[December 2025] NVIDIA Isaac Sim Environment Setup Record (Isaac Sim 5.1.0 + ROS2 with Windows 11 Pro)

1. Introduction

This article is a personal work record of setting up NVIDIA's robotics simulation platform "Isaac Sim" development environment on Windows 11 Pro in December 2025.

Isaac Sim is extremely versatile, capable of everything from robot arm control to AI training, but setting up the environment required many steps. I've documented this procedure as a record for my future reference and hopefully as a resource for others who may be setting up similar environments.

2. My Build Environment

The specifications of the PC I used to build this simulation environment are as follows:

OS: Windows 11 Pro
GPU: NVIDIA RTX 5090 32GB GDDR7
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D 4.3 5.7GHz
Memory: 64GB DDR5 6000
Primary Software: NVIDIA Isaac Sim

3. Environment Setup Procedure

Step 1: Initial OS and WSL Setup

First, I prepared the OS environment that forms the foundation for running Isaac Sim as follows.

1. NVIDIA App Installation and Driver Update

I downloaded and installed "NVIDIA App" from NVIDIA's official website (version 11.0.2.337 as of December 2025). This allows me to easily keep GPU drivers up to date.

Browser screen displaying NVIDIA App download page. The NVIDIA App logo and title are shown at the top of the page, with a download button below. The page includes description text for NVIDIA App version 1.0.2.337 and system requirements, displayed in a typical browser environment on Windows desktop

During installation, I was asked to choose the driver type (Game Ready Driver or NVIDIA Studio Driver). Since I'm not gaming, I selected NVIDIA Studio Driver.

NVIDIA App driver selection screen showing two options: Game Ready Driver and NVIDIA Studio Driver, with NVIDIA Studio Driver selected. Each driver option is displayed with descriptions and installation options

After installation, I launched NVIDIA App and installed the latest drivers. For performance improvement, I also set the shader cache size to "10GB" in the settings.

NVIDIA App settings screen showing shader cache size being set to 10GB. The settings menu is open with the shader cache size dropdown menu showing 10GB selected

2. Running Windows Update

For system stability and security, I applied all available Windows Updates.

3. Installing WSL2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux 2)

To run the robot OS "ROS2" that will interface with Isaac Sim, I installed WSL2.

I opened Command Prompt and executed the following command:

> wsl --install

Command Prompt screen showing the result of executing the wsl --install command. The WSL installation process has started with progress and installation messages displayed. White text on a black Command Prompt background shows WSL setup information

After installation completion, I restarted the PC and opened Command Prompt again with administrator privileges.

Command Prompt opened with administrator privileges. The title bar shows "Administrator: Command Prompt" indicating it's running with administrator privileges. Black background with white text showing the prompt in a ready state

I set WSL's default version to 2 and installed Ubuntu 22.04, which has good compatibility with ROS2 Humble. During the process, I set up Ubuntu username and password.

> wsl --set-default-version 2
> wsl --install -d Ubuntu-22.04

Ubuntu 22.04 WSL installation screen. Command Prompt showing Ubuntu-22.04 download and installation progress, with initial setup prompting for username and password configuration. The terminal displays Ubuntu logo and installation completion messages

Step 2: NVIDIA Isaac Sim Installation

Next, I installed Isaac Sim itself.

1. Verifying CUDA Version

I ran the nvidia-smi command in Command Prompt to confirm that a CUDA version compatible with Isaac Sim was installed. (This command is bundled with the NVIDIA App installation from earlier)

> nvidia-smi

nvidia-smi command execution result screen. Command Prompt displaying detailed GPU information including NVIDIA RTX 5090 driver version, CUDA version, GPU usage, memory usage and other system information in a tabular format

2. Downloading Isaac Sim

From the NVIDIA Isaac Sim official website, I downloaded the following components:

Isaac Sim main software version 5.1.0
Compatibility Checker
Isaac Sim Assets (sample assets)
Isaac Sim WebRTC Streaming Client (optional)

Isaac Sim official download page. NVIDIA Omniverse site displaying Isaac Sim download options with multiple component download links listed including main software, compatibility checker, assets, and WebRTC client

3. Running the Compatibility Checker

I ran issac-sim.compatibility_check.bat in the extracted folder to verify that my PC meets Isaac Sim's operational requirements.

