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While testing Kilted before its release, several users encountered issues downloading Connext 7.3.0 — the latest LTS version of RTI Connext DDS officially supported in ROS 2 (see for example: ros2/kilted_tutorial_party#461).

To address this and improve the developer experience, RTI has published a dedicated download page with a direct link to the appropriate version. This change helps reduce friction during setup and avoids future issues related to compatibility or installation.

With this update, ROS 2 users can reliably access the correct middleware version without confusion.

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Signed-off-by: Francisco Gallego Salido <[email protected]>
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@fujitatomoya @ahcorde Can you review this please?

**Other Installation Options**
RTI Connext DDS is a proprietary DDS implementation with a number of advanced features and commercial support options.
RTI provides both a `non-commercial / research license <https://www.rti.com/free-trial/university-program>`__ for students and researchers and a `time-limited free trial license <https://www.rti.com/free-trial>`__ for commercial users.
RTI provides both a `non-commercial / research license <https://www.rti.com/free-trial/university-program>`__ for students and researchers and a `time-limited free trial license <https://content.rti.com/l/983311/2025-06-26/q5tyw3>`__ for commercial users.
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The new page doesn't mention Connext Express. Is this a different kind of trial that doesn't include Connext Express after the trial expiration?

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i was going to ask the same question, looks like it removes Connext Express intentionally? i do not think i can say yes or no about this, maybe we can bring this to next PMC meeting to get attention? @christophebedard

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@christophebedard christophebedard Jul 18, 2025

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If RTI wants to offer a different kind of trial, that's kind of up to them; I don't think this is something the PMC has to approve. Right?

I was just wondering if this was correct/intentional.

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@lobolanja lobolanja Jul 21, 2025

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Hi @christophebedard, @fujitatomoya

Just to clarify: the reason Express isn’t listed on the new download page is that Connext Express didn’t exist when Connext 7.3.0 LTS was released. Connext 7.3.0 is the only version officially supported by the RMW in the ROS 2 Kilted binary release.

The version that includes Express is Connext 7.5.0, but it isn’t compatible (nor officially supported) with the pre-built ROS 2 (rmw_connextdds) packages due to ABI incompatibility. It does work if you build ROS 2 (rmw_connextdds) from source, but not with the distributed binaries. That’s why we’re pointing users to 7.3.0 LTS, to make the out-of-the-box experience with ROS 2 and Connext RMW as smooth as possible.

That said, anyone who wants to use a different Connext version can still download it from the RTI website, just keep in mind that they’ll need to build ROS 2 from source and that there may be issues since we are testing just Connext 7.3.0

Let me know if that makes sense!

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Makes sense, thanks for the explanation.

I think this should (only) be backported to Kilted, let me know if that's not correct.

@christophebedard christophebedard added the backport-kilted backport to kilted at reviewers discretion; from rolling to kilted label Jul 31, 2025
@christophebedard christophebedard merged commit 63f35ff into ros2:rolling Jul 31, 2025
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mergify bot pushed a commit that referenced this pull request Jul 31, 2025
Signed-off-by: Francisco Gallego Salido <[email protected]>
(cherry picked from commit 63f35ff)
christophebedard pushed a commit that referenced this pull request Jul 31, 2025
(cherry picked from commit 63f35ff)

Signed-off-by: Francisco Gallego Salido <[email protected]>
Co-authored-by: Francisco Gallego Salido <[email protected]>
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backport-kilted backport to kilted at reviewers discretion; from rolling to kilted

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4 participants