Nova Setup

Contains dockerfiles, scripts and other files to set up a Nova development environment.

Images in this repo

nova-dev-base

An Ubuntu system with some general dependencies.
Includes python, C++, vim, nano, and a user called nova-dev with sudo priveleges.
Has access to a nova_ws folder on the host for sharing source code with the host, and has access to the host's SSH info for using git.

nova-dev-ros2

A complete Ubuntu Nova development environment.
Includes everything from nova-dev-base, and has all the Nova repos set up by default and all dependencies (including for cameras, GUI, arm control) installed.
Has access to a nova_ws folder on the host for sharing source code with the host, and has access to the host's SSH info for using git.
Requires access to connected devices, so is not fully secure - consider running untrusted code within this container as running it on your machine directly.

Using an image

Setup

1. Install Docker Engine and Docker Compose using the Docker repository (https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/ubuntu/#install-using-the-repository)
2. Add your user to the docker user group so you can use docker without sudo (https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/linux-postinstall/)
3. Set up github access on your device using SSH (https://docs.github.com/en/authentication/connecting-to-github-with-ssh/adding-a-new-ssh-key-to-your-github-account). This will be used within the container to interact with the Nova repos
4. Create a folder called nova_ws somewhere on your system. For example, I put mine in ~/Nova/nova_ws
5. Clone the nova_setup repo into the same parent folder as nova_ws. For example, I put mine in ~/Nova/nova_setup
6. Change into the nova_setup directory and run the git setup script to clone all the Nova repos

   ./git-setup.sh
   

Setup - Windows

Install WSL2, then follow the same steps as above. Docker Desktop is available for Windows, but is not recommended since it can fail to start the Docker Engine.

Start the docker daemon using

sudo dockerd

After running this command the terminal tab can be closed. This will need to be repeated whenever WSL is restarted.

Starting containers

To create or start a container, change to the container directory and run the compose-run-<container-nickname> script. Creates the container in your current terminal with access to nova_ws for source code and to your ~/.ssh folder so you can use git. For example,

cd nova_setup/nova-dev-ros2
./compose-run-ros2.sh

To create additional container terminals, just open a new terminal and run

./compose-run-<container-nickname>.sh

When within a container, you essentially have access to a complete Ubuntu system. All files in the nova_ws directory are shared between the host system and the container, so you can develop on the host, save, and then build and run in the container. You can also make changes within the container such as installing new packages or creating / deleting files. Any changes made outside of the nova_ws diretcory will stay only in the container and will not be accessible on the host.

Using git within a container

If it is the first time you've used git in a container you will need to set the git global config info before you commit or push.

git config --global user.name "Your name"
git config --global user.email "your@email.com"

Exiting containers

To exit a container terminal (without destroying it), run

exit

This keeps the container running in the background, so you can later run ./compose-run-<container-nickname>.sh and pick up where you left off.

To stop all container instances (without destroying the container), open a host terminal in the container directory and run

docker compose stop

This saves the state of the container, so you can later run ./compose-run-<container-nickname>.sh and pick up where you left off.

To destroy all container instances, open a host terminal in the container directory and run

docker compose down

This is really only necessary when you want to update the container image. Any changes made within the container will be lost.

Updating an image

If a new image has been released, follow these steps to get the new image and run the updated container.

1. Destroy the old container. Note this will also permanently delete any changes made locally within the container.

   docker rm -f <container-name>
   

   For example,

   docker rm -f nova-dev-ros2
   

2. Update the image.

   docker pull jorza/<container-name>
   

3. Start the updated container as normal (see Starting Containers)

Creating an image

This is not necessary for installation or use. Talk to the repo maintainers if you find an issue with a container.

0. Install Docker

1. Create a DockerHub account

2. Clone the nova_setup repo anywhere on your system

3. For nova-dev-ros2 only: Set up git pull / push from github.com/MonashNovaRover on your device using SSH
   This is used during the container setup to clone all the Nova repos

4. Run the build-image script
   Builds the image from the relevant Dockerfile and pushes it to your DockerHub account.
   Pass in the name of the folder where the Dockerfile is located, your DockerHub username, and a tag for the image (defaults to 'latest').

   For example,

   ./build-image.sh nova-dev-ros2 <dockerHubUserName> <tag>
   

   If your DockerHub user name is the same as your current Ubuntu user then you can omit the last argument.

   For example,

   ./build-image.sh nova-dev-ros2
   

Other scripts

Git repo setup

Run to clone all Nova repos into ../nova_ws/. If some repos already exist, they will not be affected.

git-setup.sh