Setup ROS 2 with VSCode and Docker [community-contributed]

Install VS Code and Docker 

Using Visual Studio Code and Docker Containers will enable you to run your favorite ROS 2 Distribution without the necessity to change your operating system or use a virtual machine. With this tutorial you can set up a docker container, which can be used for your future ROS 2 projects.

Install Docker 

To install docker and set the correct user rights please use the following commands.

sudo apt install docker.io git python3-pip
pip3 install vcstool
echo export PATH=$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
sudo groupadd docker
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker

Now you can check if the installation was successful by running the following command:

docker run hello-world

You might need to start the Docker Daemon first, if you cannot run hello-world out of the box:

sudo systemctl start docker

Install VS Code 

To install VS Code please use the following commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install software-properties-common apt-transport-https wget -y
wget -q https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add -
sudo add-apt-repository "deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/vscode stable main"
sudo apt install code

You can run VS Code by typing code in a terminal.

Install Remote Development Extension 

Within VS Code search in Extensions (CTRL+SHIFT+X) for the “Remote Development” Extension and install it.

Configure workspace in Docker and VS Code 

Add your ROS 2 workspace 

Add a workspace in order to build and open them in a container, e.g.:

cd ~/
mkdir ws
cd ws
mkdir src

Now create a .devcontainer folder in the root of your workspace and add a devcontainer.json and Dockerfile to this .devcontainer folder. The workspace structure should look like this:

ws
├── .devcontainer
│   ├── devcontainer.json
│   └── Dockerfile
├── src
    ├── package1
    └── package2

With File->Open Folder... or Ctrl+K Ctrl+O, open the ws folder of your workspace in VS Code.

Edit `devcontainer.json` for your environment 

For the Dev Container to function properly, we have to build it with the correct user. Therefore add the following to .devcontainer/devcontainer.json:

{
    "name": "ROS 2 Development Container",
    "privileged": true,
    "remoteUser": "YOUR_USERNAME",
    "build": {
        "dockerfile": "Dockerfile",
        "args": {
            "USERNAME": "YOUR_USERNAME"
        }
    },
    "workspaceFolder": "/home/ws",
    "workspaceMount": "source=${localWorkspaceFolder},target=/home/ws,type=bind",
    "customizations": {
        "vscode": {
            "extensions":[
                "ms-vscode.cpptools",
                "ms-vscode.cpptools-themes",
                "twxs.cmake",
                "donjayamanne.python-extension-pack",
                "eamodio.gitlens",
                "ms-iot.vscode-ros"
            ]
        }
    },
    "containerEnv": {
        "DISPLAY": "unix:0",
        "ROS_LOCALHOST_ONLY": "1",
        "ROS_DOMAIN_ID": "42"
    },
    "runArgs": [
        "--net=host",
        "--pid=host",
        "--ipc=host",
        "-e", "DISPLAY=${env:DISPLAY}"
    ],
    "mounts": [
       "source=/tmp/.X11-unix,target=/tmp/.X11-unix,type=bind,consistency=cached",
       "source=/dev/dri,target=/dev/dri,type=bind,consistency=cached"
    ],
    "postCreateCommand": "sudo rosdep update && sudo rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src -y && sudo chown -R $(whoami) /home/ws/"
}

Use Ctrl+F to open the search and replace menu. Search for YOUR_USERNAME and replace it with your Linux username. If you do not know your username, you can find it by running echo $USERNAME in the terminal.

Edit `Dockerfile`

Open the Dockerfile and add the following contents:

FROM ros:ROS_DISTRO
ARG USERNAME=USERNAME
ARG USER_UID=1000
ARG USER_GID=$USER_UID

# Delete user if it exists in container (e.g Ubuntu Noble: ubuntu)
RUN if id -u $USER_UID ; then userdel `id -un $USER_UID` ; fi

# Create the user
RUN groupadd --gid $USER_GID $USERNAME \
    && useradd --uid $USER_UID --gid $USER_GID -m $USERNAME \
    #
    # [Optional] Add sudo support. Omit if you don't need to install software after connecting.
    && apt-get update \
    && apt-get install -y sudo \
    && echo $USERNAME ALL=\(root\) NOPASSWD:ALL > /etc/sudoers.d/$USERNAME \
    && chmod 0440 /etc/sudoers.d/$USERNAME
RUN apt-get update && apt-get upgrade -y
RUN apt-get install -y python3-pip
ENV SHELL /bin/bash

# ********************************************************
# * Anything else you want to do like clean up goes here *
# ********************************************************

# [Optional] Set the default user. Omit if you want to keep the default as root.
USER $USERNAME
CMD ["/bin/bash"]

Replace ROS_DISTRO with the ROS 2 distribution you wish to use as base image above, for example rolling.

Open and Build Development Container 

Use View->Command Palette... or Ctrl+Shift+P to open the command palette. Search for the command Dev Containers: Reopen in Container and execute it. This will build your development docker container for your. It will take a while - sit back or go for a coffee.

Test Container 

To test if everything worked correctly, open a terminal in the container using View->Terminal or Ctrl+Shift+` and New Terminal in VS Code. Inside the terminal do the following:

sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-rviz2 -y
source /opt/ros/$ROS_DISTRO/setup.bash
rviz2

Note

There might be a problem with displaying RVIZ. Please make sure to allow the user to access X window system with xhost +local:<USERNAME>. If no window still pops up, then check the value of echo $DISPLAY - if the output is 1, you can fix this problem with echo "export DISPLAY=unix:1" >> /etc/bash.bashrc and then test it again. You can also change the DISPLAY value in the devcontainer.json and rebuild it.