diff --git a/.ci/Dockerfile.in b/.ci/Dockerfile.in
deleted file mode 100644
index 559bb9a40..000000000
--- a/.ci/Dockerfile.in
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-FROM registry.gitlab.com/jangorecki/dockerfiles/SRC_IMAGE_NAME
-
-MAINTAINER Jan Gorecki j.gorecki@wit.edu.pl
-
-COPY bus/build/cran/ /cran/
-
-RUN Rscript -e 'install.packages("data.table", repos=file.path("file:","cran"))'
-
-CMD ["R"]
diff --git a/.ci/ci.R b/.ci/ci.R
index a165de818..f3a428566 100644
--- a/.ci/ci.R
+++ b/.ci/ci.R
@@ -185,7 +185,3 @@ function(pkgs,
   dp
 }
 
-## set repositories for CI tests
-if (as.logical(Sys.getenv("GITLAB_CI","false")) && identical(Sys.getenv("CI_PROJECT_NAME"), "data.table")) {
-  options("repos" = if (.Platform$OS.type == "windows") file.path("file://",getwd(),"bus/mirror-packages/cran") else file.path("file:", normalizePath("bus/mirror-packages/cran", mustWork=FALSE)))
-}
diff --git a/.ci/publish.R b/.ci/publish.R
index 526d9bd80..16521fc0e 100644
--- a/.ci/publish.R
+++ b/.ci/publish.R
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ lib.copy <- function(lib.from, repodir="bus/integration/cran"){
   pkg.copy <- function(pkg.from, lib.to) {
     pkg<-basename(pkg.from);
     dir.create(file.path(lib.to, pkg), recursive=TRUE)
-    lib.dirs<-intersect(c("html","doc"), all.lib.dirs<-list.dirs(pkg.from, full.names=FALSE))
+    lib.dirs<-intersect(c("help","html","doc"), all.lib.dirs<-list.dirs(pkg.from, full.names=FALSE))
     ans1<-setNames(file.copy(file.path(pkg.from, lib.dirs), file.path(lib.to, pkg), recursive=TRUE), lib.dirs)
     lib.files<-setdiff(list.files(pkg.from), all.lib.dirs)
     ans2<-setNames(file.copy(file.path(pkg.from, lib.files), file.path(lib.to, pkg)), lib.files)
diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index f0c403793..18f821b43 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ variables:
   TZ: "UTC"  ## to avoid 'Failed to create bus connection' from timedatectl via Sys.timezone() on Docker with R 3.4.
              ## Setting TZ for all GLCI jobs to isolate them from timezone. We could have a new GLCI job to test under
              ## a non-UTC timezone, although, that's what we do routinely in dev.
-  R_REL_VERSION: "4.2"
-  R_DEVEL_VERSION: "4.3"
-  R_OLDREL_VERSION: "4.1"
+  R_REL_VERSION: "4.3"
+  R_DEVEL_VERSION: "4.4"
+  R_OLDREL_VERSION: "4.2"
 
 stages:
   - dependencies
@@ -24,83 +24,87 @@ stages:
     paths:
       - bus
 
-mirror-packages: ## mirror all recursive dependencies, source and win.binary of data.table suggests from DESCRIPTION
+## mirror packages
+# download all recursive dependencies once to be used across multiple test jobs
+# sources and binaries for r-release, r-devel and r-oldrel
+# cache between runs
+mirror-packages:
   stage: dependencies
   tags:
     - linux
-  image: registry.gitlab.com/jangorecki/dockerfiles/r-base-dev
+  image: registry.gitlab.com/jangorecki/dockerfiles/r-base-minimal
   cache:
     paths:
-      - bus/$CI_BUILD_NAME/cran
+      - bus/$CI_JOB_NAME/cran
   script:
     - echo 'source(".ci/ci.R")' >> .Rprofile
-    - mkdir -p bus/$CI_BUILD_NAME/cran/src/contrib
+    - mkdir -p bus/$CI_JOB_NAME/cran/src/contrib
     - Rscript -e 'mirror.packages(dcf.dependencies("DESCRIPTION", "all"), repos=Sys.getenv("CRAN_MIRROR"), repodir="bus/mirror-packages/cran")'
-    - rm bus/$CI_BUILD_NAME/cran/src/contrib/PACKAGES.rds ## fallback to PACKAGES dcf so available.packages:3.4.4 works
     - Rscript -e 'sapply(simplify=FALSE, setNames(nm=Sys.getenv(c("R_REL_VERSION","R_DEVEL_VERSION","R_OLDREL_VERSION"))), function(binary.ver) mirror.packages(type="win.binary", dcf.dependencies("DESCRIPTION", "all"), repos=Sys.getenv("CRAN_MIRROR"), repodir="bus/mirror-packages/cran", binary.ver=binary.ver))'
   <<: *artifacts
 
