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Add instructions for using webots_ros2 packages with Docker on macOS and Ubuntu #4145

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Add instructions for using webots_ros2 packages with Docker on macOS and Ubuntu #4145

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1b47e49
Add Docker docs for using webots_ros2_driver
adamlm Jan 27, 2024
fd1e7f5
Add Docker docs for webots_ros2 on Ubuntu
adamlm Jan 27, 2024
ff0ae36
Add entries to .gitignore
adamlm Jan 27, 2024
afd4e53
Revise Webots Docker instructions for macOS
adamlm Jan 28, 2024
9133e55
Clean up Webots for Docker on Ubuntu instructions
adamlm Jan 28, 2024
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2 changes: 2 additions & 0 deletions .gitignore
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@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
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user is not expected to develop the virtual env or desktop service in this ros2_documentation repository? i guess those files should be set in the global user configuration .gitignore instead?

build/
plugins/__pycache__
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183 changes: 129 additions & 54 deletions source/Tutorials/Advanced/Simulators/Webots/Installation-MacOS.rst
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Expand Up @@ -25,100 +25,167 @@ Prerequisites
It is recommended to understand basic ROS principles covered in the beginner :doc:`../../../../Tutorials`.
In particular, :doc:`../../../Beginner-Client-Libraries/Creating-A-Workspace/Creating-A-Workspace` and :doc:`../../../Beginner-Client-Libraries/Creating-Your-First-ROS2-Package` are useful prerequisites.

It is necessary to install Webots natively on the mac in order to use the ``webots_ros2`` package in the virtual machine as explained below.
It is necessary to install Webots natively on the mac in order to use the ``webots_ros2`` package in the virtual machine or Docker container as explained below.
You can follow the `installation procedure <https://cyberbotics.com/doc/guide/installation-procedure>`_ or `build it from sources <https://github.com/cyberbotics/webots/wiki/macOS-installation/>`_.

Tasks
-----

On macOS, a solution based on UTM virtual machines provides an improved user experience with ROS 2 compared to native macOS installation, as it runs ROS in a Linux environment.
However, Webots should be installed natively on macOS and it will be able to communicate with the ROS nodes running in the Virtual Machine (VM).
On macOS, a solution based on UTM virtual machines or Docker containers provides an improved user experience with ROS 2 compared to native macOS installation, as it runs ROS in a Linux environment.
However, Webots should be installed natively on macOS and it will be able to communicate with the ROS nodes running in the virtual environment (VM or container).
This solution allows for native 3D hardware acceleration for Webots.
The VM runs all the ROS part (including RViz) and connects to the host machine through TCP to start Webots.
A shared folder allows the script to transfer the world and other resource files from the VM to macOS where Webots is running.
The virtual environment runs all the ROS parts and connects to the host machine through TCP to start Webots.
A shared folder allows the script to transfer the world and other resource files from the VM or container to macOS where Webots is running.

The following steps explain how to create the VM image with the installation of the ``webots_ros2`` released package.
The following steps explain how to create the VM image or Docker container with the installation of the ``webots_ros2`` released package.
It is also possible to install it from sources.

1 Create the VM image
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
1 Create the virtual environment
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Install UTM on your macOS machine.
The link can be found on the `official UTM website <https://mac.getutm.app/>`_.
.. tabs::

.. group-tab:: Virtual machine

Install UTM on your macOS machine.
The link can be found on the `official UTM website <https://mac.getutm.app/>`_.

Download the .iso image of `Ubuntu 22.04 <https://cdimage.ubuntu.com/jammy/daily-live/current/>`_ for Humble and Rolling or `Ubuntu 20.04 <https://cdimage.ubuntu.com/focal/daily-live/pending/>`_ for Foxy.
Be sure to download the image corresponding to your CPU architecture.

In the UTM software:

* Create a new image and choose ``Virtualize`` option.
* Select the ISO image you have downloaded in the ``Boot ISO Image`` field.
* Leave all hardware settings at default (including hardware acceleration disabled).
* In the ``Shared Directory`` window, select a folder that will be used by ``webots_ros2`` to transfer all the Webots assets to the host.
In this example, the selected folder is ``/Users/username/shared``.
* Leave all the remaining parameters as default.
* Start the VM.
Note that you can select another shared folder each time you start the VM.
* During the first launch of the VM, install Ubuntu and choose a username for your account. In this example, the username is ``ubuntu``.
* Once Ubuntu is installed, close the VM, remove the iso image from the CD/DVD field and restart the VM.

.. group-tab:: Docker container

Install Docker Desktop for Mac on your macOS machine.
The link can be found on the `Docker website <https://docs.docker.com/desktop/install/mac-install/>`_.

