[Feature] CARLA DevContainer & Docker Improvements – Ubuntu 22.04 #8620

wambitz · 2025-01-31T01:55:16Z

Description

Detailed documentation at: Docs/build_docker_ubuntu22.md

Fixes

Update Docker support to Ubuntu 22.04 image
Add support for devcontainers

Where has this been tested?

Platform(s): Ubuntu 24.04 64 bit (Host) / Ubuntu 22.04 (Docker Image)
Python version(s): 3.10
Unreal Engine version(s): 4.26

Possible Drawbacks

Backward compatibility with Python 2.7

This change is

Summary

This PR introduces two Docker-based approaches for building and running CARLA (version 0.9.15.2) on Ubuntu 22.04 (Jammy):

Monolithic Docker Image – Fully self-contained build with Unreal Engine and CARLA.
Lightweight DevContainer – Uses an external, locally compiled Unreal Engine folder for faster and leaner development.

This setup improves developer experience by enabling a VS Code DevContainer workflow and optimizing build processes for both Docker modes.

Key Features

New Docker Approaches

Monolithic (Self-contained)
- Bundles Unreal Engine 4.26 and CARLA into a single Docker image.
- Simplifies setup but requires significant build time (~100GB+ image).
Lightweight DevContainer
- Uses an existing local Unreal Engine build to compile CARLA inside a leaner container.
- Reduces Docker image size and dramatically speeds up development.

Scripts for Easy Setup

run_container.sh → Detects monolithic (--monolith flag) vs. lightweight mode.
build_image.sh → Handles image creation, including Epic Games credential management for UE4 builds.

Updated Dockerfiles

carla.dockerfile → Lightweight mode (requires externally mounted UE4).
carla-ue4.dockerfile → Monolithic mode (builds UE4 and CARLA in one image).

DevContainer Support (VS Code)

Adds .devcontainer/devcontainer.json for easy development inside VS Code.
Enables NVIDIA GPU passthrough for CARLA simulation in containerized environments.

How to Use

Lightweight Mode (Faster)

export UE4_ROOT=/absolute/path/to/UnrealEngine_4.26  # Use an existing Unreal Engine build
./Scripts/run_container.sh  # Starts container
make PythonAPI && make CarlaUE4Editor  # Build inside the container

Monolithic Mode (Self-contained)

echo "EPIC_USER=username" >> .env  # Add Epic Games credentials
echo "EPIC_PASS=your_github_token" >> .env
./Scripts/run_container.sh --monolith  # Builds full image with UE4 + CARLA

Known Issues

Disk Space: The monolithic image exceeds 100GB. Ensure you have sufficient storage.
Backward Compatibility: Changes are untested with Python 2.7.
UE4 Setup Required: Lightweight mode requires a precompiled Unreal Engine on the host.

This reverts commit 3958e35.

This reverts commit 6ee572e.

Updated the script to use curl instead of wget for downloading the FBX SDK, as the Autodesk server rejects wget requests with HTTP 403 errors. Added a Mozilla/5.0 user-agent to mimic browser behavior and ensure compatibility. This change resolves download issues and maintains the existing unpacking and build process.

If you must use Unreal's Clang, explicitly pass the library paths (/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu) to the linker. This ensures the linker can find libpthread.so.0, libicuuc.so.70, and liblzma.so.5.

…ntainers

…ntainer feat: carla-0.9.15.2 jammy devcontainer

fix: refence to default branch not custom branch

update-docs · 2025-01-31T01:55:27Z

Thanks for opening this pull request! The maintainers of this repository would appreciate it if you would update our CHANGELOG.md based on your changes.

wambitz · 2025-01-31T02:01:52Z

.devcontainer/devcontainer.json

This file could be removed and leave the reference on the documentation: Docs/build_docker_ubuntu22.md

Util/Docker/README.md

Docs/build_docker_unreal.md

wambitz · 2025-01-31T02:05:02Z

Util/BuildTools/BuildCarlaUE4.sh

@@ -144,10 +144,10 @@ if ${BUILD_CARLAUE4} ; then

  OPTIONAL_MODULES_TEXT=""
  if ${USE_CARSIM} ; then
-    python ${PWD}/../../Util/BuildTools/enable_carsim_to_uproject.py -f="CarlaUE4.uproject" -e
+    python3 ${PWD}/../../Util/BuildTools/enable_carsim_to_uproject.py -f="CarlaUE4.uproject" -e


Remark: This removes backward compatibility with Python 2.7 (deprecated). There is no need for newer releases and images.

