VM Ubuntu 20.04 with ROS pre installed

This tutorial is intended for members who want to setup a VM from scratch to develop on the ROS platform. The VM is pre-configured with ROS Noetic on Ubuntu 20.04 which provides a consistent development environment for the software team. If you have any other OS than Ubuntu 20.04 (ROS Noetic is unavailable on other Ubuntu versions), this VM will save you time by avoiding weird configuration issues.

Step 1

Download Oracle VM VirtualBox. Feel free to download the latest version which in this screenshot is version 6.1.26 (as of September 24th, 2021).

Step 2

Follow the on-screen instructions in the setup screen and complete the installation. When opening up VirtualBox after installation, you should get a screen similar to this:

Step 3

Download the .ova file used to setup your VM by clicking on the following in the discord ask josh :)

Step 4

Once downloaded, unzip the file to extract the .ova file onto your computer. In VirtualBox, click File -> Import Appliance. This will prompt you to select a file which will be used to create a new VM with the operating system and programs preconfigured. Select the .ova file as shown below, then click Next.

Step 5

In the Appliance Settings window, you can keep all default settings and just click Import to finish the process. You may increase the number of CPUs and the amount of RAM used in order to speed up your VM, but it is not necessary.

Step 6

It will take a few minutes to setup the VM and complete the process. Once done, you will see the VM with the name set in step 6 listed on the left side of VirtualBox. To start the VM, select it and click the “Start” button at the top of the window:

Step 7

Once booted up you should land on the desktop of Ubuntu’s VM as shown below. If it shows up, then you setup the development VM correctly!