Install Multipass:
brew install --cask multipass
Setup an Ubuntu virtual environment:
multipass launch 18.04 -n ros-melodic -c 4 -m 4G -d 40G
The terminal command above means:
multipass launch 18.04 //Setup virtual environment as Ubuntu 18.04
-n ros-melodic //name: ros-melodic
-c 4 //4 cores
-m 4G //4GB memory
-d 40G //40GB hard disk space
We can now connect to the Ubuntu VM using Terminal:
multipass shell ros-melodic
exit // exit multipass shell
multipass start [VM name] // start VM
multipass start ros-melodic
multipass stop [VM name] // stop VM
miltipass stop ros-melodic
multipass restart [VM name] // restart VM
multipass restart ros-melodic
multipass delete [VM name] // delete VM
multipass delete ros-melodic
multipass purge // completely delete a deleted VM
multipass list // list of VMs
multipass info [VM name] // details of particular VM
multipass info ros-melodic
multipass info --all // details of all VMs
multipass mount [folder path] [VM name]:[folder path] // share folders between PC and VM (mount)
multipass mount /Users/[USERNAME]/Documents/ros_workspace ros-melodic:~/ros_workspace
multipass unmount [VM name] // dismount
multipass unmount ros-melodic
Once logged in, set up a password for the user ubuntu :
sudo passwd ubuntu
The Ubuntu VM currently only supports CLI. To support GUI and for us to RDP into the machine, we will install ubuntu-desktop and xrdp:
sudo apt update //update APT list
sudo apt install ubuntu-desktop xrdp // Install Ubuntu Desktop and XRDP
Install Microsoft Remote Desktop on your Mac:
To connect to the Ubuntu VM using Microsoft Remote Desktop, we need to know the IPv4 address of the VM:
In a new Terminal window:multipass info ros-melodic
With the IPv4 address known, we can now connect to the Ubuntu VM using Microsoft Remote Desktop.
Installing ROS Melodic:
In the Ubuntu VM, open a Terminal window and type the following commands:
// Sources.list setup
sudo sh -c 'echo "deb <http://packages.ros.org/ros/ubuntu> $(lsb_release -sc) main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ros-latest.list'
// Curl installation and setup
sudo apt install curl
curl -s <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ros/rosdistro/master/ros.asc> | sudo apt-key add -
// APT list update
sudo apt update
// ROS Melodic Dekstop installation
sudo apt install ros-melodic-desktop-full
// Bash setup (auto load on startup)
echo "source /opt/ros/melodic/setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
// setup dependencies
sudo apt install python-rosdep python-rosinstall python-rosinstall-generator python-wstool build-essential
sudo rosdep init
rosdep update
Multipass Mount
We can share files between our Mac and the VM using Multipass Mount :
multipass mount [folder path on Mac] [VM name]:[path to VM]
Example:
multipass mount /Users/[Username]/Documents/ros_workspace ros-melodic:~/ros_workspace
Now we can use Finder to access files on our VM. We can also see that the directory has been added in our VM:
Additional steps:
on the Ubuntu VM:
sudo apt install python3-pip //install pip3
pip3 install catkin_pkg //install dependency
cd [mounted path]
cd ~/ros_workspace
mkdir -p src // create src folder
cd src // move to src folder
catkin_init_workspace // designate workspace
cd .. // move up a folder
catkin_make -DPYTHON_EXECUTABLE=/usr/bin/python3 // build workspace
#after catkin_make -DPYTHON_EXECUTABLE=/usr/bin/python3 has been run once, you can just use catkin_make afterwards.
source [path to workspace]/devel/setup.bash // setup script
source ~/ros_workspace/devel/setup.bash
Now the ROS workspace has been setup.
Setting up Bash automatically on startup:
// Bash setup (start on startup)
echo "source ~/ros_workspace/devel/setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc