Add instructions for using webots_ros2 packages with Docker on macOS and Ubuntu
#4145
Conversation
The documentation for macOS only shows how to use the webots_ros2_driver for a virtual machine, but users can also configure it to work for Docker containers.
These are instructions for an alternative Ubuntu setup where Webots runs natively and the ROS packages run in a Docker container. This is most likely an uncommon setup, but the instructions are provided for completeness.
These entries cover the macOS Finder file and the default Python virtual environment directory name. Neither of which should be version controlled.
Fix typos, grammatical errors, and clarify some instructions.
Fix some grammatical errors and elaborate in some areas.
| * Install Docker Engine on your Ubuntu machine. | ||
| The instructions can be found on the `Docker website <https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/ubuntu/>`_. | ||
|
|
||
| * 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. |
There was a problem hiding this comment.
I would avoid using xxx:latest image, instead ros:humble is better for everyone what image is used here? this becomes the problem as time goes, what is the ros:latest?
| The following instructions and commands all are run on the host machine. | ||
|
|
||
| * Create a folder to use as a shared folder. | ||
| In this example, the shared folder on Ubuntu is ``/home/username/shared``, where ``username`` is your actual username. |
There was a problem hiding this comment.
I would conceal the username with $HOME so that they do not need to replace the command.
| .. note:: | ||
| Unlike Docker Desktop for Mac and Docker Desktop for Windows, you will need to specify your machine as an extra host. | ||
| This allows the container to resolve Docker's special ``host.docker.internal`` DNS name, allowing the container to communicate with the host. | ||
| See `this <https://stackoverflow.com/questions/24319662/from-inside-of-a-docker-container-how-do-i-connect-to-the-localhost-of-the-mach>`_ StackOverflow post for more information about why this is needed. |
There was a problem hiding this comment.
I am not sure if we need this. this explains pretty much about docker option feature...
| See `this <https://stackoverflow.com/questions/24319662/from-inside-of-a-docker-container-how-do-i-connect-to-the-localhost-of-the-mach>`_ StackOverflow post for more information about why this is needed. | ||
|
|
||
|
|
||
| * The environment variable ``WEBOTS_SHARED_FOLDER`` must always be set in order for the package to work properly in the Docker container. |
There was a problem hiding this comment.
maybe we can bind the environmental variable with -e option via docker run above without this explanation?
| .. note:: | ||
| If you are using a Docker container, you will need to run a local TCP simulation server on the host so the ``webots_ros2`` packages can communicate with the Webots simulator. | ||
| The server can be downloaded here: `local_simulation_server.py <https://github.com/cyberbotics/webots-server/blob/main/local_simulation_server.py>`_. | ||
| Specify (on the host) the Webots installation folder in ``WEBOTS_HOME`` environment variable and run the server using the following commands in a new terminal on the host (not in the container): |
There was a problem hiding this comment.
i am not familiar with webots simulator but if user wants to use container, probably user wants to run the simulator in the container as well? why simulator needs to be running in the host system?
There was a problem hiding this comment.
The simulator needs to run outside of the container to benefit from hardware acceleration.
| .DS_Store | ||
| venv/ |
There was a problem hiding this comment.
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?
Overview
This PR adds instructions for using the
webots_ros2packages when Webots is installed natively on macOS or Ubuntu and the associated ROS packages are installed in a Docker container. There is a PR that adds Docker support for working with ROS and Webots on macOS and Ubuntu, and the relevant documentation needs to be updated.Related issues
Related to cyberbotics/webots_ros2#889
Depends on cyberbotics/webots_ros2#889