Setup Tips — Isaac Sim Documentation

Isaac Sim Modes

This is a mini-windowed app that will help run any of the modes below.

Isaac Sim Full App

This is the main windowed Isaac Sim application.

It is the first option and default mode to run from the Isaac Sim App Selector.

This mode includes all Isaac Sim extensions and most of them are enabled by default.

Isaac Sim Full Streaming App (via Isaac Sim WebRTC Streaming Client)

This is a headless version of Isaac Sim. It can be run remotely on a workstation with an RTX GPU and accessed from the Isaac Sim WebRTC Streaming Client app available for Linux, Windows and macOS.

This mode includes all Isaac Sim extensions and most of them are enabled by default.

Isaac Sim Python

This is a mini app to run the Python samples.

See Python Environment.

Isaac Sim Launch Scripts

Linux

Isaac Sim Launch Scripts that can be run from the Isaac Sim package on Linux#
Script	Description
`isaac-sim.selector.sh`	Isaac Sim Selector mini app
`isaac-sim.sh`	Isaac Sim full app
`isaac-sim.streaming.sh`	Isaac Sim headless full app with Isaac Sim WebRTC Streaming Client service
`isaac-sim.old_streaming.sh`	Isaac Sim headless full app with Omniverse Streaming Client service
`isaac-sim.fabric.sh`	Isaac Sim full app with Fabric enabled
`isaac-sim.xr.vr.sh`	Isaac Sim base app with XR and VR enabled
`jupyter_notebook.sh`	Isaac Sim Jupyter Notebook executable
`python.sh`	Isaac Sim Python executable
`setup_python_env.sh`	Isaac Sim Python environment setup
`setup_conda_env.sh`	Isaac Sim Conda environment setup
`clear_caches.sh`	Script to clear local caches
`post_install.sh`	Script to be run once after install
`warmup.sh`	Script to warm up the shader cache
`isaac-sim.docker.gui.sh`	Script to run Isaac Sim container as a windowed app
`isaac-sim.docker.sh`	Script to run Isaac Sim headless container

Windows

Isaac Sim Launch Scripts that can be run from the Isaac Sim package on Windows#
Script	Description
`isaac-sim.selector.bat`	Isaac Sim Selector mini app
`isaac-sim.bat`	Isaac Sim full app
`isaac-sim.streaming.bat`	Isaac Sim headless full app with Isaac Sim WebRTC Streaming Client service
`isaac-sim.old_streaming.bat`	Isaac Sim headless full app with Omniverse Streaming Client service
`isaac-sim.fabric.bat`	Isaac Sim full app with Fabric enabled
`isaac-sim.xr.vr.bat`	Isaac Sim base app with XR and VR enabled
`python.bat`	Isaac Sim Python executable
`setup_python_env.bat`	Isaac Sim Python environment setup
`clear_caches.bat`	Script to clear local caches
`post_install.bat`	Script to be run once after install
`warmup.bat`	Script to warm up the shader cache

Docker

Isaac Sim Launch Scripts that can be run from the Isaac Sim container#
Script	Description
`runapp.sh`	Script to run Isaac Sim as a windowed app
`runheadless.sh`	Script to run Isaac Sim headless with Isaac Sim WebRTC Streaming Client service
`runoldstreaming.sh`	Script to run Isaac Sim headless with Omniverse Streaming Client service
`isaac-sim.sh`	Isaac Sim full app
`isaac-sim.streaming.sh`	Isaac Sim headless full app with Isaac Sim WebRTC Streaming Client service
`isaac-sim.old_streaming.sh`	Isaac Sim headless full app with Omniverse Streaming Client service
`isaac-sim.fabric.sh`	Isaac Sim full app with Fabric enabled
`isaac-sim.xr.vr.sh`	Isaac Sim base app with XR and VR enabled
`jupyter_notebook.sh`	Isaac Sim Jupyter Notebook executable
`python.sh`	Isaac Sim Python executable
`setup_python_env.sh`	Isaac Sim Python environment setup
`setup_conda_env.sh`	Isaac Sim Conda environment setup
`clear_caches.sh`	Script to clear local caches
`warmup.sh`	Script to warm up the shader cache

Differences Between Workstation And Docker

There are two methods to install Isaac Sim:

Workstation Installation is recommended for Workstation users.
Container Installation is recommended for remote headless servers or the Cloud using a Docker container.

