You're reading the documentation for a development version. For the latest released version, please have a look at Kilted.

RTI Connext DDS

RTI Connext DDS is trusted in over 2000 of the world’s most demanding system designs, distributing critical real-time data with the highest levels of performance, reliability, and security. It is free-of-charge for prototyping, research, non-commercial and academic use. Visit the RTI website for more information and to learn about options for support and commercial licenses.

Prerequisites

Install RTI Connext DDS

To build and use rmw_connextdds requires a version of Connext DDS compatible with the distribution of ROS 2 in use. Connext DDS is included when installing rmw_connextdds using apt, or can be installed manually for building from source. The following table details which Connext DDS versions are installed using apt, and which versions are required for building from source:

ROS 2 Distribution

Installed using apt

To Build from Source

rolling

n/a

7.7.0

kilted

7.3.0

7.3.0

jazzy

6.0.1

6.0.1

humble

6.0.1

6.0.1

RTI Connext Pro is available through a variety of channels:

ROS 2 apt repositories

ROS 2 users can install a non-commercial-use version of the RTI Connext DDS libraries from the ROS apt repository using the following command:

$ sudo apt update && sudo apt install -q -y rti-connext-dds-7.7.0-ros

$ sudo apt update && sudo apt install -q -y rti-connext-dds-7.3.0-ros

$ sudo apt update && sudo apt install -q -y rti-connext-dds-6.0.1

This package includes the RTI Connext core DDS libraries only; it does not include the full Connext Professional suite of tools and run-time services. Note that these Connext libraries are automatically installed when installing rmw_connextdds using apt.

Other Installation Options The Connext Robotics Toolkit includes the full suite of Connext tools and infrastructure services. It provides a single step installation of ROS and Connext using apt. It is free for prototype development, research, non-commercial and academic use.

Detailed instructions for building and tuning the RMW and ROS 2 applications for a variety of platforms, and enabling DDS Security are available on the RTI ROS Community pages.

Install rmw_connextdds binary packages

To install the binary packages for rmw_connextdds and the Connext libraries from the ROS 2 apt repositories, use the following command:

$ sudo apt update && sudo apt install -q -y ros-lyrical-rmw-connextdds

Building rmw_connextdds from source code

Building from source code can ensure the RMW is matched to your system and installed correctly. The following instructions assume a Linux x86_64 build host and target; the RTI ROS Community pages have instructions for building for other platforms and targets, including Arm, Windows, and macOS.

Clone the repository for rmw_connextdds into your ROS 2 workspace and select the branch that matches the ROS 2 distribution in use:

$ mkdir -p ros2_ws/src
$ cd ros2_ws
$ git clone -b lyrical https://github.com/ros2/rmw_connextdds src/rmw_connextdds

Then, install necessary packages for RTI Connext DDS.

$ cd ..
$ rosdep install --from src -i

Set up the environment to help colcon discover where RTI Connext is installed. This can be done by manually setting the environment variable NDDSHOME to the location of the RTI Connext installation, or by using a script that comes with the RTI Connext installation. For example, for version 7.7.0, you can run the following code to execute the helper script:

$ source /opt/rti.com/rti_connext_dds-7.7.0/resource/scripts/rtisetenv_x64Linux4gcc8.5.0.bash

If the previous command failed, and you can’t find the location of the RTI Connext installation, run this to find all Connext installations (and their corresponding helper scripts) in your system:

$ find /opt -name rtisetenv*.bash

Note

Replace .bash with your shell if you’re not using bash. Possible values are: rtisetenv*.bash, rtisetenv*.sh, rtisetenv*.zsh, rtisetenv*.tcsh.

Make sure you have the ROS 2 environment set up:

$ source /opt/ros/lyrical/setup.bash

Build the RMW using colcon:

$ colcon build --symlink-install

After the build completes successfully, be sure to source the setup file for the workspace:

$ source install/setup.bash

Use the resulting rmw_connextdds

Set the environment variable RMW_IMPLEMENTATION to tell ROS 2 which RMW to use:

$ export RMW_IMPLEMENTATION=rmw_connextdds

Run the talker and listener

Now run talker and listener to test RTI Connext DDS

$ source /opt/ros/lyrical/setup.bash
$ ros2 run demo_nodes_cpp talker

$ source /opt/ros/lyrical/setup.bash
$ ros2 run demo_nodes_cpp listener