If not specified as and argument:

$ python bash: python: command not found

I think it makes sense to remove Python 2 as a dependency. @Blyron @MarcelPiNacy-CVC What do you think?

Util/BuildTools/BuildUtilsDocker.sh

wambitz · 2025-01-31T02:06:22Z

Util/BuildTools/Package.sh

@@ -110,10 +110,10 @@ if ${DO_CARLA_RELEASE} ; then
  pushd "${CARLAUE4_ROOT_FOLDER}" >/dev/null

  if ${USE_CARSIM} ; then
-    python ${PWD}/../../Util/BuildTools/enable_carsim_to_uproject.py -f="CarlaUE4.uproject" -e
+    python3 ${PWD}/../../Util/BuildTools/enable_carsim_to_uproject.py -f="CarlaUE4.uproject" -e


Remark: This removes backward compatibility with Python 2.7 (deprecated). There is no need for newer releases and images.

If not specified as and argument:

$ python bash: python: command not found

wambitz · 2025-01-31T02:06:49Z

Util/DockerUtils/dist/build.sh

@@ -18,11 +18,11 @@ fi
 # check if the XODR file exist
 if [ -f "$1.xodr" ]; then
    # parse openDRIVE crosswalks (generate crosswalks.obj)
-    python get_xodr_crosswalks.py -f "$1.xodr"
+    python3 get_xodr_crosswalks.py -f "$1.xodr"


Remark: This removes backward compatibility with Python 2.7 (deprecated). There is no need for newer releases and images.

If not specified as and argument:

$ python bash: python: command not found

wambitz · 2025-01-31T02:07:36Z

Testing --monolith

wambitz · 2025-01-31T02:08:04Z

Testing devcontainer:

Update CHANGELOG.md

wambitz · 2025-01-31T05:51:11Z

.devcontainer/devcontainer.json

Remark: This file could be removed and just leave the reference in Docs/build_docker_ubuntu22.md

Ideally, we would leave this file here, but I’m considering the experience for Windows users. When they open the project in vscode, they’ll see a message suggesting that it can be opened in a container. But this doesn’t actually work on Windows. I’m not sure if there’s a good workaround for this. If we can’t find one, I’d suggest moving this to the documentation as a reference for now instead of keeping the file here.

@joel-mb I agree, this kind of file it's normally not committed. I can add it as a reference in the documentation. The scripts already take care of this, therefore this is just the translation in case a developer wants to use VS Code Devcontainers. I'll do the update, thanks for the feedback.

qhaas · 2025-04-26T23:22:57Z

The ability to build UE / CARLA from source mounted from the host is an improvement for developers!

joel-mb · 2025-05-15T08:14:03Z

Hi @wambitz ! Thanks for this contribution and sorry for the late reply. I think this is a valuable addition to the community, as it facilitates working with CARLA from source on Linux. I’ll leave some minor comments, but overall the PR looks good.

joel-mb · 2025-05-15T08:14:20Z

.devcontainer/devcontainer.json

Ideally, we would leave this file here, but I’m considering the experience for Windows users. When they open the project in vscode, they’ll see a message suggesting that it can be opened in a container. But this doesn’t actually work on Windows. I’m not sure if there’s a good workaround for this. If we can’t find one, I’d suggest moving this to the documentation as a reference for now instead of keeping the file here.

