Isaac Sim Installation Guide for Ubuntu
System Requirements
- Operating System: Ubuntu 20.04 or 22.04 LTS (64-bit)
- GPU: NVIDIA RTX/GeForce/Quadro with 8GB+ VRAM (RTX series recommended)
- Driver: NVIDIA Driver R525 or newer
- RAM: 32GB minimum (64GB recommended)
- Storage: 50GB available SSD space
- CPU: Intel Core i7/AMD Ryzen 7 or better
Isaac Sim Installation
Method 1: Using Omniverse Launcher (Recommended)
Step 1: Create NVIDIA Account & Download Launcher
# Download the Omniverse Launcher AppImage
wget -O omniverse-launcher-linux.AppImage https://install.launcher.omniverse.nvidia.com/installers/omniverse-launcher-linux.AppImage
# Make it executable
chmod +x omniverse-launcher-linux.AppImage
Step 2: Install Isaac Sim
- Run the launcher:
./omniverse-launcher-linux.AppImage -
Sign in with your NVIDIA account (create one if needed)
- In the Launcher:
- Go to the “Exchange” tab
- Search for “Isaac Sim”
- Click “Install”
- Choose your installation location
- Wait for installation to complete
Method 2: Using Docker Container
Step 1: Install Docker and NVIDIA Container Toolkit
# Install Docker
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl software-properties-common
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo apt-key add -
sudo add-apt-repository "deb [arch=amd64] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs) stable"
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io
# Add current user to docker group
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker
# Install NVIDIA Container Toolkit
distribution=$(. /etc/os-release;echo $ID$VERSION_ID)
curl -s -L https://nvidia.github.io/nvidia-docker/gpgkey | sudo apt-key add -
curl -s -L https://nvidia.github.io/nvidia-docker/$distribution/nvidia-docker.list | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nvidia-docker.list
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y nvidia-container-toolkit
sudo systemctl restart docker
Step 2: Pull and Run Isaac Sim Container
# Log in to NGC (you'll need an NVIDIA account and API key)
docker login nvcr.io
# Pull the container
docker pull nvcr.io/nvidia/isaac-sim:latest
# Create a workspace directory
mkdir -p ~/isaac-sim-workspace
# Run the container with GUI support
docker run --name isaac-sim -it --gpus all -e "ACCEPT_EULA=Y" --rm \
-v /tmp/.X11-unix:/tmp/.X11-unix \
-v ~/isaac-sim-workspace:/workspace \
-e DISPLAY=$DISPLAY \
nvcr.io/nvidia/isaac-sim:latest
Troubleshooting
GPU Driver Issues
# Check installed driver version
nvidia-smi
# Install latest driver if needed
sudo apt update
sudo apt install nvidia-driver-535 # or newest available version
sudo reboot
Display/Graphics Issues
# Fix common X server issues
xhost +local:docker
# If getting "Cannot open display" error
export DISPLAY=:0
One-Line Installation Commands
Complete Omniverse Launcher Setup
wget -O omniverse-launcher-linux.AppImage https://install.launcher.omniverse.nvidia.com/installers/omniverse-launcher-linux.AppImage && chmod +x omniverse-launcher-linux.AppImage && ./omniverse-launcher-linux.AppImage
Complete Docker Setup
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl software-properties-common && curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo apt-key add - && sudo add-apt-repository "deb [arch=amd64] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs) stable" && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io && sudo usermod -aG docker $USER && distribution=$(. /etc/os-release;echo $ID$VERSION_ID) && curl -s -L https://nvidia.github.io/nvidia-docker/gpgkey | sudo apt-key add - && curl -s -L https://nvidia.github.io/nvidia-docker/$distribution/nvidia-docker.list | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nvidia-docker.list && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y nvidia-container-toolkit && sudo systemctl restart docker
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