Note

Here are the main differences between Workstation and Docker installations:

The Isaac Sim Docker container does not include Nucleus and will access assets directly from the Cloud by default.
From version 4.1.0, the workstation version of Isaac Sim will access assets directly from the Cloud by default but can be changed in to use local Nucleus using the –/persistent/isaac/asset_root/default=omniverse://localhost/NVIDIA/Assets/Isaac/4.5 flag.
The recommnded root folder of the workstation package is at ~/isaacsim or C:\isaacsim, while the root folder in the Docker container is /isaac-sim.
See Location for Isaac Sim app for differences in common paths.

Common Path Locations

Location for Isaac Sim app

Linux

~/isaacsim

Windows

C:\isaacsim

Docker

/isaac-sim

Location for Isaac Sim logs

Linux

~/.nvidia-omniverse/logs/Kit/Isaac-Sim

Windows

%userprofile%\.nvidia-omniverse\logs\Kit\Isaac-Sim

Docker

/root/.nvidia-omniverse/logs/Kit/Isaac-Sim

Location for Isaac Sim shader cache

Linux

~/.cache/ov/Kit

Windows

%userprofile%\AppData\Local\ov\cache\Kit

Docker

/root/.cache/ov/Kit

Location for Isaac Sim configs

Linux

~/.local/share/ov/data/Kit/Isaac-Sim

Windows

%userprofile%\AppData\Local\ov\data\Kit\Isaac-Sim

Docker

/root/.local/share/ov/data/Kit/Isaac-Sim

Multi-GPU

Multi-GPU support and specific GPU settings can be activated via usual configurations methods, either via command line …

./isaac-sim.sh --/renderer/multiGpu/enabled=true

…or via kit configuration in python…

import carb.settings

settings = carb.settings.get_settings()

# set different types into different keys
# guideline: each extension puts settings in /ext/[ext name]/ and lists them extension.toml for discoverability
settings.set("/renderer/multiGPU/enabled", True)

Some useful settings include, but are not limited to….

/renderer/multiGpu/Enabled=true enables multiple GPUs for rendering
/renderer/multiGpu/autoEnable=true enables multi GPU rendering if available
/renderer/multiGpu/maxGpuCount=2 sets the maximum number of GPUs to be allocated for rendering
/renderer/activeGpu=0 sets the active GPU according to nvidia-smi

Assets

Local Assets Packs

Isaac Sim Local Assets Packs are available to be used locally and in an air-gapped environment.

Download all three packs of Isaac Sim Assets from the Latest Release section.
Unzip packages to a folder.

Linux

mkdir ~/isaacsim_assets
cd ~/Downloads
unzip "isaac-sim-assets-1@4.5.0-rc.36+release.19112.f59b3005.zip" -d ~/isaacsim_assets
unzip "isaac-sim-assets-2@4.5.0-rc.36+release.19112.f59b3005.zip" -d ~/isaacsim_assets
unzip "isaac-sim-assets-3@4.5.0-rc.36+release.19112.f59b3005.zip" -d ~/isaacsim_assets

Windows

mkdir C:\isaacsim_assets
cd %USERPROFILE%/Downloads
tar -xvzf "isaac-sim-assets-1@4.5.0-rc.36+release.19112.f59b3005.zip" -C C:\isaacsim_assets
tar -xvzf "isaac-sim-assets-2@4.5.0-rc.36+release.19112.f59b3005.zip" -C C:\isaacsim_assets
tar -xvzf "isaac-sim-assets-3@4.5.0-rc.36+release.19112.f59b3005.zip" -C C:\isaacsim_assets

Note

All three assets packs are required and they need to be combined into a single root folder (e.g. ~/isaacsim_assets/Assets/Isaac/4.5).

This root folder (~/isaacsim_assets/Assets/Isaac/4.5) must contain both the NVIDIA and Isaac folders.

Follow the instructions to setup Isaac Sim, then edit the isaacsim.exp.base.kit file.

Linux

Edit the /home/<username>/isaacsim/apps/isaacsim.exp.base.kit file and add the settings below:

[settings]
persistent.isaac.asset_root.default = "/home/<username>/isaacsim_assets/Assets/Isaac/4.5"
exts."isaacsim.asset.browser".folders = [
    "/home/<username>/isaacsim_assets/Assets/Isaac/4.5/Isaac/Robots",
    "/home/<username>/isaacsim_assets/Assets/Isaac/4.5/Isaac/People",
    "/home/<username>/isaacsim_assets/Assets/Isaac/4.5/Isaac/IsaacLab",
    "/home/<username>/isaacsim_assets/Assets/Isaac/4.5/Isaac/Props",
    "/home/<username>/isaacsim_assets/Assets/Isaac/4.5/Isaac/Environments",
    "/home/<username>/isaacsim_assets/Assets/Isaac/4.5/Isaac/Materials",
    "/home/<username>/isaacsim_assets/Assets/Isaac/4.5/Isaac/Samples",
    "/home/<username>/isaacsim_assets/Assets/Isaac/4.5/Isaac/Sensors",
]

Windows

Edit the C:/isaacsim/apps/isaacsim.exp.base.kit file and add the settings below:

[settings]
persistent.isaac.asset_root.default = "C:/isaacsim_assets/Assets/Isaac/4.5"
exts."isaacsim.asset.browser".folders = [
    "C:/isaacsim_assets/Assets/Isaac/4.5/Isaac/Robots",
    "C:/isaacsim_assets/Assets/Isaac/4.5/Isaac/People",
    "C:/isaacsim_assets/Assets/Isaac/4.5/Isaac/IsaacLab",
    "C:/isaacsim_assets/Assets/Isaac/4.5/Isaac/Props",
    "C:/isaacsim_assets/Assets/Isaac/4.5/Isaac/Environments",
    "C:/isaacsim_assets/Assets/Isaac/4.5/Isaac/Materials",
    "C:/isaacsim_assets/Assets/Isaac/4.5/Isaac/Samples",
    "C:/isaacsim_assets/Assets/Isaac/4.5/Isaac/Sensors",
]

Run Isaac Sim with the flag below to use the local assets.

Linux

./isaac-sim.sh --/persistent/isaac/asset_root/default="/home/<username>/isaacsim_assets/Assets/Isaac/4.5"

Windows

.\isaac-sim.bat --/persistent/isaac/asset_root/default="C:/isaacsim_assets/Assets/Isaac/4.5"

Note

The persistent.isaac.asset_root.default setting can either be set in the .kit settings file (Step 3) or via commandline (Step 4). The default is set to https://omniverse-content-production.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Assets/Isaac/4.5
The persistent.isaac.asset_root.default setting is used in the Python code that calls the get_assets_root_path_async` or get_assets_root_path` functions.
The exts.”isaacsim.asset.browser”.folders setting is used in the Isaac Sim Assets browser.

Assets Check

In the Isaac Sim app, to verify the access to the assets, go to the Isaac Sim Assets Browser tab. Then click the “Gear” icon and select Check Default Assets Root Path.

If manually downloading the assets pack from the previous section, the logs should show:

Linux

[139.213s] Checking for Isaac Sim Assets...
[139.218s] Isaac Sim assets found: /home/<username>/isaacsim_assets/Assets/Isaac/4.5

Windows

[139.213s] Checking for Isaac Sim Assets...
[139.218s] Isaac Sim assets found: C:\isaacsim_assets\Assets\Isaac\4.5

By default, the logs should show:

[139.213s] Checking for Isaac Sim Assets...
[139.218s] Isaac Sim assets found: https://omniverse-content-production.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Assets/Isaac/4.5

Docker

Save Isaac Sim Configs on Local Disk

To keep Isaac Sim configuration and data persistent when running in a container, use the flags below when running the Docker container.

-v ~/docker/isaac-sim/cache/kit:/isaac-sim/kit/cache:rw              #For cache
-v ~/docker/isaac-sim/cache/ov:/root/.cache/ov:rw                    #For cache
-v ~/docker/isaac-sim/cache/pip:/root/.cache/pip:rw                  #For cache
-v ~/docker/isaac-sim/cache/glcache:/root/.cache/nvidia/GLCache:rw   #For cache
-v ~/docker/isaac-sim/cache/computecache:/root/.nv/ComputeCache:rw   #For cache
-v ~/docker/isaac-sim/logs:/root/.nvidia-omniverse/logs:rw           #For log files
-v ~/docker/isaac-sim/data:/root/.local/share/ov/data:rw             #For Isaac Sim data
-v ~/docker/isaac-sim/documents:/root/Documents:rw                   #For adding new or saving files

$ sudo docker run --name isaac-sim --entrypoint bash -it --gpus all -e "ACCEPT_EULA=Y" --rm --network=host \
-v ~/docker/isaac-sim/kit/cache/Kit:/isaac-sim/kit/cache:rw \
-v ~/docker/isaac-sim/cache/ov:/root/.cache/ov:rw \
-v ~/docker/isaac-sim/cache/pip:/root/.cache/pip:rw \
-v ~/docker/isaac-sim/cache/glcache:/root/.cache/nvidia/GLCache:rw \
-v ~/docker/isaac-sim/cache/computecache:/root/.nv/ComputeCache:rw \
-v ~/docker/isaac-sim/logs:/root/.nvidia-omniverse/logs:rw \
-v ~/docker/isaac-sim/data:/root/.local/share/ov/data:rw \
-v ~/docker/isaac-sim/documents:/root/Documents:rw \
nvcr.io/nvidia/isaac-sim:4.5.0

Note

These flags will use the use Home folder to save the Isaac Sim cache, logs, config and data.

