Native (Host) Build

Use the host (linux) board for first experiments, CI smoke tests, and ROS 2 interoperability checks on Linux. It uses OS sockets, the host process environment, and the same source checkout layout as the embedded targets.

The host board is named linux ([image.<id>] board = "linux") because that is all it supports: the platform layer (nros-platform-posix) is POSIX, but the host board crate’s apply_tier_affinity calls sched_setaffinity with cpu_set_t, which libc does not define for macOS, Windows or FreeBSD. Only Linux is supported (AGENTS.md, phase-260, phase-500). Neither native (every general-purpose host) nor posix (the platform) names a board: board = "…", nros setup, nros new --platform and the just lane/scope words refuse both with a hint naming linux.

When to Use It

You want the shortest path to a working nano-ros publisher or subscriber.
You are validating message generation, CMake integration, or ROS 2 interop before moving to an RTOS.
Your deployment target is Linux or an embedded Linux system.

Setup

Build the in-tree nros CLI (Phase 218), then provision the native host. For a host build there is no cross-toolchain to fetch — nros setup linux installs the client stack (and for xrce the Micro-XRCE-DDS agent) into a shared store. The zenoh router is NOT installed: it comes from a ROS 2 install (ros2 run rmw_zenoh_cpp rmw_zenohd, RFC-0075). No ROS 2 on this machine? Use --rmw cyclonedds — it needs no daemon.

# Build the in-tree nros CLI:
./scripts/bootstrap.sh      # builds packages/cli/target/release/nros
source ./activate.sh        # OR: direnv allow / source ./activate.fish

# Provision the native host (zenoh RMW is the default):
nros setup linux --rmw zenoh        # or: --rmw xrce / --rmw cyclonedds

native and linux are the two names of this board (native the role, linux the reach); posix names the platform layer underneath it, not the board.

For a colcon consumer workspace that already has nano-ros under src/:

colcon build && source install/setup.bash

Package Layout

For a host application package:

my_native_node/
├── package.xml
├── system.toml         # board, rmw, domain, components
├── Cargo.toml          # Rust path
├── CMakeLists.txt      # C / C++ path
└── src/
    └── main.rs         # or main.c / main.cpp

Examples are copy-out ready, and nothing in a copied one names a path back into the checkout. For Rust, cp -r the example, then nros sync and nros build (nros finds its own SDK; --nano-ros-path names another). For C/C++, cp -r and run nros build, or configure a raw cmake with -Dnano_ros_ROOT=<nano-ros checkout> — a single-package C/C++ leaf needs no nros sync, because its message bindings are a CMake-time output.

Code Example

Rust publisher skeleton:

use core::fmt::Write as _;
use nros::prelude::*;
use std_msgs::msg::String as StringMsg;

fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    let config = ExecutorConfig::from_env().node_name("talker");
    let mut executor = Executor::open(&config)?;
    let mut node = executor.create_node("talker")?;
    let publisher = node.create_publisher::<StringMsg>("/chatter")?;

    let mut count = 0i32;
    loop {
        count += 1;
        let mut msg = StringMsg::default();
        let _ = write!(msg.data, "Hello World: {count}");
        publisher.publish(&msg)?;
        executor.spin_once(100);
    }
}

Use the full First Node — Rust walkthrough for generated messages and runnable commands.

Build and Run

Start the RMW host daemon (installed by nros setup linux). For zenoh:

ZENOH_CONFIG_OVERRIDE='listen/endpoints=["tcp/127.0.0.1:7447"];scouting/multicast/enabled=false' ros2 run rmw_zenoh_cpp rmw_zenohd

Run the node directly — nros build then ./build/<image-id>/target/debug/<binary> (Rust), or cmake --build build && ./build/<binary> (C/C++) — or via colcon build && source install/setup.bash && ros2 run … if the package lives in a colcon consumer workspace.

Configuration

Native examples can read runtime settings from the shell:

export ROS_DOMAIN_ID=0
export NROS_LOCATOR=tcp/127.0.0.1:7447

The same fields are compiled into embedded targets through their platform-specific configuration files. See Configuration for the full layering.

Deployment

Host deployment is normal process deployment: install the workspace, source install/setup.bash, set environment, and run the binary. For ROS 2 interop, run ROS 2 Interoperability and set the ROS side to rmw_zenoh_cpp.

Keyboard shortcuts

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