deploy-shinyproxy

Deploy ShinyProxy

Deploy ShinyProxy to host multiple containerized Shiny applications with authentication and usage tracking.

When to Use

• Hosting multiple Shiny apps behind a single entry point
• Need per-app authentication and access control
• Deploying Shiny apps as isolated Docker containers
• Scaling beyond single-app deployment (shinyapps.io or standalone Docker)
• Requiring usage analytics and audit logging

Inputs

• Required: One or more Shiny apps to deploy
• Required: Server with Docker installed
• Optional: Authentication provider (LDAP, OpenID, social)
• Optional: Domain name and SSL certificate
• Optional: Container orchestrator (Docker or Kubernetes)

Procedure

Step 1: Create Shiny App Docker Images

Each Shiny app needs its own Docker image. Example Dockerfile for a Shiny app:

FROM rocker/shiny:4.5.0

RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
    libcurl4-openssl-dev \
    libssl-dev \
    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

RUN R -e "install.packages(c('shiny', 'bslib', 'DT', 'dplyr'), \
    repos='https://cloud.r-project.org/')"

COPY app/ /srv/shiny-server/app/

RUN chown -R shiny:shiny /srv/shiny-server/app

USER shiny
EXPOSE 3838
CMD ["R", "-e", "shiny::runApp('/srv/shiny-server/app', host='0.0.0.0', port=3838)"]

Build and test each app:

docker build -t myorg/dashboard:latest ./apps/dashboard/
docker run --rm -p 3838:3838 myorg/dashboard:latest

Got: Each Shiny app runs independently in its own container.

Step 2: Configure ShinyProxy

application.yml:

proxy:
  title: "Shiny Applications"
  port: 8080
  container-backend: docker
  docker:
    internal-networking: true
  authentication: simple
  admin-groups: admins

  users:
    - name: admin
      password: admin_password
      groups: admins
    - name: analyst
      password: analyst_password
      groups: users

  specs:
    - id: dashboard
      display-name: "Analytics Dashboard"
      description: "Interactive data analysis dashboard"
      container-image: myorg/dashboard:latest
      container-cmd: ["R", "-e", "shiny::runApp('/srv/shiny-server/app', host='0.0.0.0', port=3838)"]
      container-network: shinyproxy-net
      port: 3838
      access-groups: [admins, users]

    - id: report-builder
      display-name: "Report Builder"
      description: "Generate custom reports"
      container-image: myorg/report-builder:latest
      container-cmd: ["R", "-e", "shiny::runApp('/srv/shiny-server/app', host='0.0.0.0', port=3838)"]
      container-network: shinyproxy-net
      port: 3838
      access-groups: [admins]

logging:
  file:
    name: /opt/shinyproxy/log/shinyproxy.log

server:
  forward-headers-strategy: native