-# mirror-other-packages: ## mirror integration suggests from pkgs at the top of inst/tests/other.Rraw;  off now #5274
-#  stage: dependencies
-#  tags:
-#    - linux
-#  image: registry.gitlab.com/jangorecki/dockerfiles/r-base-dev
-#  cache:
-#    paths:
-#      - bus/$CI_BUILD_NAME/cran
-#  script:
-#    - echo 'source(".ci/ci.R")' >> .Rprofile
-#    - mkdir -p bus/$CI_BUILD_NAME/cran/src/contrib
-#    - Rscript -e 'eval(parse("inst/tests/other.Rraw", n=1L)); mirror.packages(pkgs, repos=Sys.getenv("CRAN_MIRROR"), repodir="bus/mirror-other-packages/cran")'
-#  <<: *artifacts
-
-build: ## build data.table sources as tar.gz archive
+## build
+# sources as tar.gz archive
+# build vignettes
+build:
   stage: build
   tags:
     - linux
-  image: registry.gitlab.com/jangorecki/dockerfiles/r-builder
+  image: registry.gitlab.com/jangorecki/dockerfiles/r-base ## r-base-gcc after rstudio/markdown#108
   needs: ["mirror-packages"]
   before_script:
     - Rscript -e 'install.packages(c("knitr","rmarkdown"), repos=file.path("file:",normalizePath("bus/mirror-packages/cran")), quiet=TRUE)'
     - rm -r bus
     - sed -i '/^[[:space:]]*$/d' ./DESCRIPTION ## make last line end abruptly; i.e. without a final \n
-    - echo "Revision:" $CI_BUILD_REF >> ./DESCRIPTION
+    - echo "Revision:" $CI_COMMIT_SHA >> ./DESCRIPTION
   script:
     - R CMD build .
-    - mkdir -p bus/$CI_BUILD_NAME/cran/src/contrib
-    - mv $(ls -1t data.table_*.tar.gz | head -n 1) bus/$CI_BUILD_NAME/cran/src/contrib/.
+    - mkdir -p bus/$CI_JOB_NAME/cran/src/contrib
+    - mv $(ls -1t data.table_*.tar.gz | head -n 1) bus/$CI_JOB_NAME/cran/src/contrib/.
     - Rscript -e 'tools::write_PACKAGES(contrib.url("bus/build/cran"), fields="Revision", addFiles=TRUE)'
-    - rm bus/$CI_BUILD_NAME/cran/src/contrib/PACKAGES.rds ## fallback to PACKAGES dcf so available.packages:3.4.4 works
   <<: *artifacts
 
+## install deps aliases
 .test-install-deps: &install-deps
-  - Rscript -e 'source(".ci/ci.R"); install.packages(dcf.dependencies("DESCRIPTION", which="most"), quiet=TRUE)'
+  - Rscript -e 'source(".ci/ci.R"); install.packages(dcf.dependencies("DESCRIPTION", which="all"), repos=file.path("file:", normalizePath("bus/mirror-packages/cran", mustWork=FALSE)), quiet=TRUE)'
+.test-install-deps-win: &install-deps-win
+  - Rscript.exe -e "source('.ci/ci.R'); install.packages(dcf.dependencies('DESCRIPTION', which='all'), repos=file.path('file://',getwd(),'bus/mirror-packages/cran'), quiet=TRUE)"
 
+## copy data.table tar.gz from bus R repo to current directory
 .test-cp-src: &cp-src
   - cp $(ls -1t bus/build/cran/src/contrib/data.table_*.tar.gz | head -n 1) .
 .test-cp-src-win: &cp-src-win
   - cp.exe $(ls.exe -1t bus/build/cran/src/contrib/data.table_*.tar.gz | head.exe -n 1) .
 
