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ROS2-Humble Guide - Installation

Last Updated: Jan 03, 2024

๐ŸŒ Link to the original page

Ubuntu

Resources

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Set locale

Make sure you have a locale which supports UTF-8. If you are in a minimal environment (such as a docker container), the locale may be something minimal like POSIX. We test with the following settings. However, it should be fine if youโ€™re using a different UTF-8 supported locale.

locale  # check for UTF-8

sudo apt update && sudo apt install locales
sudo locale-gen en_US en_US.UTF-8
sudo update-locale LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
export LANG=en_US.UTF-8

locale  # verify settings

Setup Sources

You will need to add the ROS 2 apt repository to your system.

First ensure that the Ubuntu Universe repository is enabled.

sudo apt install software-properties-common
sudo add-apt-repository universe
Now add the ROS 2 GPG key with apt.

sudo apt update && sudo apt install curl -y
sudo curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ros/rosdistro/master/ros.key -o /usr/share/keyrings/ros-archive-keyring.gpg
Then add the repository to your sources list.

echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/ros-archive-keyring.gpg] http://packages.ros.org/ros2/ubuntu $(. /etc/os-release && echo $UBUNTU_CODENAME) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ros2.list > /dev/null

Install ROS 2 packages

Update your apt repository caches after setting up the repositories.

sudo apt update
ROS 2 packages are built on frequently updated Ubuntu systems. It is always recommended that you ensure your system is up to date before installing new packages.

sudo apt upgrade

Desktop Install (Recommended): ROS, RViz, demos, tutorials.

sudo apt install ros-humble-desktop
ROS-Base Install (Bare Bones): Communication libraries, message packages, command line tools. No GUI tools.

sudo apt install ros-humble-ros-base
Development tools: Compilers and other tools to build ROS packages

sudo apt install ros-dev-tools

Environment setup

Sourcing the setup script

Set up your environment by sourcing the following file.

# Replace ".bash" with your shell if you're not using bash
# Possible values are: setup.bash, setup.sh, setup.zsh
source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash

If you want to automatically source this script you can add it to your bash session.

echo "source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc

Try some examples

Talker-listener

If you installed ros-humble-desktop above you can try some examples.

In one terminal, source the setup file and then run a C++ talker:

source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
ros2 run demo_nodes_cpp talker
In another terminal source the setup file and then run a Python listener:

source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
ros2 run demo_nodes_py listener
You should see the talker saying that it is Publishing messages and the listener saying I heard those messages.

Next steps after installing

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Using the ROS 1 bridge

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Additional RMW implementations (optional)

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Troubleshooting

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Uninstall

If you need to uninstall ROS 2 or switch to a source-based install once you have already installed from binaries, run the following command:

sudo apt remove ~nros-humble-* && sudo apt autoremove
You may also want to remove the repository:

sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ros2.list
sudo apt update
sudo apt autoremove
# Consider upgrading for packages previously shadowed.
sudo apt upgrade

Windows

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RHEL

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Alternatives

skipped A list of alternative ways to install ROS 2 โ€“ whether itโ€™s by building from source or installing a binary.

Maintaining Source Checkout

If you installled ROS 2 from source, you can update your source checkout according to this section. Please check the original link.

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Testing with Pre-release Binaries

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DDS Implementations

By default, ROS 2 uses DDS as its middleware. It is compatible with multiple DDS or RTPS (the DDS wire protocol) vendors. There is currently support for eProsimaโ€™s Fast DDS, RTIโ€™s Connext DDS, Eclipse Cyclone DDS, and GurumNetworks GurumDDS. See https://ros.org/reps/rep-2000.html for supported DDS vendors by distribution.