Problem Connecting to Docker Container

To resolve some problems connecting to a Docker container, try using the –network=host flag when running the Docker container.

$ sudo docker run --gpus all -e "ACCEPT_EULA=Y" --rm --network=host nvcr.io/nvidia/isaac-sim:4.5.0

Note

This flag is needed to connect to a Nucleus server.

Reading the Logs in a Container

To ensure NVIDIA Isaac Sim is running in a container, you can read the logs:

1. If the NVIDIA Isaac Sim container is on a remote machine, SSH into the Docker host using a terminal. Run this command from where your pem key folder is; replace the <public_ip_address> with your instance or remote host IP address:

$ ssh -i "yourkey.pem" ubuntu@<public_ip_address>

Access the running container as follows:

$ docker exec -it <container_id_or_name> bash
$ cd /root/.nvidia-omniverse/logs/Kit/Isaac-Sim/<version_number>

Restarting the Container

The steps below are used to restart a headless container.

SSH into the host machine or AWS instance running the NVIDIA Isaac Sim Container.

$ ssh -i "<ssh_key_name>.pem" ubuntu@<public_ip_address>

List all running containers and find the container ID running NVIDIA Isaac Sim.

$ sudo docker ps
CONTAINER ID        IMAGE
823686a7036d      nvcr.io/nvidia/isaac-sim...2021.2.1

Restart the container.

$ sudo docker restart [CONTAINER ID]

View the Docker logs.

$ sudo docker logs [CONTAINER ID]

Restart NVIDIA Isaac Sim inside Docker

If you want to restart NVIDIA Isaac Sim while keeping Docker running, you must start the Docker with Bash as the entrypoint so that you can manually start or stop NVIDIA Isaac Sim.

Start the Docker with Bash, and start NVIDIA Isaac Sim manually.

$ sudo docker run -it --entrypoint bash --gpus all -e "ACCEPT_EULA=Y" --rm --network=host nvcr.io/nvidia/isaac-sim:4.5.0
$ ./runheadless.sh

Proceed to Isaac Sim WebRTC Streaming Client to live stream NVIDIA Isaac Sim remotely.

3. When you need to exit, in a separate terminal start an interactive bash session inside the same container that’s running the headless server and kill the NVIDIA Isaac Sim related processes.

$ docker exec -it <container_id> bash
$ pkill omniverse-kit

Restart NVIDIA Isaac Sim.

$ ./runheadless.sh

Save Docker Image

If you made significant changes inside the Docker, for example, installed ROS or other libraries, you may want to save the Docker image so that you can restart the Docker without having to reinstall everything.

Find the container’s id and commit it.

$ docker ps
$ docker commit <CONTAINER ID> <new docker name>

To reload a specific docker:

$ docker run -it --entrypoint bash --gpus all -e "ACCEPT_EULA=Y" --rm --network=host -d <new Docker name>

Create a Cached Docker Image

Creating a local cached image of Isaac Sim will help improve the load times of running Isaac Sim in a container as well as having custom pre-installed dependencies.

To create this cached image, first pull and run the latest Isaac Sim container from NGC.

$ docker pull nvcr.io/nvidia/isaac-sim:4.5.0
$ docker run --name isaac-sim --entrypoint bash -it --rm --gpus all --network=host \
    -e "ACCEPT_EULA=Y" -e "PRIVACY_CONSENT=Y" \
    nvcr.io/nvidia/isaac-sim:4.5.0

Install any dependencies (e.g. ROS or other libraries) and warm up the shader cache.

$ ./python.sh -m pip install stable-baselines3 tensorboard
$ ./python.sh standalone_examples/api/isaacsim.simulation_app/hello_world.py -v
$ ./runheadless.sh -v --/app/quitAfter=1000

Create the cached Docker image.

$ docker commit isaac-sim isaac-sim-cached

Save the Docker image to a compressed archive to transfer it to another machine, if needed.

$ docker save isaac-sim-cached | gzip > isaac-sim-cached.tar.gz

Load the compressed archive as a Docker image.