+## move data.table tar.gz to bus
 .test-mv-src: &mv-src
-  - mkdir -p bus/$CI_BUILD_NAME && mv $(ls -1t data.table_*.tar.gz | head -n 1) bus/$CI_BUILD_NAME
+  - mkdir -p bus/$CI_JOB_NAME && mv $(ls -1t data.table_*.tar.gz | head -n 1) bus/$CI_JOB_NAME
 .test-mv-src-win: &mv-src-win
-  - mkdir.exe -p bus/$CI_BUILD_NAME; mv.exe $(ls.exe -1t data.table_*.tar.gz | head.exe -n 1) bus/$CI_BUILD_NAME
+  - mkdir.exe -p bus/$CI_JOB_NAME; mv.exe $(ls.exe -1t data.table_*.tar.gz | head.exe -n 1) bus/$CI_JOB_NAME
+
+## move data.table binaries to bus R repo
+.test-mv-bin-win: &mv-bin-win
+  - mkdir.exe -p cran/bin/windows/contrib/$R_VERSION; mv.exe $(ls.exe -1t data.table_*.zip | head.exe -n 1) cran/bin/windows/contrib/$R_VERSION
 
+## remove data.table tar.gz
 .test-rm-src: &rm-src
   - rm $(ls -1t data.table_*.tar.gz | head -n 1)
 .test-rm-src-win: &rm-src-win
   - rm.exe $(ls.exe -1t data.table_*.tar.gz | head.exe -n 1)
 
-.test-mv-bin-win: &mv-bin-win
-  - mkdir.exe -p cran/bin/windows/contrib/$R_VERSION; mv.exe $(ls.exe -1t data.table_*.zip | head.exe -n 1) cran/bin/windows/contrib/$R_VERSION
-
+## install R on windows
 .test-install-r-rel-win: &install-r-rel-win
-  - curl.exe -s -o ../R-rel.exe https://cloud.r-project.org/bin/windows/base/R-4.2.2-win.exe; Start-Process -FilePath ..\R-rel.exe -ArgumentList "/VERYSILENT /DIR=C:\R" -NoNewWindow -Wait
-  # see #5198 for discussion about the https link used above; it will break each time R is released and the version number will need to be updated
+  - curl.exe -s -o ../R-rel.exe https://cloud.r-project.org/bin/windows/base/old/4.3.2/R-4.3.2-win.exe; Start-Process -FilePath ..\R-rel.exe -ArgumentList "/VERYSILENT /DIR=C:\R" -NoNewWindow -Wait
 .test-install-r-devel-win: &install-r-devel-win
   - curl.exe -s -o ../R-devel.exe https://cloud.r-project.org/bin/windows/base/R-devel-win.exe; Start-Process -FilePath ..\R-devel.exe -ArgumentList "/VERYSILENT /DIR=C:\R" -NoNewWindow -Wait
 .test-install-r-oldrel-win: &install-r-oldrel-win
-  - curl.exe -s -o ../R-oldrel.exe https://cloud.r-project.org/bin/windows/base/old/4.1.3/R-4.1.3-win.exe; Start-Process -FilePath ..\R-oldrel.exe -ArgumentList "/VERYSILENT /DIR=C:\R" -NoNewWindow -Wait
+  - curl.exe -s -o ../R-oldrel.exe https://cloud.r-project.org/bin/windows/base/old/4.2.3/R-4.2.3-win.exe; Start-Process -FilePath ..\R-oldrel.exe -ArgumentList "/VERYSILENT /DIR=C:\R" -NoNewWindow -Wait
+
+## install Rtools on windows
+.test-install-rtools42-win: &install-rtools42-win
+  - curl.exe -s -o ../rtools.exe https://cloud.r-project.org/bin/windows/Rtools/rtools42/files/rtools42-5355-5357.exe; Start-Process -FilePath ..\rtools.exe -ArgumentList "/VERYSILENT /DIR=C:\rtools42" -NoNewWindow -Wait
+.test-install-rtools43-win: &install-rtools43-win
+  - curl.exe -s -o ../rtools.exe https://cloud.r-project.org/bin/windows/Rtools/rtools43/files/rtools43-5863-5818.exe; Start-Process -FilePath ..\rtools.exe -ArgumentList "/VERYSILENT /DIR=C:\rtools43" -NoNewWindow -Wait
 
 .test-template: &test
   stage: test
@@ -112,21 +116,6 @@ build: ## build data.table sources as tar.gz archive
   tags:
     - linux
 
-.test-cran-lin-template: &test-cran-lin
-  <<: *test-lin
-  variables:
-    _R_CHECK_CRAN_INCOMING_: "TRUE"
-    _R_CHECK_CRAN_INCOMING_REMOTE_: "FALSE"
-  before_script:
-    - *install-deps
-    - *cp-src
-    - rm -r bus
-  script:
-    - *mv-src
-    - cd bus/$CI_BUILD_NAME
-    - R CMD check --as-cran --no-manual $(ls -1t data.table_*.tar.gz | head -n 1)
-    - *rm-src
-
 .test-win-template: &test-win
   <<: *test
   tags:
@@ -138,20 +127,26 @@ build: ## build data.table sources as tar.gz archive
 #  tags:
 #    - macosx
 
