Developer Initial Setup for Linux

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On Linux, Project AirSim can be developed with VS Code which provides a light-weight, cross-platform common experience between Linux and Windows.

1. Clone the Project AirSim repo (SSH authentication is recommended for Linux)

   git clone bizair@vs-ssh.visualstudio.com:v3/bizair/Project%20AirSim/projectairsim
   

2. From the projectairsim/ folder, install the prerequisites:

   ./setup_linux_dev_tools.sh
   

   This will install:

   • make - used by build scripts to drive CMake commands

   • cmake - used to build sim lib components

   • clang 13, libc++ 13 - used to build sim lib components and match the bundled toolchain of Unreal Engine 5.2

   • ninja - used as the preferred CMake generator/build tool

   • vulkan loader library - for UE rendering on Linux (OpenGL has been deprecated)

   • vulkan utils - utilities like vulkaninfo for checking for graphics support

   You may also need to install the latest drivers for your GPU to support the Vulkan interface.

3. Install VS Code and the following extensions:

   Note: If not manually installed, these extensions will be recommended for automatic install on opening the Project AirSim project workspace

   • CMake Tools

   • C/C++ (includes clang-format functionality, use Alt-Shift-F to auto-format the current code file using the repo’s .clang-format settings)

   • CodeLLDB

   • C#

   • Mono Debug

   • C++ TestMate (also automatically installs Test Explorer UI)

   • Python

   • Pylance

   The above can also be done by the following bash command:

   code --install-extension ms-vscode.cmake-tools
   code --install-extension ms-vscode.cpptools
   code --install-extension vadimcn.vscode-lldb
   code --install-extension ms-dotnettools.csharp
   code --install-extension ms-vscode.mono-debug
   code --install-extension matepek.vscode-catch2-test-adapter
   code --install-extension ms-python.python
   code --install-extension ms-python.vscode-pylance
   

4. (Optional) Customize VS Code User settings

   See Optional VS Code User Settings for some example customized user settings that can help with Project AirSim development.

5. Install Unreal Engine 5.2

   • Get UE source from Unreal Engine’s private GitHub repo (requires registering with Epic)

   • You can run the engine as built from source following Unreal’s Linux native build process, but to prevent the engine from recompiling itself during Project AirSim development, it is recommended to make an installed build of the engine instead. To make an installed build, run these steps:

     cd <UE source path>
     
     ./Setup.sh
     
     rm -rf Engine/Platforms/XXX
     
     ./Engine/Build/BatchFiles/RunUAT.sh BuildGraph \
         -target="Make Installed Build Linux" \
         -script=Engine/Build/InstalledEngineBuild.xml \
         -set:HostPlatformOnly=true \
         -set:WithLinuxAArch64=false \
         -set:WithFullDebugInfo=false \
         -set:WithDDC=true \
         -set:GameConfigurations="DebugGame;Development"
     

   Note: Making an installed build will take a lot of disk space (~200 GB) and a lot of time (~4+ hours) because it will build the engine and precompile the engine’s DDC content. However, using the installed build for Project AirSim development can save a lot of developer iteration time since the engine will never recompile and the bulk of the initial shader compilation will already be complete. This is similar to using a Windows binary engine downloaded from Epic’s Launcher. Most of the original source package and build files can also be deleted to just keep the installed build version which is ~40 GB.

   • After the installed build completes, the binary version of the engine will be located in <UE source path>/LocalBuilds/Engine/Linux/ and the contents of this folder can be moved to wherever you plan to use the engine from. The other contents of the <UE source path> can be deleted since the installed build engine will not need to rebuild again.

     mv ./LocalBuilds/Engine/Linux ~/UE_installed_build
     cd ~/UE_installed_build
     rm -rf <UE source path>
     

6. Set a UE_ROOT environment variable to wherever you put the built Unreal Engine (you can add this to ~/.bashrc to persist)

   export UE_ROOT=/path/to/UE_installed_build
   

   Note: When using the installed build engine for VS Code debugging, it will look for the source files in the original <UE source path> location that it was built from, so you can either put the installed build engine in place of the original source package, or you can add a source mapping configuration to the VS Code project’s launch.json after the project is generated, like this:

   "sourceFileMap": { "<UE source path>": "${env:UE_ROOT}" }
   

7. Do the Project AirSim Client Setup.

Now you’re ready to start Developing Project AirSim Libs

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