Installing Ubuntu/ROS

[cmurray3]

In this course we use ROS Noetic, which works best (practically exclusively) on Ubuntu 20.04.

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IMPORTANT NOTES:

• ROS Noetic is part of the "ROS 1" family (which includes Kinetic, Lunar, and Melodic). We are not using "ROS 2" (which includes Foxy, Galactic, Humble, and Iron).

• We are using Ubuntu 20.04, also known as "Focal Fossa". Other Ubuntu versions include 18.04 (Bionic Beaver), 20.10, and 22.04 (Jammy Jellyfish). We are not using those.

Installation Options

You have a few options for installing Ubuntu 20.04 / ROS Noetic. These options are described briefly below. I also suggest that you take a look at this excellent guide on setting up your computer for ROS.

Option 1: Install Ubuntu 20.04 on a "spare" laptop

This option involves replacing the existing operating system.

• This will give you the best performance, but it requires that you have a spare laptop.
• See installation script here: https://github.com/IE-482-582/spring2024/blob/main/vm/autoinstall_482-582_2004.sh

Option 2: Use a "Virtual Machine" (RECOMMENDED)

This allows you to run Ubuntu 20.04 "on top" of your existing operating system. This means you don't need a spare laptop. However, VMs are rather slow, particularly when we start running the Gazebo simulation software.

There are two popular/suggested VMs:

• Option 2a: VMware - https://www.vmware.com/products/workstation-player/workstation-player-evaluation.html
• Option 2b: VirtualBox - https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

Reserve at least 25GB (preferably 30GB) for the virtual machine image

• Download the .ova file from https://buffalo.box.com/s/xjlm4tjo54h57321y8u497mua4ayuqgf

Option 3: Dual Boot

If you don't know what this is, skip this option. I won't be responsible for you wiping out your hard drive.

Option 4: Various Experimental Approaches

You are welcome to investigate these options, but I haven't had much luck with them.

• robostack - See https://robostack.github.io/index.html
• multipass
  • https://ubuntu.com/blog/ros-development-on-linux-windows-and-macos
  • https://ubuntu.com/server/docs/virtualization-multipass
• Mac UTM - See https://mac.getutm.app/
• ROS on Windows:
  • http://wiki.ros.org/Installation/Windows
  • https://github.com/ishkapoor2000/Install_ROS_Noetic_On_WSL
• Mac Parallels (not free?) - https://yangrobotics.com/ubuntu-and-ros-setup-on-m1-macbook-air
• docker
  • https://github.com/tatsuyai713/ROS_on_M1_Mac_Docker
  • https://foxglove.dev/blog/installing-ros1-on-macos-with-docker

[cmurray3]

I will host office hours in 427 Bell:

• Friday, from 11am-noon
• Monday, from 2-3pm

[adamdeho]

What is the password for the login screen associated with the virtual machine image (see screenshot)?

For reference, here is what I have completed so far:

1. Installed VMware Workstation Player.
2. Imported the provided Ubuntu 20.04 virtual machine image.
3. Reached the login screen within the virtual machine. Now I don't know how to continue because I do not know the username and/or password for the login screen. I tried default values like "ubuntu" and "student", as well as all of my UB credentials and none of them worked.

[cmurray3]

Yep, that’s some useful info I should have provided!

Username is student Password is learn