-test-rel-lin: ## most comprehensive tests, force all suggests, also integration tests, using gcc -O3 -flto -fno-common -Wunused-result
+## most comprehensive tests
+# force all suggests
+# flags: gcc -O3 -flto -fno-common -Wunused-result
+# tests for compilation warnings
+# measure memory usage during tests
+test-rel-lin:
   <<: *test-lin
-  image: registry.gitlab.com/jangorecki/dockerfiles/r-builder
-  needs: ["mirror-packages","build"]  # "mirror-other-packages"
+  image: registry.gitlab.com/jangorecki/dockerfiles/r-data.table
+  needs: ["mirror-packages","build"]
+  allow_failure: true ## temp workaround #5760
   variables:
     _R_CHECK_CRAN_INCOMING_: "FALSE"
     _R_CHECK_CRAN_INCOMING_REMOTE_: "FALSE"
     _R_CHECK_FORCE_SUGGESTS_: "TRUE"
     _R_CHECK_TESTS_NLINES_: "0"
     OPENBLAS_MAIN_FREE: "1"
-    TEST_DATA_TABLE_WITH_OTHER_PACKAGES: "FALSE"  #5274
+    TEST_DATA_TABLE_MEMTEST: "1"
   before_script:
-    - Rscript -e 'source(".ci/ci.R"); install.packages(dcf.dependencies("DESCRIPTION", which="all"), quiet=TRUE)'  ## does seem to be needed despite 'needs mirror-packages'
-    ## - Rscript -e 'eval(parse("inst/tests/other.Rraw", n=1L)); install.packages(pkgs, quiet=TRUE, repos=c(getOption("repos"), file.path("file:", normalizePath("bus/mirror-other-packages/cran", mustWork=FALSE))))'
+    - apt-get update -q && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends libcurl4-openssl-dev ## remove after #5749
+    - *install-deps
     - *cp-src
     - rm -r bus
     - mkdir -p ~/.R
@@ -159,16 +154,20 @@ test-rel-lin: ## most comprehensive tests, force all suggests, also integration
     - echo 'CXXFLAGS=-g -O3 -flto -fno-common -Wunused-result -fopenmp -Wall -pedantic -fstack-protector-strong -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2' >> ~/.R/Makevars
   script:
     - *mv-src
-    - cd bus/$CI_BUILD_NAME
+    - cd bus/$CI_JOB_NAME
     - R CMD check $(ls -1t data.table_*.tar.gz | head -n 1)
     - *rm-src
     - (! grep "warning:" data.table.Rcheck/00install.out)
 
-test-rel-vanilla-lin: ## minimal, no suggested deps, no vignettes or manuals, measure memory, using gcc -O0 -fno-openmp
+## vanilla minimal
+# no suggested deps
+# no vignettes or manuals
+# no openmp
+# flags: gcc -O0 -fno-openmp
+test-rel-vanilla-lin:
   <<: *test-lin
-  image: registry.gitlab.com/jangorecki/dockerfiles/r-base-dev
-  variables:
-    TEST_DATA_TABLE_MEMTEST: "1"
+  image: registry.gitlab.com/jangorecki/dockerfiles/r-base-gcc
+  allow_failure: true ## temp workaround #5484
   before_script:
     - *cp-src
     - rm -r bus
@@ -177,36 +176,46 @@ test-rel-vanilla-lin: ## minimal, no suggested deps, no vignettes or manuals, me
     - echo 'CXXFLAGS=-g -O0 -fno-openmp -Wall -pedantic -fstack-protector-strong -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2' >> ~/.R/Makevars
   script:
     - *mv-src
-    - cd bus/$CI_BUILD_NAME
+    - cd bus/$CI_JOB_NAME
     - R CMD check --no-manual --ignore-vignettes $(ls -1t data.table_*.tar.gz | head -n 1)
     - *rm-src
 