Extraction Note: Path too long Error

When extracting the downloaded zip file, I encountered an `Error 0x80010135: Path too long` error. This was caused by file paths being too long, so I worked around it by extracting to a folder with a short path name like `C:\IsaacSim5.1.0`. This can also be adjusted through the registry.

Windows Explorer screen showing the location of Isaac Sim compatibility checker file. In the extracted Isaac Sim folder, the issac-sim.compatibility_check.bat file is highlighted along with other related files and folders

Everything checked out fine, and I was able to proceed without issues.

Isaac Sim compatibility checker execution result screen. Command Prompt showing the result after running issac-sim.compatibility_check.bat with "SUCCESS" message indicating system requirements verification completed. Check results for each item are listed

4. Setting up Symbolic Links

I ran post_install.bat to create symbolic links needed for tutorials and other functions.

Isaac Sim post_install.bat script execution screen. Windows Explorer with post_install.bat file selected

5. Launching Isaac Sim

I double-clicked isaac-sim.selector.bat to open the startup launcher.

Windows Explorer screen showing the location of Isaac Sim selector file. In the Isaac Sim installation folder, the isaac-sim.selector.bat file is highlighted along with other Isaac Sim related files. This file is double-clicked to launch the Isaac Sim launcher

I selected "isaac-sim" and clicked "Start" to launch Isaac Sim. The initial startup took some time.

Isaac Sim application selector screen. The left side shows the Isaac Sim logo and application list with "isaac-sim" selected. The right side displays application details and a Start button. Dark theme interface using NVIDIA Omniverse launcher design

When successfully launched, the following screen appeared:

NVIDIA Isaac Sim main screen. Menu bar and toolbar at the top, 3D viewport in the center. Content Browser panel on the left side, Property Panel on the right side in dark theme interface. The viewport shows default grid display and lighting setup, indicating the 3D simulation environment is ready

Step 3: Development Tools Setup

To facilitate comfortable simulation development, I installed the following tools:

Visual Studio 2022 Build Tools: Required for building ROS2 custom nodes etc.
```
> winget install --id=Microsoft.VisualStudio.2022.BuildTools -e
```
Git for Windows: Used for source code version control.
Miniconda: Introduced for managing independent Python environments per project. Account creation was required for download.
Docker Desktop: Installed with WSL2 as backend setting for reproducible environment construction.
Visual Studio Code: Used as the main editor with the following extensions setup:
- Python (Microsoft)
- Pylance
- Docker
- GitLens
- YAML
- URDF Viewer

Step 4 (Recommended): 3D/CAD Related Tools

For creating and editing 3D models and handling CAD data, I also installed the following tools:

Blender: 3D modeling software.
FreeCAD: CAD software.
MeshLab / 3D Viewer: For viewing and editing 3D models.

Blender installation wizard screen. Blender logo and "Blender Installer" title displayed with installation settings screen. Setup screen for installing Blender as open-source 3D modeling and animation software on Windows, showing installation destination specification and component selection settings FreeCAD installation wizard screen. FreeCAD logo and "FreeCAD Setup" title displayed with installation settings screen. Setup screen for installing FreeCAD as open-source parametric CAD software on Windows, showing installation options and feature selection configuration items

4. ROS2 Integration Setup

This is the core of today's setup: connecting ROS2 installed on WSL with Isaac Sim.

1. Installing ROS2 Humble on WSL

I launched WSL (Ubuntu) and executed the following commands in sequence to install ROS2 Humble Desktop version.

# Update package list and upgrade
$ sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# Install necessary tools and add repositories
$ sudo apt install -y curl gnupg lsb-release software-properties-common
$ sudo add-apt-repository universe

# Locale settings (UTF-8)
$ sudo apt install locales
$ sudo locale-gen en_US en_US.UTF-8
$ sudo update-locale LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
$ export LANG=en_US.UTF-8

# Add ROS2 repository and register key
$ sudo curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ros/rosdistro/master/ros.asc | sudo apt-key add
$ echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture)] http://packages.ros.org/ros2/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ros2.list > /dev/null

# Install ROS2 Desktop version
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install ros-humble-desktop

# Install development tools
$ sudo apt install ros-dev-tools python3-colcon-common-extensions python3-argcomplete

# Setup environment script loading
$ echo "source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc
$ source ~/.bashrc

After installation, I ran ros2 run demo_nodes_cpp talker and confirmed that "Hello World" messages were streaming.

