🌼 daisy

(docker lazy) A tool to easily Dockerize ROS2 workspaces and packages.

In a nutshell, daisy contains a built-in Dockerfile and docker-compose.yaml files to quickly spin a Docker container for the ROS2 workspace you're working on. It's a thin layer to conveniently call Docker Compose commands with a few helper scripts.

Daisy aims to make ROS2 development workspaces become more reproducible without the huge bulk of git commiting all the source codes found in the workspace using vcstool.

If you want to quickly test a ROS2 package without system installing ROS2, or simply want to test whether your package builds on another distro, this tool is for you.

A huge thanks to Sebastian Castro for this blog post and Allison Thackston's Docker files which was used as a main reference in building this tool.

COMMAND	ARGUMENTS	DESCRIPTION
daisy-build	-h	Build the workspace's Docker image.
daisy-compose	<docker_compose_args>	Similar to docker-compose. But can be run anywhere.
daisy-shell	<bash_commands>	Run bash commands from host or log-in inside container.
daisy-gitignore		Add build install log to .gitignore of workspace.
daisy-template	src/my_package	Add docker template to ROS2 package.
daisy-export		Record all local repositories found in src.
daisy-tmux	<tmux_profile>	Record all local repositories found in src.

1. Installation

1.1 Install Docker

curl https://get.docker.com | sh && sudo systemctl --now enable docker

Post Docker Installation:

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER && newgrp docker

If you're running with a Nvidia GPU, install Nvidia Runtime and reconfigure the deafult runtime.

1.2 Download daisy

Clone daisy into your ROS2 workspace (eg. $HOME/my_ros2_ws):

cd $HOME/my_ros2_ws
git clone https://github.com/grassjelly/daisy.git

To use daisy, source the setup.bash file:

cd $HOME/my_ros2_ws
source daisy/setup.bash

• Once sourced, you can use daisy in any directory.

1.3 Build the Docker image:

daisy-build <distro>

• distro can be foxy, galactic, humble, or iron

daisy-build will automatically find the dependencies of all the the ROS2 packages inside src directory of your workspace. Take note that running this will stop all daisy spawned containers.

You'll only need to run this command once or when you have made changes on on the dependencies (package.xml). You can modify the Dockerfile as you wish to add custom installation commands just remember to run daisy-build again when you're done. You can use the --skip-import flag to skip VCS import on re-builds.

Take note that this does not build your ROS2 workspace. You'll have to build it explicitly by running:

daisy-compose up colcon-build

2. Usage

2.1 Running bash commands relative to the docker-compose.yaml.

Using daisy-compose, you can run docker compose commands that are relative to the docker-compose.yaml file. This means you can run docker compose commands without being on the same directory as the compose file. For instance:

daisy-compose up my_service

is similar to:

cd /home/my_ros2_ws/daisy #docker-compose.yaml directory
docker compose up my_service

2.2 Debugging tool

You can use daisy-shell, to spawn a container and run bash commands inside the container from the host. For example:

daisy-shell ros2 topic list

This will return all the topics available within the network.

If no bash command is provided, it will log-in the debug container and use it like a normal shell.

3. Dockerizing ROS2 workspaces and ROS2 packages

3.1 Dockerizing ROS2 workspaces (with src in git)

If you're Dockerizing your ROS2 workspace and pushing it in a git repository with the source codes in src, use daisy-gitignore to add a .gitignore file in your ROS2 workspace to prevent commiting build install and log directories.

Run:

daisy-gitignore

3.2 Dockerizing ROS2 workspaces (without src in git)

This is a wrapper to vcs-tool export command. If you're Dockerizing your ROS2 workspace and pushing it in a git repository without the source codes in src, use daisy-export to record all the local repositories found in your src directory. daisy-build will automatically download all the repositories if an install.repos is found on the workspace.

Run:

daisy-export

This also auto-generates a quickstart guide (README.md) of the workspace.

3.3 Dockerizing ROS2 Packages

daisy-template auto-generates a docker directory that contains all the files to create a Docker image and compose services.

daisy-template src/<my_package>

• my_package is the ROS2 package where you want to deploy the Docker template.

To test:

cd $HOME/my_ros2_ws/src/my_package/docker
docker compose build

Once done, you can check if it works by running the test service to build the workspace:

docker compose up test

You can check out this comprehensive tutorial to learn more about ROS2-Docker workflows.

3.4 Running multiple screens and services.

daisy-tmux is wrapper for Tmuxinator to spawn multiple screens and services.

3.4.1 Open multiple screens

daisy-tmux <number_of_screens>

3.4.2 Using profiles

Create a profile in daisy/tmux/my_profile.yaml by defining the docker services you want to run per pane. You can use template.yaml as a starting point.

daisy-tmux my_profile

• daisy-tmux has an autocomplete feature that suggests all the created profiles in daisy/tmux by simply pressing tab after daisy-tmux command.

3.4.3 Exiting

On one of the panes, run:

daisy-tmux -1

3. Miscellaneous

3.1 VNC Server and Web Client

There's a built-in KasmVNC server and Web Based client available in the daisy/daisy-compose.yaml. Simply run:

daisy-compose up webtop

On services that need a screen, export DISPLAY:=200 to pipe the display to the VNC server.

export DISPLAY:=200; daisy-compose up rviz

Now, you can view your applications in http://localhost:3000. This has also been tested on a remote setup on a GCP instance with Tailscale for secured remote access. The Docker image has been configured to use VirtualGL for 3D acceleration (Nvidia GPUs) while using the VNC server for screen display.