Pull a Docker image for ROS.
This tutorial uses the latest `ROS Base <https://hub.docker.com/layers/library/ros/latest/images/sha256-52e27b46c352d7ee113f60b05590bb089628a17ef648fff6992ca363c5e14945?context=explore>`_ image.

.. code-block:: console

docker image pull ros:latest

2 Configure the virtual environment
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

.. tabs::

.. group-tab:: Virtual machine

In this section, ROS 2 is installed in the VM and the shared folder is configured.
The following instructions and commands are all run inside the VM.

* Open a terminal in the started VM and install the ROS 2 distribution you need by following the instructions in :doc:`../../../../Installation/Ubuntu-Install-Debians`:
* Create a folder in the VM to use as a shared folder.
In this example, the shared folder in the VM is ``/home/ubuntu/shared``.

.. code-block:: console

Download the .iso image of `Ubuntu 22.04 <https://cdimage.ubuntu.com/jammy/daily-live/current/>`_ for Humble and Rolling or `Ubuntu 20.04 <https://cdimage.ubuntu.com/focal/daily-live/pending/>`_ for Foxy.
Be sure to download the image corresponding to your CPU architecture.
mkdir /home/ubuntu/shared

In the UTM software:
* To mount this folder to the host, execute the following command.
Don't forget to modify the path to the shared folder, if it is different in your case.

* Create a new image and choose ``Virtualize`` option.
* Select the ISO image you have downloaded in the ``Boot ISO Image`` field.
* Leave all hardware settings at default (including hardware acceleration disabled).
* In the ``Shared Directory`` window, select a folder that will be used by ``webots_ros2`` to transfer all the Webots assets to the host.
In this example, the selected folder is ``/Users/username/shared``.
* Leave all the remaining parameters as default.
* Start the VM.
Note that you can select another shared folder each time you start the VM.
* During the first launch of the VM, install Ubuntu and choose a username for your account. In this example, the username is ``ubuntu``.
* Once Ubuntu is installed, close the VM, remove the iso image from the CD/DVD field and restart the VM.
.. code-block:: console

sudo mount -t 9p -o trans=virtio share /home/ubuntu/shared -oversion=9p2000.L

* To automatically mount this folder to the host when starting the VM, add the following line to ``/etc/fstab``.
Don't forget to modify the path to the shared folder, if it is different in your case.

.. code-block:: console

share /home/ubuntu/shared 9p trans=virtio,version=9p2000.L,rw,_netdev,nofail 0 0

* The environment variable ``WEBOTS_SHARED_FOLDER`` must always be set in order for the package to work properly in the VM.
This variable specifies the location of the shared folder that is used to exchange data between the host machine and the virtual machine (VM) to the ``webots_ros2`` package.
The value to use for this variable should be in the format of ``<host shared folder>:<VM shared folder>``, where ``<host shared folder>`` is the path to the shared folder on the host machine and ``<VM shared folder>`` is the path to the same shared folder on the VM.

In this example:

.. code-block:: console

2 Configure the VM
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
In this section, ROS 2 is installed in the VM and the shared folder is configured.
The following instructions and commands are all run inside the VM.
export WEBOTS_SHARED_FOLDER=/Users/username/shared:/home/ubuntu/shared

* Open a terminal in the started VM and install the ROS 2 distribution you need by following the instructions in :doc:`../../../../Installation/Ubuntu-Install-Debians`:
* Create a folder in the VM to use as a shared folder.
In this example, the shared folder in the VM is ``/home/ubuntu/shared``.
You can add this command line to the ``~/.bashrc`` file to automatically set this environment variable when starting a new terminal.
This variable must be set on both the VM and the host machine.

.. code-block:: console
.. group-tab:: Docker container

mkdir /home/ubuntu/shared
In this section, the ROS 2 image is installed.

* To mount this folder to the host, execute the following command.
Don't forget to modify the path to the shared folder, if it is different in your case.
* Create a folder on the host to use as a shared folder.
In this example, the shared folder on macOS is ``/Users/username/shared``, where ``username`` is your actual username.

.. code-block:: console
.. code-block:: console

sudo mount -t 9p -o trans=virtio share /home/ubuntu/shared -oversion=9p2000.L
mkdir /Users/username/shared

* To automatically mount this folder to the host when starting the VM, add the following line to ``/etc/fstab``.
Don't forget to modify the path to the shared folder, if it is different in your case.
* Start a new ROS 2 container with a bind mount for the shared directory you created in the previous step.
The shared directory will be located at ``/root/shared`` inside the container.