Ubuntu terminal on WSL running ROS2 demo node. Result of executing "ros2 run demo_nodes_cpp talker" command showing continuous output of "Hello World" messages. Terminal output screen showing that ROS2 Humble is properly installed and operational verification completed

2. Isaac Sim - ROS2 Bridge Configuration

I configured the settings to enable communication between Windows and ROS2 on WSL.

First, I verified the IP addresses of both WSL and Windows respectively.

# Check WSL IP address
$ hostname -I
# On Windows side, check using ipconfig command etc.

In an administrator Command Prompt, I added port forwarding rules.

# Replace WSL_IP and Windows_IP with the discovered addresses
> netsh interface portproxy add v4tov4 listenport=7400 listenaddress=$Windows_IP connectport=7400 connectaddress=$WSL2_IP
> netsh interface portproxy add v4tov4 listenport=7410 listenaddress=$Windows_IP connectport=7410 connectaddress=$WSL2_IP
> netsh interface portproxy add v4tov4 listenport=9387 listenaddress=$Windows_IP connectport=9387 connectaddress=$WLS2_IP

I launched Isaac Sim Selector and configured the "Bridge" tab as follows:

ROS Bridge Extension: isaacsim.ros2.bridge
Use Internal ROS2 Libraries: humble

Isaac Sim Selector Bridge settings tab screen. Tab menu displayed on the left side with "Bridge" tab selected. ROS Bridge Extension settings items shown on the right side with "isaacsim.ros2.bridge" selected. "Use Internal ROS2 Libraries" item specifies "humble" version, showing Isaac Sim and ROS2 Humble integration configuration

After configuration, I launched Isaac Sim and verified that omni.isaac.ros2_bridge was enabled from Window > Extensions.

Isaac Sim Extensions management screen. Extensions window opened from "Window > Extensions" menu showing list of installed extensions. The "omni.isaac.ros2_bridge" extension is shown as Enabled, confirming that Isaac Sim and ROS2 integration is properly configured

3. Installing Rviz2

I installed Rviz2, ROS2's integrated 3D visualization tool, by executing the following commands on WSL.

$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install ros-humble-rviz-ogre-vendor ros-humble-rviz-default-plugins
$ source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
$ rviz2

Ubuntu terminal on WSL launching rviz2. Result of executing "rviz2" command showing that Rviz2, ROS2's 3D visualization tool, is starting properly. Terminal output indicating successful Rviz2 installation and operational verification with ROS2 Humble

4. Installing MoveIt2 (Source Build)

Since binary installation of the advanced motion planning library "MoveIt2" didn't work well, I built and installed it from source.

# Create and navigate to workspace
$ mkdir -p ~/ws_moveit/src
$ cd ~/ws_moveit/src/

# Clone tutorial and dependency repositories
$ git clone https://github.com/moveit/moveit2_tutorials -b humble
$ vcs import < moveit2_tutorials/moveit2_tutorials.repos

# Install system dependencies
$ sudo apt remove ros-humble-moveit* # Remove existing binaries to avoid conflicts
$ cd ~/ws_moveit
$ rosdep install -r --from-paths src --ignore-src --rosdistro humble -y

# Build
$ colcon build --cmake-args -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release

# DDS configuration
$ sudo apt install ros-humble-rmw-cyclonedx-cpp
$ echo 'export RMW_IMPLEMENTATION=rmw_cyclonedx_cpp' >> ~/.bashrc
$ source ~/.bashrc

# Run demo
$ source install/setup.bash
$ ros2 launch moveit2_tutorials demo.launch.py

The launch of MoveIt2's demo confirmed that all integration settings were completed successfully.

5. Summary

Above is the record of my NVIDIA Isaac Sim environment setup procedure performed in December 2025.

Although there were many steps, by proceeding steadily one by one, I was able to successfully build the simulation environment. I hope this record will serve as some reference for those who may perform similar environment setups in the future.