ROS Noetic Docker Container

This repository houses configuration files to build and run Docker containers tied to individual users on a shared machine.

Prerequisites

Install Docker Engine: https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/ubuntu

Install the Docker Compose V2 Plugin: https://docs.docker.com/compose/install/linux/

If applicable, install the NVIDIA Container Toolkit: https://docs.nvidia.com/datacenter/cloud-native/container-toolkit/install-guide.html

Add users to the docker group: https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/linux-postinstall

Usage

Environment Setup

/.dockerenv is a file mounted inside the Docker container that contains recommended ROS-related environment variables for shells in the Docker container. If you choose to use this recommended ROS environment setup, /.dockerenv must be sourced in every new shell in the Docker container. For convenience, the following commands will do that for you.

# The command added to your shell file checks for the existence of /.dockerenv
# and sources the file only if it exists.

# Bash
echo "[[ -e /.dockerenv ]] && source /.dockerenv" >> ~/.bashrc

# Zsh
echo "[[ -e /.dockerenv ]] && source /.dockerenv" >> ~/.zshrc

Alternatively, you may specify your own ROS environment variables in your shell file.

Build and start your Docker container

./build.py <tag>

./launch.py <tag>

Note, for the base container on Spot, the tag is see-spot-run and use the command-line flag --with-initial-user-setup if building for the first time on a fresh account (with no cloned repositories).

Verify that your Docker container is running

$ docker container ls

# Or its shorthand
$ docker ps

Under the NAMES column, there should be a container with the name ${YOUR_USERNAME}-noetic-<tag>-app-1.

Start a shell session in your Docker container

docker exec -it $USER-noetic-<tag>-app-1 $SHELL

If you run into missing ROS packages, set the ROS_PACKAGE_PATH appropriately:

export ROS_PACKAGE_PATH=$ROS_PACKAGE_PATH:<path_containing_package>

Stop your Docker container

This might take a few seconds to finish running.

docker stop $USER-noetic-<tag>-app-1