Run ROS 2 in a container

Overview

In this section, you will run ROS 2 in an isolated Docker container using official ROS 2 images, verify that ROS 2 is working, and install additional ROS 2 packages for development and testing.

The fastest way to get started with ROS 2 is to use the official Docker image. To pull an image, start a container, and open an interactive bash shell:

Pull and run the official ROS 2 Docker image:
console
```
$ docker run -it ros:humble
```
This guide uses the Humble distribution. You can replace humble with another supported distribution such as rolling, jazzy, or iron.

[!NOTE]

This environment is temporary and does not maintain persistence. Any files you create or packages you install will be deleted once the container is stopped or removed.
Verify ROS 2 is working:
console
```
$ echo $ROS_DISTRO
```
You should see output similar to:
text
```
humble
```

Install ROS 2 packages

The official ROS 2 images include core packages. To install additional packages, use the apt package manager:

Update the package manager:
console
```
$ sudo apt update
```
Install the desired package:
console
```
$ sudo apt install $PACKAGE_NAME
```

Replace $PACKAGE_NAME with any package you want to install.

Some commonly used packages include:

ros-humble-turtlesim - Visualization and simulation tool
ros-humble-rviz2 - 3D visualization tool
ros-humble-rqt - Qt-based ROS graphical tools
ros-humble-demo-nodes-cpp - C++ demo nodes
ros-humble-demo-nodes-py - Python demo nodes
ros-humble-colcon-common-extensions - Build system extensions

Summary

In this section, you pulled an official ROS 2 Docker image, launched an interactive session, and extended the container's capabilities by installing additional ROS 2 packages using apt.

Next steps

In the next section, you will configure a persistent workspace to ensure your code and modifications are saved across sessions.