Docs/build_docker_unreal.md

joel-mb · 2025-05-15T08:15:00Z

Util/BuildTools/BuildCarlaUE4.sh

@@ -144,10 +144,10 @@ if ${BUILD_CARLAUE4} ; then

  OPTIONAL_MODULES_TEXT=""
  if ${USE_CARSIM} ; then
-    python ${PWD}/../../Util/BuildTools/enable_carsim_to_uproject.py -f="CarlaUE4.uproject" -e
+    python3 ${PWD}/../../Util/BuildTools/enable_carsim_to_uproject.py -f="CarlaUE4.uproject" -e


I think it makes sense to remove Python 2 as a dependency. @Blyron @MarcelPiNacy-CVC What do you think?

Util/BuildTools/BuildUtilsDocker.sh

joel-mb · 2025-05-15T08:23:12Z

Util/Docker/carla-ue4.dockerfile

+# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Cleanup
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+RUN rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*


I believe this cleanup isn't taking effect due to how Docker layers work. Deleting files in a later layer doesn't reduce the final image size. The cleanup should be included in the same RUN instruction as the apt update. Resolving this for now to avoid blocking the PR.

…ate documentation (#4) Fixes an issue where containers would start in the right directory instead of the expected /workspaces/<REPO_NAME>. This would case trouble when launching from devcontainer.json

wambitz · 2025-05-26T20:52:01Z

@joel-mb I made the appropriate changes, I went through the instructions and I made a few modifications to improve the reading flow, also I catch a small mounting "bug", the scripts were not mounting in the same directory as when using the devcontainer from VS Code. If fixed that so now it doesn't matter where you build from, either opening the container with the scripts or from VS Code devcontainer.

I tested these 3 options:

Launched container from scripts and open CARLA with make launch
Launched container from VS Code and open CARLA with 'make launch`
Launch from monolith container and open CARLA with make launch-only

wambitz · 2025-05-26T20:52:51Z

.gitignore

@@ -50,3 +51,6 @@ _out*
 _site
 core
 profiler.csv
+.env
+.venv
+devcontainer.json


Remak: I added this so if someone decides to use devcontainer.json configuration it doesn't get committed by accident

wambitz · 2025-05-26T20:53:31Z

Docs/build_docker_ubuntu22.md

+
+You can use a **Visual Studio Code devcontainer** with the lightweight approach. This setup mounts your host’s directories (including UE4) into a Docker environment. Note that the monolithic image is less suited to devcontainers since it stores everything inside the image.
+
+Create `.devcontainer/devcontainer.json` in your CARLA repository:


Remark: His is the configuration I used to test the devcontainer from VS Code

dorn-gerhard and others added 30 commits February 2, 2024 12:07

Update semantic labels (changed from version 0.9.13 -> 0.9.14)

6ee572e

Add "Other" Label description in ref_sensors.md

3958e35

Revert "Add "Other" Label description in ref_sensors.md"

24d135c

This reverts commit 3958e35.

Revert "Update semantic labels (changed from version 0.9.13 -> 0.9.14)"

5515d3f

This reverts commit 6ee572e.

Update Master URLS

7636873

Update tuto_A_add_vehicle.md removed euw

d2c87e5

Update README.md

a2b433c

Update README.md

723f2c4

updated master README (carla-simulator#7204)

60bd026

ci: ignore pytho venv and build dir

120ed2c

ci: docker integration for ubuntu22 devcontainer

fc8c826

fix: comment out corrupted link (empty file)

804dcd9

feat: support for GUI inside container

686401d

feat: GUI container support, UE4 install

d7ba3d1

feat: force carla scripts to use python3

934b03d

feat: monolitic carla image

9ae6f18

fix : delete temporary file

83ff570

feat: run carla in container with UE4 mounted from host

e5413cb

feat: add support for mounted and on image ue4

7be8e03

feat: move dockerfiles to follow carla conventions

bc4e64f

docs: rename ubuntu18 based dockerfile to CarlaLegacy to avoid confusion

2a7ccb5

docs: remove docker reference at main README

39b6382

fix: explicitly pass the library paths

273ca6d

If you must use Unreal's Clang, explicitly pass the library paths (/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu) to the linker. This ensures the linker can find libpthread.so.0, libicuuc.so.70, and liblzma.so.5.

