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Gazebo Installation

This section contains:

1. Gazebo Jetty Instllation on Ubuntu 24.04
2. Gazebo Harmonic Instllation on Ubuntu 24.04
3. Gazebo Server Instllation on Ubuntu 24.04

1. Gazebo Jetty Installation

1.1. Ubuntu and ROS2 platforms

  • Gazebo Jetty requires Ubuntu 24.04 and ROS2 Jazzy.
  • Ensure that both the Ubuntu and ROS 2 versions match the configuration specified above.
  • If your Ubuntu version and ROS2 versions are different, figure out the compatible Gazebo version first.

1.2 Installing from binaries

1.2.1 Install some necessary tools

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install curl lsb-release gnupg

1.2.2 Install Gazebo Jetty binaries

Then install: 

sudo curl https://packages.osrfoundation.org/gazebo.gpg --output /usr/share/keyrings/pkgs-osrf-archive-keyring.gpg

echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/pkgs-osrf-archive-keyring.gpg] https://packages.osrfoundation.org/gazebo/ubuntu-stable $(lsb_release -cs) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/gazebo-stable.list > /dev/null

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gz-jetty

1.3 To uninstall

If needed, Gazebo Jetty can be uninstalled as follows:

sudo apt remove gz-jetty && sudo apt autoremove

1.4 Verify installation

gz sim --versions

2. Gazebo Harmoic Installation

  • Installing Gazebo from binaries on Ubuntu is quite straightforward. Follow the steps below.

2.1. Ubuntu and ROS2 platforms

  • Gazebo Harmonic requires Ubuntu 24.04 and ROS2 Jazzy.
  • Ensure that both the Ubuntu and ROS 2 versions match the configuration specified above.
  • If your Ubuntu version and ROS2 versions are different, figure out the compatible Gazebo version first.

2.2 Installing from binaries

  • Installing Gazebo from binaries on Ubuntu is quite straightforward. Follow the steps below.

2.2.1 Install some necessary tools

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install curl lsb-release gnupg

2.2.2 Install Gazebo Harmonic binaries

sudo curl https://packages.osrfoundation.org/gazebo.gpg --output /usr/share/keyrings/pkgs-osrf-archive-keyring.gpg

echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/pkgs-osrf-archive-keyring.gpg] https://packages.osrfoundation.org/gazebo/ubuntu-stable $(lsb_release -cs) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/gazebo-stable.list > /dev/null

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gz-harmonic

2.3 To uninstall

If needed, Gazebo harmonics can be uninstalled as follows:

sudo apt remove gz-harmonic && sudo apt autoremove

2.4 Verify installation

gz sim --versions

2.5 Verify installation

3. Server-only installation

  • Gazebo has TWO parts:

  • a simulation server (the real simulator engine)

  • a GUI client (visualization window)

  • The server runs:

    - physics
- collisions
- sensors
- plugins
- transport topics
- world updates
- simulation clock

  • The GUI only:

    - renders graphics
- shows camera view
- lets humans interact visually

  • Because robotics often does NOT need visualization; hence it is more efficient to do simpler installation

  • For headless and CI environments where the GUI is not needed, the gz-sim10-server package provides a lightweight alternative.

  • It installs only the Gazebo simulation server (gz-sim-server) without any GUI or Qt dependencies, resulting in a significantly smaller installation footprint.

sudo apt-get install gz-sim10-server

Reference(s)

Gazebo Jetty

Gazebo Jetty Instllation- Official Site

Gazebo Jetty Binary Installation on Ubuntu/Debian

Gazebo Harmonic

Gazebo Harmonic Installation- Official Site

Gazebo Harmonic Binary Installation on Ubuntu/Debian