Windows (binary)
This page explains how to install ROS 2 on Windows from a pre-built binary package.
Note
The pre-built binary does not include all ROS 2 packages. All packages in the ROS base variant are included, and only a subset of packages in the ROS desktop variant are included. The exact list of packages are described by the repositories listed in this ros2.repos file.
System requirements
Only Windows 10 is supported.
Create a location for the ROS 2 installation
This location will contain both the installed binary packages, plus the ROS 2 installation itself.
Start a powershell session (usually by clicking on the start menu, then typing powershell
).
Then create a directory to store the installation.
Because of Windows path-length limitations, this should be as short as possible.
We’ll use C:\pixi_ws
for the rest of these instructions.
$ md C:\pixi_ws
Note
Note: the ROS 2 binary packages are currently not relocatable, which is being tracked in a documentation issue.
Please use C:\pixi_ws
in the interim.
Install prerequisites
ROS 2 uses conda-forge as a backend for packages, with pixi as the frontend.
Note
The installation of conda-forge may trigger Windows Defender to treat it as a threat, but this can be safely ignored by clicking “More info” and “Run anyway”.
Install pixi
Continue using the previous powershell session, and use the instructions on https://pixi.sh/latest/ to install pixi
.
Once pixi
has been installed, close the powershell session and start it again, which will ensure pixi
is on the PATH.
Install dependencies
Download the pixi configuration file in the existing powershell session:
$ cd C:\pixi_ws
$ irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ros2/ros2/refs/heads/kilted/pixi.toml -OutFile pixi.toml
Install dependencies:
$ pixi install
Install ROS 2
Go to the releases page: https://github.com/ros2/ros2/releases
Download the latest package for Windows, e.g.,
ros2-kilted-*-windows-release-amd64.zip
.
Note
There may be more than one binary download option which might cause the file name to differ.
Unpack the zip file somewhere (we’ll assume
C:\pixi_ws\ros2-windows
).
Install additional RMW implementations (optional)
The default middleware that ROS 2 uses is Fast DDS
, but the middleware (RMW) can be replaced at runtime.
See the guide on how to work with multiple RMWs.
Setup environment
Start a new Windows command prompt, which will be used in the examples.
Source the pixi environment
Source the pixi environment to set up dependencies:
$ cd C:\pixi_ws
$ pixi shell
Source the ROS 2 environment
This is required in every command prompt you open to setup the ROS 2 workspace:
$ call C:\pixi_ws\ros2-windows\local_setup.bat
If you do not have RTI Connext DDS installed on your computer, it is normal to receive a warning that it is missing.
Try some examples
In a command prompt, set up the ROS 2 environment as described above and then run a C++ talker
:
$ ros2 run demo_nodes_cpp talker
Start another command shell and run a Python listener
:
$ ros2 run demo_nodes_py listener
You should see the talker
saying that it’s Publishing
messages and the listener
saying I heard
those messages.
This verifies both the C++ and Python APIs are working properly.
Hooray!
Next steps
Continue with the tutorials and demos to configure your environment, create your own workspace and packages, and learn ROS 2 core concepts.
Troubleshoot
Troubleshooting techniques can be found here.
Uninstall
If you installed your workspace with colcon as instructed above, “uninstalling” could be just a matter of opening a new terminal and not sourcing the workspace’s
setup
file. This way, your environment will behave as though there is no Kilted install on your system.If you’re also trying to free up space, you can delete the entire workspace directory with:
$ rmdir /s /q C:\pixi_ws