-test-rel-cran-lin: ## R-release on Linux, extra NOTEs check and build pdf manual thus not from cran-lin template
+## R-release on Linux
+# strict checks for 0 NOTEs
+# extra NOTEs check and build pdf manual thus not from cran-lin template
+test-rel-cran-lin:
   <<: *test-lin
-  image: registry.gitlab.com/jangorecki/dockerfiles/r-builder
+  image: registry.gitlab.com/jangorecki/dockerfiles/r-base
   variables:
     _R_CHECK_CRAN_INCOMING_: "TRUE"           ## stricter --as-cran checks should run in dev pipelines continuously (not sure what they are though)
     _R_CHECK_CRAN_INCOMING_REMOTE_: "FALSE"   ## Other than no URL checking (takes many minutes) or 'Days since last update 0' NOTEs needed, #3284
-    _R_CHECK_CRAN_INCOMING_TARBALL_THRESHOLD_: "7500000" ## effective from R 4.1.0
+    _R_CHECK_CRAN_INCOMING_TARBALL_THRESHOLD_: "7500000" ## bytes
+    _R_CHECK_PKG_SIZES_THRESHOLD_: "7"        ## MB 'checking installed package size' NOTE
   before_script:
+    - apt-get update -q && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends libcurl4-openssl-dev ## temp workaround #5749
     - *install-deps
     - *cp-src
     - rm -r bus
     - mkdir -p ~/.R
-    - echo 'CFLAGS=-g0 -O2 -fopenmp -Wall -pedantic -fstack-protector-strong -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2'> ~/.R/Makevars ## -g0 because -g increases datatable.so size from 0.5MB to 1.5MB and breaches 'installed package size <= 5MB' note
-    - echo 'CXXFLAGS=-g0 -O2 -fopenmp -Wall -pedantic -fstack-protector-strong -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2' >> ~/.R/Makevars
+    - echo 'CFLAGS=-g -O2 -fopenmp -Wall -pedantic -fstack-protector-strong -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2' > ~/.R/Makevars
+    - echo 'CXXFLAGS=-g -O2 -fopenmp -Wall -pedantic -fstack-protector-strong -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2' >> ~/.R/Makevars
   script:
     - *mv-src
-    - cd bus/$CI_BUILD_NAME
+    - cd bus/$CI_JOB_NAME
     - R CMD check --as-cran $(ls -1t data.table_*.tar.gz | head -n 1)
     - *rm-src
     - >-
         Rscript -e 'l=tail(readLines("data.table.Rcheck/00check.log"), 1L); if (!identical(l, "Status: OK")) stop("Last line of ", shQuote("00check.log"), " is not ", shQuote("Status: OK"), " but ", shQuote(l)) else q("no")'
 
-test-dev-cran-lin: ## R-devel on Linux, --enable-strict-barrier --disable-long-double, check for new notes and compilation warnings, thus allow_failure
+## R-devel on Linux
+# TODO: --enable-strict-barrier --disable-long-double
+# tests for compilation warnings
+# tests for new notes
+# thus allow_failure
+test-dev-cran-lin:
   <<: *test-lin
   image: registry.gitlab.com/jangorecki/dockerfiles/r-devel
-  allow_failure: true
+  allow_failure: true ## to not be blocked by changes in r-devel
   variables:
     _R_CHECK_CRAN_INCOMING_: "TRUE"
     _R_CHECK_CRAN_INCOMING_REMOTE_: "FALSE"
@@ -218,84 +227,95 @@ test-dev-cran-lin: ## R-devel on Linux, --enable-strict-barrier --disable-long-d
     - rm -r bus
   script:
     - *mv-src
-    - cd bus/$CI_BUILD_NAME
+    - cd bus/$CI_JOB_NAME
     - R CMD check --as-cran --no-manual $(ls -1t data.table_*.tar.gz | head -n 1)
     - *rm-src
     - (! grep "warning:" data.table.Rcheck/00install.out)
-    - >-
+    - >- ## this likely need an update but check fails now on complex NA so CI is not reaching here anyway
         Rscript -e 'l=tail(readLines("data.table.Rcheck/00check.log"), 1L); if (!identical(l, "Status: 3 NOTEs")) stop("Last line of ", shQuote("00check.log"), " is not ", shQuote("Status: 3 NOTEs"), " (size of tarball, installed package size, top-level files) but ", shQuote(l)) else q("no")'
 
-test-310-cran-lin: ## R-3.1.0 on Linux, stated dependency of R
-  <<: *test-cran-lin
+## R 3.1.0
+# stated dependency on R
+test-310-cran-lin:
   image: registry.gitlab.com/jangorecki/dockerfiles/r-3.1.0
+  <<: *test-lin
+  before_script:
+    - *install-deps
+    - *cp-src
+    - rm -r bus
+  script:
+    - *mv-src
+    - cd bus/$CI_JOB_NAME
+    - R CMD check --no-manual $(ls -1t data.table_*.tar.gz | head -n 1)
+    - *rm-src
 