$ docker load -i isaac-sim-cached.tar.gz isaac-sim-cached

Run this cached image.

$ docker run --name isaac-sim-cached --entrypoint bash -it --gpus all --rm --network=host \
    -e "ACCEPT_EULA=Y" -e "PRIVACY_CONSENT=Y" \
    isaac-sim-cached

Setting up Docker

Once you have Docker on Linux installed, follow the instructions at Post-installation steps for Linux to set it up so you would not need to use sudo to run a Docker container.

Mount a Folder to the Container

To add data from the host machine to a container, mounting a folder is needed.

$ sudo docker run --gpus all --rm -e "ACCEPT_EULA=Y" -v ~/docker/isaac-sim/documents:/root/Documents:rw nvcr.io/nvidia/isaac-sim:4.5.0

Note

Can now copy files to docker/isaac-sim/documents in your Home folder and it will show up in the Isaac Sim container at /root/Documents.

Cloud

Getting IP Addresses of AWS EC2 Instance

To get the public and private IP addresses of an AWS EC2 instance, go to the Instances section of the EC2 Dashboard and select the instance. See the image below for an example of the Private and Public IPs:

../_images/isaac_main_aws_ip_address.png

SSH into the AWS EC2 Instance

If you need to directly access an AWS EC2 instance that was created from the deployment above, run these steps to SSH into the instance:

$ ssh -i "<ssh_key_name>.pem" ubuntu@<public_ip_address>

Creating AWS Access Key

Create an AWS Access Key by following the instructions here:

Managing access keys (console)

Creating SSH Key

On Linux

Run:

$ mkdir ~/.ssh
$ chmod 700 ~/.ssh
$ ssh-keygen -t rsa

Enter your passphrase twice.
Your public key is at .ssh/id_rsa.pub in your home folder and private key at .ssh/id_rsa.

On Windows

Download PuTTYgen.
Launch PuTTYgen, and click on “Generate a public/private key pair”.
Click on “Save public key” and name the file “${ssh_key_name}.pub”. This is your Public Key file.
From the “Conversions” menu, select “Export OpenSSH key” and name the file “${ssh_key_name}.pem”. This is your Private Key file.
Edit the properties of the “${ssh_key_name}.pem” file.
- Go to security settings, click “Advanced”
- Remove inheritance
- Set current user as owner of the file and full permissions to only that user.
- This is to prevent permission errors when trying to SSH into the instance

Nucleus

Assets on Nucleus

To access the Isaac Sim assets, access to the Internet is required.

Note

Our Isaac Sim assets is also available in the main /NVIDIA/Assets/Isaac folder in every Nucleus server.

Setting the Default Nucleus Server

To set the default Nucleus server when running natively, open the user.config.json file for editing and locate the following line:

"persistent": {
    "isaac": {
        "asset_root": {
            "default": "omniverse://localhost/NVIDIA/Assets/Isaac/4.5",
        }
    },
},

Change localhost to the IP address of the Nucleus server.

Note

Location of user.config.json file:
- Linux: ~/.local/share/ov/data/Kit/Isaac-Sim/4.5/user.config.json
- Windows: C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\ov\data\Kit\Isaac-Sim\4.5\user.config.json
The folder in the persistent/isaac/asset_root/default setting should contain both the Isaac and the NVIDIA folder.

You could also run Isaac Sim with this flag:

--/persistent/isaac/asset_root/default="omniverse://<ip_address>/NVIDIA/Assets/Isaac/4.5"

To set the default Nucleus server when running in Docker, use the flag -e "OMNI_SERVER=omniverse://<ip_address>/NVIDIA/Assets/Isaac/4.5", where <ip_address> is the IP address of the Nucleus server.

$ sudo docker run --gpus all -e "ACCEPT_EULA=Y" -e "OMNI_SERVER=omniverse://<ip_address>/NVIDIA/Assets/Isaac/4.5" --rm --network=host nvcr.io/nvidia/isaac-sim:4.5.0

Setting the Default Username and Password for Connecting to the Nucleus Server

Use the following commands to set the default credentials when running natively:

$ export OMNI_USER=<username>
$ export OMNI_PASS=<password>

To set the default credentials when running in Docker, use the flag -e "OMNI_USER=<username>" -e "OMNI_PASS=<password>" (the default is “admin” for each).

$ sudo docker run --gpus all -e "ACCEPT_EULA=Y" -e "OMNI_USER=<username>" -e "OMNI_PASS=<password>" --rm --network=host nvcr.io/nvidia/isaac-sim:4.5.0

Setup Tips#