Installation
Route 1: Native Execution
- Install ROS 2 natively on your system.
- Set up the ROS 2 context and add a ROS 2 subscriber block.
- Ensure Fast DDS is properly configured for ROS 2 communication.
- Clone and integrate the following workspace repository: isaac-sim/IsaacSim-ros_workspaces.
Additional Notes:
- For headless installation, refer to the Isaac Sim headless container guide.
- For development and deployment, explore Isaac Sim’s start-dev and deployment workflows. A helpful walkthrough is available here.
- See the official ROS bridge documentation for integration details.
- verify GPU access inside Docker:
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docker run --rm --runtime=nvidia --gpus all \
nvcr.io/nvidia/cuda:12.8.0-base-ubuntu24.04 nvidia-smi
2. Pull Isaac Sim container
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docker pull nvcr.io/nvidia/isaac-sim:6.0.0
NVIDIA’s current container docs use nvcr.io/nvidia/isaac-sim:6.0.0. (Isaac Sim Documentation)
3. Create persistent cache folders
Do this once:
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mkdir -p ~/docker/isaac-sim/cache/main
mkdir -p ~/docker/isaac-sim/cache/computecache
mkdir -p ~/docker/isaac-sim/config
mkdir -p ~/docker/isaac-sim/data
mkdir -p ~/docker/isaac-sim/logs
mkdir -p ~/docker/isaac-sim/pkg
mkdir -p ~/.cache/ov/hub
mkdir -p ~/isaac_projects/caliper_sdg
mkdir -p ~/isaac_projects/assets
mkdir -p ~/isaac_projects/output
sudo chown -R 1234:1234 ~/docker/isaac-sim ~/.cache/ov/hub ~/isaac_projects
The cache mounts matter because first launch compiles/warmups lots of shaders; keeping the cache makes later runs much faster. NVIDIA’s docs also warn that stale cache mounts can cause config or launch problems, in which case removing/recreating ~/docker/isaac-sim can help. (Isaac Sim Documentation)
5. Run compatibility checker inside container
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docker run --entrypoint bash -it --gpus all --rm --network=host \
-e "ACCEPT_EULA=Y" \
-v ~/docker/isaac-sim/cache/main:/isaac-sim/.cache:rw \
-v ~/docker/isaac-sim/cache/computecache:/isaac-sim/.nv/ComputeCache:rw \
-v ~/docker/isaac-sim/logs:/isaac-sim/.nvidia-omniverse/logs:rw \
-v ~/docker/isaac-sim/config:/isaac-sim/.nvidia-omniverse/config:rw \
-v ~/docker/isaac-sim/data:/isaac-sim/.local/share/ov/data:rw \
-v ~/docker/isaac-sim/pkg:/isaac-sim/.local/share/ov/pkg:rw \
-v ~/.cache/ov/hub:/var/cache/hub:rw \
-v ~/isaac_projects:/workspace:rw \
-u 1234:1234 \
nvcr.io/nvidia/isaac-sim:6.0.0 \
./isaac-sim.compatibility_check.sh --/app/quitAfter=10 --no-window
You want to see something like:
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System checking result: PASSED
NVIDIA’s docs explicitly mention this expected pass message. (Isaac Sim Documentation)
Note: ACCEPT_EULA=Y is required to accept the container license. PRIVACY_CONSENT=Y is optional telemetry opt-in; I would omit it unless you intentionally want to opt in. NVIDIA documents both environment variables. (Isaac Sim Documentation)
Here in my setup I encountered:
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GPU 0: VRAM [not enough]
total: 8.59 GB
minimum: 10 GB
But I expected potential crashes and tried this anyways:
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docker run --name isaac-sim --entrypoint bash -it --gpus all --rm --network=host \
-e "ACCEPT_EULA=Y" \
-v ~/docker/isaac-sim/cache/main:/isaac-sim/.cache:rw \
-v ~/docker/isaac-sim/cache/computecache:/isaac-sim/.nv/ComputeCache:rw \
-v ~/docker/isaac-sim/logs:/isaac-sim/.nvidia-omniverse/logs:rw \
-v ~/docker/isaac-sim/config:/isaac-sim/.nvidia-omniverse/config:rw \
-v ~/docker/isaac-sim/data:/isaac-sim/.local/share/ov/data:rw \
-v ~/docker/isaac-sim/pkg:/isaac-sim/.local/share/ov/pkg:rw \
-v ~/.cache/ov/hub:/var/cache/hub:rw \
-v ~/isaac_projects:/workspace:rw \
-u 1234:1234 \
nvcr.io/nvidia/isaac-sim:6.0.0
The path is:
STL -> convert to USD -> load USD into Isaac stage -> attach semantic label: motor_sleeve -> create camera + light + table -> BasicWriter saves RGB + 2D bbox
If STL is probably in millimeters. So in Isaac, we probably want scale = 0.001. Then,
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cp "$HOME/Downloads/J3 motor_sleeve.STL" ~/isaac_projects/assets/motor_sleeve.stl
Concepts
USD: Universal Scene Description is the language Isaac Sim uses to describe the robot and its environment. A USD scene can contain the robot, objects, lights, cameras, materials, transforms, physics properties, sensors, and scene hierarchy. It’s basically a scene graph + asset format:
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World
├── Robot
│ ├── base_link
│ ├── arm_joint_1
│ └── camera_sensor
├── Table
├── Object
├── Lights
└── Physics settings
A .usd file is not just a mesh like .obj or .stl. It can store or reference many types of scene information, including geometry, materialuiis, lighting, animation, and physics schemas. OpenUSD describes USD as a system for authoring, composing, and reading hierarchically organized 3D scene descriptions. In Isaac Sim, you use USD files to:
- load robots and environments
- import CAD or mesh assets
- define object transforms and hierarchy
- attach materials and textures
- set collision and rigid-body properties
- compose scenes from multiple referenced assets
- reuse the same robot or object across simulations
Gotchas
- The runscript creates several cache directories, like warp, ComputeCache, etc. but it doesn’t mount /isaac-sim/.cache/ov/texturecache. - The container can’t create that directory since uid 1234 doesn’t own the base path inside the container - The simulation still runs; it just won’t cache textures between sessions, meaning slightly slower texture loading on first use.
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2026-06-24T12:41:34Z [120,073ms] [Error] [omni.rtx] ResourceManager: Failed to create the texture cache
2026-06-24T12:41:34Z [120,073ms] [Error] [omni.rtx] Failed to create texture cache in /isaac-sim/.cache/ov/texturecache
2026-06-24T12:41:34Z [120,073ms] [Error] [omni.rtx] Failed to create texture cache folder /isaac-sim/.cache/ov/texturecache
- You can run the above command
docker run --name isaac-sim --entrypoint bashif the socket is shared with the host. The container talks directly to the host’s daemon. The key line is indocker-compose.yml
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- /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