-test-344-cran-lin: ## R-3.4.4 on Linux, last R non-altrep version
-  <<: *test-cran-lin
-  image: registry.gitlab.com/jangorecki/dockerfiles/r-3.4.4
-
-test-350-cran-lin: ## R-3.5.0 on Linux, first R altrep version
-  <<: *test-cran-lin
-  image: registry.gitlab.com/jangorecki/dockerfiles/r-3.5.0
-
-test-rel-win: ## R-release on Windows, test and build binaries
+## R-release on Windows
+# test and build binaries
+test-rel-win:
   <<: *test-win
   variables:
     R_VERSION: "$R_REL_VERSION"
   before_script:
     - *install-r-rel-win
-    - curl.exe -s -o ../rtools.exe https://cloud.r-project.org/bin/windows/Rtools/rtools42/files/rtools42-5355-5357.exe; Start-Process -FilePath ..\rtools.exe -ArgumentList "/VERYSILENT /DIR=C:\rtools42" -NoNewWindow -Wait
-    - $ENV:PATH = "C:\R\bin;C:\rtools42\usr\bin;$ENV:PATH"
-    - Rscript.exe -e "source('.ci/ci.R'); install.packages(dcf.dependencies('DESCRIPTION', which='most'), quiet=TRUE)"
+    - *install-rtools43-win
+    - $ENV:PATH = "C:\R\bin;C:\rtools43\usr\bin;$ENV:PATH"
+    - *install-deps-win
     - *cp-src-win
     - rm.exe -r bus
   script:
     - *mv-src-win
-    - cd bus/$CI_BUILD_NAME
+    - cd bus/$CI_JOB_NAME
     - R.exe CMD check --no-manual $(ls.exe -1t data.table_*.tar.gz | head.exe -n 1)
     - R.exe CMD INSTALL --build $(ls.exe -1t data.table_*.tar.gz | head.exe -n 1)
     - *rm-src-win
     - *mv-bin-win
 
-test-dev-win: ## R-devel on Windows; see #5294 for changes in Dec 2021 related to UCRT and Rtools42
+## R-devel on Windows
+# test and build binaries
+test-dev-win:
   <<: *test-win
   variables:
     R_VERSION: "$R_DEVEL_VERSION"
+  allow_failure: true ## temp workaround #5748
   before_script:
     - *install-r-devel-win
-    - curl.exe -s -o ../rtools.exe https://cloud.r-project.org/bin/windows/Rtools/rtools43/files/rtools43-5493-5475.exe; Start-Process -FilePath ..\rtools.exe -ArgumentList "/VERYSILENT /DIR=C:\rtools43" -NoNewWindow -Wait
+    - *install-rtools43-win
     - $ENV:PATH = "C:\R\bin;C:\rtools43\usr\bin;$ENV:PATH"
-    - Rscript.exe -e "source('.ci/ci.R'); install.packages(dcf.dependencies('DESCRIPTION', which='most', exclude=c('knitr','rmarkdown')), quiet=TRUE)"  ## exclude= for #5294
+    - *install-deps-win
     - *cp-src-win
     - rm.exe -r bus
   script:
     - *mv-src-win
-    - cd bus/$CI_BUILD_NAME
+    - cd bus/$CI_JOB_NAME
     - R.exe CMD check --no-manual --ignore-vignettes $(ls.exe -1t data.table_*.tar.gz | head.exe -n 1)
     - R.exe CMD INSTALL --build $(ls.exe -1t data.table_*.tar.gz | head.exe -n 1)
     - *rm-src-win
     - *mv-bin-win
 
-test-old-win: ## R-oldrel on Windows
+## R-oldrel on Windows
+# test and build binaries
+test-old-win:
   <<: *test-win
   variables:
     R_VERSION: "$R_OLDREL_VERSION"
   before_script:
     - *install-r-oldrel-win
-    - curl.exe -s -o ../rtools.exe https://cloud.r-project.org/bin/windows/Rtools/rtools40-x86_64.exe; Start-Process -FilePath ..\rtools.exe -ArgumentList "/VERYSILENT /DIR=C:\rtools40" -NoNewWindow -Wait
-    ## rtools42 doesn't support 32bit so oldrel-win (currently R 4.1) needs rtools40
-    - $ENV:PATH = "C:\R\bin;C:\rtools40\usr\bin;$ENV:PATH"
-    - Rscript.exe -e "source('.ci/ci.R'); install.packages(dcf.dependencies('DESCRIPTION', which='most', exclude=c('knitr','rmarkdown')), quiet=TRUE)"  ## exclude= for #5294
+    - *install-rtools42-win
+    - $ENV:PATH = "C:\R\bin;C:\rtools42\usr\bin;$ENV:PATH"
+    - *install-deps-win
     - *cp-src-win
     - rm.exe -r bus
   script:
     - *mv-src-win
-    - cd bus/$CI_BUILD_NAME
+    - cd bus/$CI_JOB_NAME
     - R.exe CMD check --no-manual --ignore-vignettes $(ls.exe -1t data.table_*.tar.gz | head.exe -n 1)
     - R.exe CMD INSTALL --build $(ls.exe -1t data.table_*.tar.gz | head.exe -n 1)
     - *rm-src-win
     - *mv-bin-win
 
-#test-rel-mac: ## R-release on MacOS, no macosx runner yet
+## R-release on MacOS
+# no macosx runner set yet
+#test-rel-mac:
 #  <<: *test-mac
 #  variables:
 #    R_VERSION: "$R_REL_VERSION"
@@ -305,7 +325,7 @@ test-old-win: ## R-oldrel on Windows
 #    - rm -r bus
 #  script:
 #    - *mv-src
-#    - cd bus/$CI_BUILD_NAME
+#    - cd bus/$CI_JOB_NAME
 #    - R CMD check $(ls -1t data.table_*.tar.gz | head -n 1)
 #    - R CMD INSTALL --build $(ls -1t data.table_*.tar.gz | head -n 1)
 #    - mkdir -p cran/bin/macosx/el-capitan/contrib/$R_VERSION
@@ -313,23 +333,28 @@ test-old-win: ## R-oldrel on Windows
 #    - *rm-src
 #    - *mv-bin-mac
 
-integration: ## merging all artifacts to produce single R repository, documentation and website
+## integrate artifacts
+# merging package tarballs and binaries into single R repository
+# rendering documentation
+# setting up CRAN-like structure
+# generating pkgdown website
+integration:
   stage: integration
   image: registry.gitlab.com/jangorecki/dockerfiles/r-pkgdown
   tags:
     - linux
   only:
     - master
-    - tags
-  needs: ["mirror-packages","build","test-rel-lin","test-rel-cran-lin","test-dev-cran-lin","test-rel-vanilla-lin","test-310-cran-lin","test-344-cran-lin","test-350-cran-lin","test-rel-win","test-dev-win","test-old-win"]
+  needs: ["mirror-packages","build","test-rel-lin","test-rel-cran-lin","test-dev-cran-lin","test-rel-vanilla-lin","test-310-cran-lin","test-rel-win","test-dev-win","test-old-win"]
   script:
+    - R --version
     - Rscript -e 'pkgdown::build_site(override=list(destination="./pkgdown"))'
     ## html manual, vignettes, repos, cran_web, cran_checks
     - echo 'source(".ci/ci.R"); source(".ci/publish.R")' >> .Rprofile
     ## list of available test-* jobs dynamically based on bus/test-* directories
     - Rscript -e 'cat("\ntest.jobs <- c(\n"); cat(paste0("  \"",list.files("bus",pattern="^test-"),"\" = \"data.table\""), sep=",\n"); cat(")\n")' >> .Rprofile
     - Rscript -e 'sapply(names(test.jobs), check.test, pkg="data.table", simplify=FALSE)'
-    - mkdir -p bus/$CI_BUILD_NAME
+    - mkdir -p bus/$CI_JOB_NAME
     ## delete any existing non-dev version of data.table
     - rm -f bus/mirror-packages/cran/src/contrib/data.table_*.tar.gz
     - rm -f bus/mirror-packages/cran/bin/windows/contrib/$R_REL_VERSION/data.table_*.zip
@@ -339,14 +364,14 @@ integration: ## merging all artifacts to produce single R repository, documentat
     #- rm -f bus/mirror-packages/cran/bin/macosx/el-capitan/contrib/$R_DEVEL_VERSION/data.table_*.tgz
     #- rm -f bus/mirror-packages/cran/bin/macosx/el-capitan/contrib/$R_OLDREL_VERSION/data.table_*.tgz
     ## merge mirror-packages and R devel packages
-    - mv bus/mirror-packages/cran bus/$CI_BUILD_NAME/
+    - mv bus/mirror-packages/cran bus/$CI_JOB_NAME/
     ## publish package sources
-    - mkdir -p bus/$CI_BUILD_NAME/cran/library bus/$CI_BUILD_NAME/cran/doc
-    - mv $(ls -1t bus/build/cran/src/contrib/data.table_*.tar.gz | head -n 1) bus/$CI_BUILD_NAME/cran/src/contrib
+    - mkdir -p bus/$CI_JOB_NAME/cran/library bus/$CI_JOB_NAME/cran/doc
+    - mv $(ls -1t bus/build/cran/src/contrib/data.table_*.tar.gz | head -n 1) bus/$CI_JOB_NAME/cran/src/contrib
     - Rscript -e 'tools::write_PACKAGES(contrib.url("bus/integration/cran", type="source"), type="source", fields="Revision", addFiles=TRUE)'
     ## publish binaries
     - Rscript -e 'move.bin("test-rel-win", Sys.getenv("R_REL_VERSION"), os.type="windows")'
-    - Rscript -e 'move.bin("test-dev-win", Sys.getenv("R_DEVEL_VERSION"), os.type="windows")'
+    - Rscript -e 'move.bin("test-dev-win", Sys.getenv("R_DEVEL_VERSION"), os.type="windows", silent=TRUE)'
     - Rscript -e 'move.bin("test-old-win", Sys.getenv("R_OLDREL_VERSION"), os.type="windows")'
     - Rscript -e 'tools::write_PACKAGES(contrib.url("bus/integration/cran", type="win.binary", ver=Sys.getenv("R_REL_VERSION")), type="win.binary", fields="Revision", addFiles=TRUE)'
     - Rscript -e 'tools::write_PACKAGES(contrib.url("bus/integration/cran", type="win.binary", ver=Sys.getenv("R_DEVEL_VERSION")), type="win.binary", fields="Revision", addFiles=TRUE)'
@@ -385,67 +410,17 @@ integration: ## merging all artifacts to produce single R repository, documentat
     - mv pkgdown/* bus/integration/cran/
     ## cleanup artifacts from other jobs
     - mkdir tmpbus
-    - mv bus/$CI_BUILD_NAME tmpbus
+    - mv bus/$CI_JOB_NAME tmpbus
     - rm -r bus
     - mv tmpbus bus
   <<: *artifacts
 
