ROS2-009-Communication Mechanisms, Wrapping Up: Metapackages (MetaPackage)

Introduction

When you write a big module in ROS2, you generally split it into several sub-packages by function. For a robot navigation module, for instance, it might be split into localisation, path planning, offline maps and other sub-packages written separately. So when we need to install that module, do we have to install those sub-packages one by one before we get the whole feature set?

Metapackage (MetaPackage)

ROS2 gives you a way to bundle several different feature sub-packages into one big package, so that when we need to install some feature module we just install that one big package directly. That package is called a metapackage, i.e. MetaPackage.

A MetaPackage is essentially a concept from Linux file management. As a "fake package" with no substantive content inside ROS2, you can think of it as a book's "table of contents index". It depends on other packages, and through it those other packages come together. When you install a MetaPackage, it tells whoever or whatever is installing it which sub-packages are in this set and where to download them.

What is it for?

Making installation easy for the user. inclusive☝🤓

How do you do it?

Take the following directory as an example — we want to bind all the feature packages below into one metapackage:

A directory with several packages

First move to the workspace where you want to create the metapackage, and add a package under the src directory:

ros2 pkg create tutor_ls_plumbing

After running the command above, remember to "cd" back to the workspace.

Inside the newly created "tutor_ls_plumbing" package you only need to edit package.xml — no need to touch "CMakeLists.txt"

In package.xml, add <exec_depend></exec_depend>, and inside it add the packages you want in the index:

<exec_depend>base_interfaces_demo</exec_depend>
......

Then build it:

colcon build --packages-select tutor_ls_plumbing

In the end it should look something like this:

The picture after building

---

Afterword

You can also go looking for other people's projects on GitHub to see how they design their metapackages.

For example navigation2/navigation2 at main · ros-navigation/navigation2

Important

This article was translated by Hermes Agent; the original text can be found at here. The translation is for reference only. Translation time: 2026-11-05