# 1.1 Install ROS 2 Jazzy In this tutorial, we will install ROS 2 Jazzy, Gazebo Harmonic and some useful packages. You will need a computer or virtual machine running Ubuntu 24.04, and you can create a virtual machine from scratch as following video: {% embed url="" %} ## Introduction ROS2 Jazzy Jalisco is the latest Long-term support version in 2025 that works comatible with Gazebo Harmonic:

https://docs.ros.org/en/rolling/Releases.html

https://gazebosim.org/docs/harmonic/ros_installation/

For Gazebo simulator, there might be confusing about its version, and let's make it clear: 1. Basically, the "old" versions of *gazebo* is called *classic* like *Gazebo 11 (Gazebo+VersionNo.)* 2. There used to be a new Gazebo version called Ignition to replace the classic. 3. For some reason, Ignition is renamed to Gazebo again, and use *Gazebo+VersionName* for the new generations of Gazebo simulator. 4. Although the new Gazebo has a different user interface with the classic, most of fundamental designs are same or similar, so it is not difficult to move to the new version. While there are lots of differences like the plugins, we will cover this in future tutorials. For Gazebo Harmonic installation, there are two ways: 1. Install and run Gazebo Harmonic independently from ROS2. 2. Install and run Gazebo Harmonic with ROS2. For ROS developers, I recommend this way. ## Install ROS2 Jazzy ### Installation procedure {% embed url="" %} ### Set Up the Environment Variables After installation, you need to set up the important environment variables, which tell your computer how to find and use ROS 2 commands and packages. Open a terminal and type: ``` echo "source /opt/ros/jazzy/setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc ``` This wil add the line **source /opt/ros/jazzy/setup.bash** to your **\~/.bashrc file**. Why do this? Each time you open a new terminal window, you are starting a **bash session**. The bash session needs to know what version of ROS 2 you are using. By adding this line, you can use ROS 2 Jazzy commands and tools without having to manually run the setup.bash script every time. To take effect, open a new terminal window, or run following cmd in the current terminal: ``` source ~/.bashrc ``` You can verify that line was added by typing: ``` sudo apt-get install gedit -y gedit ~/.bashrc ``` ### Check environment variables If you ever have problems finding or using your ROS 2 packages, make sure that your environment is properly set up using the following command: ``` printenv | grep -i ROS # Also, you can type: echo $ROS_DISTRO printenv ROS_DISTRO lsb_release -a #check Ubuntu ``` If the environment variables are not set correctly, return to the ROS 2 package installation section. Set up the system to manage ROS package dependencies. ``` sudo rosdep init rosdep update ``` ### Run ROS2 example - Turtlesim Install turtlesim ``` sudo apt update sudo apt install ros-jazzy-turtlesim ``` Start turtlesim ``` ros2 run turtlesim turtlesim_node ``` Open a new terminal and run control node ``` ros2 run turtlesim turtle_teleop_key ``` Install and run rqt tool ``` sudo apt update sudo apt install '~nros-jazzy-rqt*' rqt ``` ## Install Gazebo Harmonic To install Gazebo Harmonic binaries on Ubuntu 24.04 simply follow the steps [on this link](https://gazebosim.org/docs/harmonic/install_ubuntu/). ``` sudo apt-get install ros-${ROS_DISTRO}-ros-gz -y ``` ### Test Gazebo Installation If you want to run an example Gazebo simulation world now, you can type: ``` LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE=1 QT_QPA_PLATFORM=xcb gz sim -v 4 shapes.sdf ```
The environment variables explanation The environment variables “LIBGL\_ALWAYS\_SOFTWARE=1 QT\_QPA\_PLATFORM=xcb” help you avoid the following error which happens by default when you try to launch Gazebo from a fresh ROS 2 Jazzy installation: *\[GUI] \[Err] \[Ogre2RenderEngine.cc:1301] Unable to create the rendering window: OGRE EXCEPTION(3:RenderingAPIException): currentGLContext was specified with no current GL context in GLXWindow::create at ./.obj-x86\_64-linux-gnu/gz\_ogre\_next\_vendor-prefix/src/gz\_ogre\_next\_vendor/RenderSystems/GL3Plus/src/windowing/GLX/OgreGLXWindow\.cpp (line 165)* You can see the error, if you open a new terminal window and type: ``` gz sim -v 4 shapes.sdf ```
To make these environment variables permanent, open a terminal window and type: ``` echo 'export LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE=1' >> ~/.bashrc echo 'export QT_QPA_PLATFORM=xcb' >> ~/.bashrc source ~/.bashrc ``` Now test your Gazebo installation again by typing the following command: ``` gz sim ``` Click on one simulation, and click Run. Close the simulation by typing CTRL + C in the terminal window. ## Install useful tools Let’s install some other useful packages like pip (the Python package manager), NumPy (a scientific computing library for Python) etc. ``` sudo apt-get install python3-vcstool sudo apt-get install python3 python3-pip -y sudo apt-get install python3-numpy ``` Install terminator to show multiple terminal windows in a single window. ``` sudo apt-get install terminator -y # to run it, type: terminator ``` Right-click on the terminator screen, and click “Split Horizontally”. ## References: \ \ --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://robotlabs.gitbook.io/docs/ros/ros2-jazzy/1.1-install-ros-2-jazzy.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.