fix: remove progress=plain, it doesn't help with truncated output

8c13275

fix: workspace conflict for different images

c619b4a

chores: clean-up dockerfiles

8faa3c4

fix: build requires recommended packages

99c063f

fix: rename workdir to match VS Code default mount dir name for devco…

d4442a2

…ntainers

feat: add shortcut for --monolith argument

5165441

wambitz added 11 commits January 30, 2025 01:11

docs: create documentation for devcontainer usage

9a17fcb

chore: cleanup devcontainer file

598757f

Merge branch 'ue4-dev' into feature/carla-0.9.15.2-jammy-devcontainer

05591da

fix: add unzip, missing after merge ue4-dev

9d9e5ed

chore: remove unecessary file ignore

5e13498

chore: include back shipping targets

eb3c932

Merge pull request #1 from wambitz/feature/carla-0.9.15.2-jammy-devco…

5fe7dcf

…ntainer feat: carla-0.9.15.2 jammy devcontainer

Merge branch 'carla-simulator:ue4-dev' into ue4-dev

50bb023

fix: refence to default branch not custon branch

75a7448

fix: add unzip for devcontiner, missing dependency for make package

e59b276

Merge pull request #2 from wambitz/hotfix/reference-to-default-branch

5873a20

fix: refence to default branch not custom branch

wambitz changed the title ~~Ubuntu 22.04 based image devcontainer~~ [Feature] CARLA DevContainer & Docker Improvements – Ubuntu 22.04 Jan 31, 2025

wambitz commented Jan 31, 2025

View reviewed changes

wambitz marked this pull request as ready for review January 31, 2025 02:07

wambitz requested a review from a team as a code owner January 31, 2025 02:07

wambitz added 2 commits January 30, 2025 21:48

Update CHANGELOG.md

a1036c0

Merge pull request #3 from wambitz/update-changelog

4b919d8

Update CHANGELOG.md

wambitz commented Jan 31, 2025

View reviewed changes

joel-mb self-assigned this Jan 31, 2025

Blyron mentioned this pull request Feb 24, 2025

Issue about the process and cooking generated maps - Digital Twins CARLA v0.9.15 - branch dev #8696

Open

joel-mb reviewed May 15, 2025

View reviewed changes

feat: improve readability, remove devcontainer.json and clean and upd…

6aa9e7e

…ate documentation (#4) Fixes an issue where containers would start in the right directory instead of the expected /workspaces/<REPO_NAME>. This would case trouble when launching from devcontainer.json

wambitz commented May 26, 2025

View reviewed changes


		You can use a Visual Studio Code devcontainer with the lightweight approach. This setup mounts your host’s directories (including UE4) into a Docker environment. Note that the monolithic image is less suited to devcontainers since it stores everything inside the image.

		Create `.devcontainer/devcontainer.json` in your CARLA repository:

Uh oh!

[Feature] CARLA DevContainer & Docker Improvements – Ubuntu 22.04 #8620

Are you sure you want to change the base?

[Feature] CARLA DevContainer & Docker Improvements – Ubuntu 22.04 #8620

Uh oh!

Conversation

wambitz commented Jan 31, 2025 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Description

Fixes

Where has this been tested?

Possible Drawbacks

Summary

Key Features

New Docker Approaches

Scripts for Easy Setup

Updated Dockerfiles

DevContainer Support (VS Code)

How to Use

Lightweight Mode (Faster)

Monolithic Mode (Self-contained)

Known Issues

Uh oh!

update-docs bot commented Jan 31, 2025

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

wambitz commented Jan 31, 2025

Uh oh!

wambitz commented Jan 31, 2025

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

qhaas commented Apr 26, 2025

Uh oh!

joel-mb commented May 15, 2025

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

wambitz commented May 26, 2025

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

wambitz commented Jan 31, 2025 •

edited

Loading