Ubuntu Linux for Robotics · Lesson 59 of 96

Gazebo Harmonic installation

Installing Gazebo and the ros_gz bridge on Ubuntu and running the first world.

Estimated time · 45–60 min

Learning goals

What you will understand

Explain gazebo harmonic installation in your own words
Use it in a small workstation example
Verify the result instead of assuming it worked

Understand the idea first

The mental model

Gazebo is the physics simulator used with ROS 2. Install the Gazebo packages and the ros_gz integration with apt (sudo apt install ros-lyrical-ros-gz), then check the version with gz sim --version. Each ROS 2 distribution supports particular Gazebo releases, so check the pairing table for your distribution; this course uses Gazebo Harmonic.

Gazebo needs a graphics driver; on machines without a GPU it may be slow. Run headless (gz sim -s) on a server and connect a GUI (gz sim -g) from another machine. gz topic -l lists Gazebo's own topics.

Guided lesson

Work through these steps

1.
Open a terminal and record the current state before changing anything.
2.
Read the gazebo harmonic installation commands and predict what each one does.
3.
Run the commands one at a time and compare each output with your prediction.
4.
Write the commands that worked in a setup note you can repeat later.

Worked example

Read it before you run it

sudo apt install ros-lyrical-ros-gz
# Install Gazebo integration for ROS 2.
gz sim --version
# Confirm the installed Gazebo version.
gz sim -v 3 shapes.sdf
# Run the built-in example world with verbose output.
gz topic -l
# List Gazebo topics.
glxinfo | grep 'OpenGL renderer'
# Check which graphics device renders the scene.

What the example is doing

1.Lines without sudo only inspect or change files you own; sudo authorizes a system-wide change.
2.Read command output before moving to the next line. Stop if names, versions, disks, or paths differ from the lesson.
3.Comments beginning with # explain safety checks and are not executed by the shell.

Watch it run · Mobile robot

See what this code does

The terminal types this lesson's practice solution and runs it. The scene shows the kind of robot behaviour that code drives. It plays by itself and loops.

Practice code

Now type it yourself

Open a terminal, run the starter line by line (or save it as practice.sh and run bash practice.sh), and replace every TODO with your own command.

# TODO: run the world shapes.sdf with gz sim and verbosity 3

Expected output

The Gazebo window opens with shapes

Stuck? Show the full solution (try it yourself first)

gz sim -v 3 shapes.sdf

Expected result

How you know it worked

Each command completes without an unexplained error.
Your notes contain the command, the important output, and what it proves.

Practical exercise

Apply the lesson

Install ros_gz, open shapes.sdf, press Play, list the Gazebo topics, and record the Gazebo version and OpenGL renderer.

Before you continue

You recorded the starting state
Every command and output is understood
The change can be repeated from your notes

If something goes wrong

A command says permission denied.

Check ownership and permissions first. Do not add sudo unless the command changes a documented system location.

A command or package is not found.

Check spelling, Ubuntu version, enabled repositories, and whether the previous installation command succeeded.