.. code-block:: console
.. code-block:: console

share /home/ubuntu/shared 9p trans=virtio,version=9p2000.L,rw,_netdev,nofail 0 0
docker run -it --mount type=bind,src=/Users/username/shared,target=/root/shared ros:latest

* The environment variable ``WEBOTS_SHARED_FOLDER`` must always be set in order for the package to work properly in the VM.
This variable specifies the location of the shared folder that is used to exchange data between the host machine and the virtual machine (VM) to the ``webots_ros2`` package.
The value to use for this variable should be in the format of ``<host shared folder>:<VM shared folder>``, where ``<host shared folder>`` is the path to the shared folder on the host machine and ``<VM shared folder>`` is the path to the same shared folder on the VM.
.. note::
The ROS Docker images are minimal environments.
The ``webots_ros2`` packages rely on some programs and utilities that are not pre-installed, so you will have to install them manually.
Inside the container, install the ``iproute2`` package, which provides the ``ip`` command:

In this example:
.. code-block:: console

.. code-block:: console
apt update
apt install iproute2

export WEBOTS_SHARED_FOLDER=/Users/username/shared:/home/ubuntu/shared

You can add this command line to the ``~/.bashrc`` file to automatically set this environment variable when starting a new terminal.
* The environment variable ``WEBOTS_SHARED_FOLDER`` must always be set in order for the package to work properly in the Docker container.
This variable specifies the location of the shared folder that is used to exchange data between the host machine and the container to the ``webots_ros2`` package.
The value to use for this variable should be in the format of ``<host shared folder>:<container shared folder>``, where ``<host shared folder>`` is the path to the shared folder on the host machine and ``<container shared folder>`` is the path to the same shared folder on the Docker container.

In this example:

.. code-block:: console

export WEBOTS_SHARED_FOLDER=/Users/username/shared:/root/shared

This variable must be set on both the container and the host machine.

3 Install ``webots_ros2``
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You can either install ``webots_ros2`` from the official released package, or install it from the latest up-to-date sources from `Github <https://github.com/cyberbotics/webots_ros2>`_.
You can either install ``webots_ros2`` from the official released package, or install it from the latest up-to-date sources from `GitHub <https://github.com/cyberbotics/webots_ros2>`_.

.. tabs::

.. group-tab:: Install ``webots_ros2`` distributed package

Run the following command in the VM terminal.
Run the following command in the VM or container terminal.
If you're using the container, you don't need to use ``sudo`` because the container's user is ``root``.
You will, however, need to update APT's package index files since Docker images typically remove them when being built.

.. code-block:: console

apt-get update # Only needed for Docker containers
sudo apt-get install ros-{DISTRO}-webots-ros2

.. group-tab:: Install ``webots_ros2`` from sources

Install git.
If you're using the container, you don't need to use ``sudo`` because the container's user is ``root``.

.. code-block:: console

Expand All @@ -136,7 +203,7 @@ You can either install ``webots_ros2`` from the official released package, or in

source /opt/ros/{DISTRO}/setup.bash

Retrieve the sources from Github.
Retrieve the sources from GitHub.

.. code-block:: console

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -166,18 +233,26 @@ You can either install ``webots_ros2`` from the official released package, or in
4 Launch the ``webots_ros2_universal_robot`` example
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

As mentioned in previous sections, the package uses the shared folder to communicate with Webots from the VM to the host.
In order for Webots to be started on the host from the VM's ROS package, a local TCP simulation server must be run.
As mentioned in previous sections, the package uses the shared folder to communicate with Webots from the VM or container to the host.
In order for Webots to be started on the host from the VM's or container's ROS package, a local TCP simulation server must be run.

If you didn't already, make sure to set ``WEBOTS_SHARED_FOLDER`` on the host before launching the local TCP simulation server.

.. code-block:: console

export WEBOTS_SHARED_FOLDER=/Users/username/shared:/root/shared

The server can be downloaded here: `local_simulation_server.py <https://github.com/cyberbotics/webots-server/blob/main/local_simulation_server.py>`_.
Specify the Webots installation folder in ``WEBOTS_HOME`` environment variable (e.g. ``/Applications/Webots.app``) and run the server using the following commands in a new terminal on the host (not in the VM):
Specify the Webots installation folder in ``WEBOTS_HOME`` environment variable (e.g. ``/Applications/Webots.app``) and run the server using the following commands in a new terminal on the host (not in the VM or container):

.. code-block:: console

export WEBOTS_HOME=/Applications/Webots.app
python3 local_simulation_server.py

In the VM, open a terminal and execute the following commands to start a package:

Execute the following commands in the virtual environment to start a package.
If you're using a VM, you may need to open a terminal first.

First source the ROS 2 environment, if not done already.

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