Knitr wont compile PDF: "Error in tools::file_path_as_absolute(output_file)"

A better solution appears to be to use tinytex.

install.packages('tinytex')tinytex::install_tinytex()

If you have to use MikTex and have it installed already, open the MikTex console and change the missing package setting to:

Always install missing packages on the fly

If you have not installed MikTex yet then on installation make sure to choose:

Install missing packages: Yes

When I originally installed I chose Ask me first and it would fail. I have tried both changing the settings of MikTex, as well as uninstalled it and just settled for tinytex which was a bit more lightweight for my needs.

The original thread with solution near the bottom:https://github.com/rstudio/rmarkdown/issues/1285

I had similar problem. After searching in the internet, I found a solution in community r studio

It seems the bug is related with 1.9 version of rmarkdown, so the solution is to return to 1.8 version

install.packages("devtools")library(devtools)install_version("rmarkdown",version=1.8)

After reinstalling, when you try to knit again, probably you will be asked to install some package from Miktex. If you have any problem, check for a proper mirror. Hope this helps.

In the meanwhile the issue seems to be fixed in the development version 1.10.11:

devtools::install_github('rstudio/rmarkdown')