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 available on a free academic or non-commercial license, or a commercial license with support, for dozens of production-grade platforms. More information can be found at the RTI website.

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

7.3.0

kilted

7.3.0

7.3.0

jazzy

6.0.1

6.0.1

iron

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 for x86_64 Linux from the ROS apt repository using the following command:

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

Note that this includes the RTI Connext libraries only, and does not include the full RTI Connext Pro suite of tools and services. Note also that the Connext libraries are automatically installed when installing rmw_connextdds using apt.

Other Installation Options RTI Connext DDS is a proprietary DDS implementation with a number of advanced features and commercial support options. RTI provides both a non-commercial / research license for students and researchers and a time-limited free trial license for commercial users. Detailed instructions for building and tuning the RMW and ROS 2 applications for a variety of platforms, and enabling DDS Security and safety-cert options 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-rolling-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:

cd ros2_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/ros2/rmw_connextdds -b rolling

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:

source ${RTI_CONNEXT_INSTALL_LOCATION}/resource/scripts/rtisetenv_x64Linux4gcc7.3.0.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

See also: Working with multiple RMW implementations

Run the talker and listener

Now run talker and listener to test RTI Connext DDS

ros2 run demo_nodes_cpp talker

ros2 run demo_nodes_cpp listener