# Gazebo Jetty Server Only installation for Ubuntu
**URL:** https://discourse.openrobotics.org/t/gazebo-jetty-server-only-installation-for-ubuntu/53375
**Category:** Gazebo General
**Tags:** release, gazebo
**Created:** [March 19, 2026, 1:20pm UTC](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/t/gazebo-jetty-server-only-installation-for-ubuntu/53375 "2026-03-19T13:20:33Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@jrivero](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/u/jrivero)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2026, 1:20pm UTC](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/t/gazebo-jetty-server-only-installation-for-ubuntu/53375/1 "2026-03-19T13:20:33Z")
A long-standing request from the Gazebo community has been the ability to install Gazebo without pulling in Qt and other GUI dependencies — particularly useful for CI pipelines, headless servers, and Docker containers ( [gz-sim8-release#8](https://github.com/gazebo-release/gz-sim8-release/issues/8)). Starting with **Gazebo Jetty** , this is now possible with the new `gz-sim10-server` package version `10.1.1-2`, available today in the [stable OSRF repositories](https://packages.osrfoundation.org).
## The New Package
`gz-sim10-server` ships the standalone `gz-sim-server` binary along with all non-GUI simulation plugins, rendering engines (needed for sensor simulation), and the full sensor suite — everything you need to run headless simulations. What it **doesn’t** include: Qt libraries, GUI plugins, or any graphical interface components.
## The Server executable
The server binary is a standalone (pure C++) executable that does **not** go through the `gz` ruby wrapper ([gz-sim#2809](https://github.com/gazebosim/gz-sim/pull/2809)).
It is installed at `/usr/libexec/gz/sim10/gz-sim-server`, which is not in `PATH` by default. The familiar `gz sim -s` command is **not available** in the server-only installation since it requires the full `gz-sim10-cli` package. To run simulations, invoke the binary directly:
> ```bash
> /usr/libexec/gz/sim10/gz-sim-server my_world.sdf
>
> ```
## Package Comparison
| Metric | `gz-sim10-server` | `gz-jetty` |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Total packages installed | 596 | 993 |
| Gazebo packages | 85 | 124 |
That’s **~40% fewer total packages**.
## How to Install
**Fresh install** on Ubuntu Noble:
```bash
sudo apt-get install gz-sim10-server
```
### Existing Users and Backward Compatibility
If you already have `gz-jetty` or `libggz-sim10-dev` installed, the underlying packages have been reorganized into GUI and non-GUI splits. A plain `apt-get upgrade` will **not** automatically install the new split packages — you need to use one of these methods:
```bash
# Option 1: Let apt handle the full transition
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
```
```bash
# Option 2: Explicitly install the new packages
sudo apt-get install gz-sim10-cli
```
> **Tip:** `apt-get upgrade` installs new versions of existing packages but never installs new packages or removes old ones. `apt-get dist-upgrade` will install and remove packages as needed to complete the upgrade — which is required when the dependency structure changes, as it does here.
After the transition, all GUI and server components remain installed — there is **no change in functionality**. The split is purely an internal packaging reorganization; full-installation users will continue to have the exact same set of features as before.
## Links
- Original feature request: [gz-sim#2737](https://github.com/gazebosim/gz-sim/issues/2737)
- Release tracking: [gz-sim8-release#8](https://github.com/gazebo-release/gz-sim8-release/issues/8)
- Standalone server binary PR: [gz-sim#2809](https://github.com/gazebosim/gz-sim/pull/2809)
---
### Author:  [@peci1](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/u/peci1)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2026, 3:27pm UTC](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/t/gazebo-jetty-server-only-installation-for-ubuntu/53375/2 "2026-03-19T15:27:33Z")
Great news!
> [@jrivero](#):
>
> apt-get dist-upgrade
This is what I use for regular system updates. However, I’ve noticed that many people are scared of this command, probably because of its name, which resembles “distro upgrade”. But don’t be scared: this never updates the version of Ubuntu! (that would be done by `do-release-upgrade`, but there are very few people who dare running it).