title: Compiling RCurl from source on Windows
body: <p>As there is no Windows binary for <code>v1.95-4.3</code> yet, I need to install/compile the <a href="http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/RCurl/index.html" rel="nofollow"><code>RCurl</code></a> package from source on Windows 8.1. (64 bit). </p>
  
  <p>Could someone tell me </p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>Which version of <a href="http://curl.haxx.se/download.html" rel="nofollow"><code>cURL</code></a> I need </li>
  <li>Where the various files such as <code>libcurl.dll</code> etc. need to be placed exactly</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>Does the <code>x64</code> directory mentioned in the error message below correspond to the <code>x64</code> directory of the R installation?</p>
  
  <pre><code>&gt; install.packages("RCurl", type="source")
  trying URL 'http://cran.rstudio.com/src/contrib/RCurl_1.95-4.3.tar.gz'
  Content type 'application/x-gzip' length 879143 bytes (858 Kb)
  opened URL
  downloaded 858 Kb
  
  * installing *source* package 'RCurl' ...
  ** package 'RCurl' successfully unpacked and MD5 sums checked
  Please set LIB_CURL
  cygwin warning:
    MS-DOS style path detected: Q:/home
    Preferred POSIX equivalent is: /cygdrive/q/home
    CYGWIN environment variable option "nodosfilewarning" turns off this warning.
    Consult the user's guide for more details about POSIX paths:
      http://cygwin.com/cygwin-ug-net/using.html#using-pathnames
  cp: cannot stat `/x64/ssl/bin/*.dll': No such file or directory
  cp: cannot stat `/x64/bin/libcurl-4.dll': No such file or directory
  cp: cannot stat `/x64/bin/libz.dll': No such file or directory
  Warning: running command 'sh ./configure.win' had status 1
  ERROR: configuration failed for package 'RCurl'
  * removing 'Q:/home/apps/rapptools/apps/r/R-3.1.1/library/RCurl'
  Warning in install.packages :
    running command '"Q:/home/apps/RAPPTO~1/apps/r/R-31~1.1/bin/x64/R" CMD INSTALL -l "Q:\home\apps\rapptools\apps\r\R-3.1.1\library" C:\Users\RAPPST~1\AppData\Local\Temp\Rtmp0MmGz8/downloaded_packages/RCurl_1.95-4.3.tar.gz' had status 1
  Warning in install.packages :
    installation of package ‘RCurl’ had non-zero exit status
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Thanks a lot!</p>