-.docker-template: &docker
-  stage: deploy
-  tags:
-    - linux
-  image: docker
-  services:
-    - docker:dind
-  needs:
-    - job: build
-    - job: integration
-      artifacts: false
-  before_script:
-    - sed "s/SRC_IMAGE_NAME/$SRC_IMAGE_NAME/" < .ci/Dockerfile.in > Dockerfile
-    - docker login -u gitlab-ci-token -p $CI_JOB_TOKEN $CI_REGISTRY
-  script:
-    - docker build --pull -t "$CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE/$IMAGE_NAME:$IMAGE_TAG" -f Dockerfile .
-    - docker run --rm "$CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE/$IMAGE_NAME:$IMAGE_TAG" Rscript -e 'cat(R.version.string, "\ndata.table revision", read.dcf(system.file("DESCRIPTION", package="data.table"), fields="Revision")[[1L]], "\n"); require(data.table); test.data.table()'
-    - docker push "$CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE/$IMAGE_NAME:$IMAGE_TAG"
-
-docker-r-release: ## data.table on R-release
-  only:
-    - master
-  variables:
-    SRC_IMAGE_NAME: "r-base-dev"
-    IMAGE_NAME: "r-release"
-    IMAGE_TAG: "latest"
-  <<: *docker
-
-docker-r-release-builder: ## data.table on R-release extended for Rmd vignettes build dependencies
-  only:
-    - master
-  variables:
-    SRC_IMAGE_NAME: "r-builder"
-    IMAGE_NAME: "r-release-builder"
-    IMAGE_TAG: "latest"
-  <<: *docker
-
-docker-r-devel: ## data.table on R-devel
-  only:
-    - master
-  variables:
-    SRC_IMAGE_NAME: "r-devel"
-    IMAGE_NAME: "r-devel"
-    IMAGE_TAG: "latest"
-  <<: *docker
-
-docker-tags: ## data.table on R-release fixed version images
-  only:
-    - tags
-  variables:
-    SRC_IMAGE_NAME: "r-base-dev"
-    IMAGE_NAME: "r-release"
-    IMAGE_TAG: $CI_COMMIT_TAG
-  <<: *docker
-
-pages: ## publish R repository, test jobs summaries, html documentation of all packages in repo, pkgdown
+## publish
+# R repository
+# test jobs summaries
+# html documentation of all packages in repo
+# pkgdown website
+pages:
   stage: deploy
   environment: production
   tags:
@@ -458,7 +433,7 @@ pages: ## publish R repository, test jobs summaries, html documentation of all p
     - mkdir -p public
     - cp -r bus/integration/cran/* public
     - cat public/src/contrib/PACKAGES
-  artifacts: ## publish only when no failure
+  artifacts:
     expire_in: 2 weeks
     paths:
       - public