/3.5/purrr/libs
** R
** inst
** byte-compile and prepare package for lazy loading
** help
*** installing help indices
*** copying figures
** building package indices
** installing vignettes
** testing if installed package can be loaded
* DONE (purrr)
make: *** [Makefile:97: vctrs.ts] Error 1
* installing *source* package 'Rcpp' ...

* DONE (BH)
make: Target 'all' not remade because of errors.
* installing *source* package 'vctrs' ...
** package 'vctrs' successfully unpacked and MD5 sums checked
** libs
make[1]: Entering directory '/tmp/Rtmp1l6SSj/R.INSTALL294b78e8c200/vctrs/src'
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c arg-counter.c -o arg-counter.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c arg.c -o arg.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c bind.c -o bind.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c c.c -o c.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c cast.c -o cast.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c compare.c -o compare.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c conditions.c -o conditions.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c dictionary.c -o dictionary.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c equal.c -o equal.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c fields.c -o fields.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c growable.c -o growable.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c hash.c -o hash.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c init.c -o init.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c names.c -o names.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c proxy.c -o proxy.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c size-common.c -o size-common.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c size.c -o size.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c slice-array.c -o slice-array.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c slice-assign.c -o slice-assign.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c slice.c -o slice.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c type-data-frame.c -o type-data-frame.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c type-info.c -o type-info.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c type.c -o type.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c type2-dispatch.c -o type2-dispatch.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c type2.c -o type2.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c unspecified.c -o unspecified.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c utils-dispatch.c -o utils-dispatch.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c utils.c -o utils.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -shared -L/usr/lib/R/lib -Wl,-z,relro -o vctrs.so arg-counter.o arg.o bind.o c.o cast.o compare.o conditions.o dictionary.o equal.o fields.o growable.o hash.o init.o names.o proxy.o size-common.o size.o slice-array.o slice-assign.o slice.o type-data-frame.o type-info.o type.o type2-dispatch.o type2.o unspecified.o utils-dispatch.o utils.o -L/usr/lib/R/lib -lR
make[1]: Leaving directory '/tmp/Rtmp1l6SSj/R.INSTALL294b78e8c200/vctrs/src'
installing to /home/ueding/R/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-library/3.5/vctrs/libs
** R
** inst
** byte-compile and prepare package for lazy loading
** help
*** installing help indices
*** copying figures
** building package indices
** installing vignettes
** testing if installed package can be loaded
Error: package or namespace load failed for 'vctrs':
 .onLoad failed in loadNamespace() for 'vctrs', details:
  call: loadNamespace(name)
  error: there is no package called 'backports'
Error: loading failed
Execution halted
ERROR: loading failed
* removing '/home/ueding/R/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-library/3.5/vctrs'
cat: pillar.out: No such file or directory
cat: tibble.out: No such file or directory
cat: dplyr.out: No such file or directory

The downloaded source packages are in
        '/tmp/RtmpPpOmW2/make_packages'
Warning message:
In install.packages("dplyr") : installation of one or more packages failed,
  probably 'vctrs', 'pillar', 'tibble', 'dplyr'

Installing backports manually works well:

trying URL 'https://cloud.r-project.org/src/contrib/backports_1.1.4.tar.gz'
Content type 'application/x-gzip' length 13859 bytes (13 KB)
==================================================
downloaded 13 KB

* installing *source* package 'backports' ...
** package 'backports' successfully unpacked and MD5 sums checked
** libs
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c dotsElt.c -o dotsElt.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c dotsLength.c -o dotsLength.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -I"/usr/share/R/include" -DNDEBUG      -fpic  -g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/r-base-3.5.2=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c init.c -o init.o
gcc -std=gnu99 -shared -L/usr/lib/R/lib -Wl,-z,relro -o backports.so dotsElt.o dotsLength.o init.o -L/usr/lib/R/lib -lR
installing to /home/ueding/R/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-library/3.5/backports/libs
** R
** byte-compile and prepare package for lazy loading
** help
*** installing help indices
** building package indices
** testing if installed package can be loaded
* DONE (backports)

The downloaded source packages are in
        '/tmp/Rtmpg7Vaw9/downloaded_packages'

Then trying to install dplyr again failes with a similar error message:

Error: package or namespace load failed for 'vctrs':
 .onLoad failed in loadNamespace() for 'vctrs', details:
  call: loadNamespace(name)
  error: there is no package called 'backports'
Error: loading failed
Execution halted
ERROR: loading failed
* removing '/home/ueding/R/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-library/3.5/vctrs'

I do not really see what I could do fix that. How can I get all these packages installed?

The problem was that although the environment variable R_LIBS_USER was set the .libPaths() did not contain it. A call to .libPath('nonexistant/path') was in my ~/.Rprofile such that neither user library ended up in my search path. Installing packages into a directory which is not in the search path will lead to such errors.