ci: Pin Python version in CI workflows to fix colcon test failures by Tiryoh · Pull Request #69 · Tiryoh/ros2_setup_scripts_ubuntu

Tiryoh · 2026-04-02T18:23:38Z

Summary

A GitHub Actions runner image update (ubuntu22/20260105.207 → ubuntu22/20260112.2) caused all scheduled CI workflows to fail since 2026-01-19
The runner's /usr/local/bin/python3 took precedence over the system /usr/bin/python3, causing ROS 2 Python dependencies (e.g. catkin_pkg) to not be found, which made all rclpy packages fail with exit code 2 during colcon test
Fixed by redefining PATH at the workflow level to prioritize /usr/bin over /usr/local/bin, ensuring the system Python is used

What was tried

actions/setup-python to pin the Python version → Installed a separate Python under /opt/hostedtoolcache which lacked ROS 2 dependency packages, resulting in ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'catkin_pkg' — made things worse
env.PATH to prioritize system Python → Success

Summary by CodeRabbit

Chores
- CI workflows updated to set a global PATH for all jobs, changing which system binaries (including system Python) are resolved during runs.
- No changes to job steps, install/test commands, or application code—only workflow-level environment configuration.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

gemini-code-assist · 2026-04-02T18:23:43Z

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coderabbitai · 2026-04-02T18:24:56Z

No actionable comments were generated in the recent review. 🎉

ℹ️ Recent review info

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Configuration used: defaults

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Run ID: fc0b8c5f-d823-4b9b-8c4b-f314e6ea84a6

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between ff91932 and 962dd55.

📒 Files selected for processing (3)

.github/workflows/eol-installers.yml
.github/workflows/installers.yml
.github/workflows/main.yml

✅ Files skipped from review due to trivial changes (1)

.github/workflows/eol-installers.yml

🚧 Files skipped from review as they are similar to previous changes (1)

.github/workflows/installers.yml

📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

Set a workflow-level environment PATH in three GitHub Actions workflow files to a fixed value (/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin), affecting command resolution for all jobs and steps. No job steps, triggers, or other logic were changed.

Changes

Cohort / File(s)	Summary
Workflow env PATH `.github/workflows/eol-installers.yml`, `.github/workflows/installers.yml`, `.github/workflows/main.yml`	Added a top-level `env` block that sets `PATH: /usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin` for all jobs/steps; no other workflow steps or control flow modified.

Estimated code review effort

🎯 2 (Simple) | ⏱️ ~10 minutes

Poem

🐇 I nibble paths and tidy tracks,
PATH set straight so commands come back.
/usr/bin first, I gently lay,
CI hops steady through the day. 🥕

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 2 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Title check	⚠️ Warning	The title claims to 'pin Python version' but the actual changes only modify the PATH environment variable in CI workflows without pinning any Python version.	Revise the title to accurately reflect the changes, such as 'ci: Override PATH in CI workflows to fix colcon test failures' or 'ci: Set system Python path priority in CI workflows'.

✅ Passed checks (2 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.

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Commit unit tests in branch fix/ci-python-version

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actions/setup-python installs a separate Python under /opt/hostedtoolcache which lacks ROS 2 dependencies (catkin_pkg, etc.). Instead, reorder PATH to prioritize /usr/bin (system Python) over /usr/local/bin (runner Python). Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

Copilot

Pull request overview

Updates GitHub Actions workflows to ensure ROS 2 CI runs use the system Python (/usr/bin/python3) rather than a runner-managed Python that can miss ROS 2 Python dependencies, addressing recent colcon test failures.

Changes:

Set a workflow-level PATH so /usr/bin is searched before /usr/local/bin in CI.
Apply the same PATH override across the main, installers, and EOL installers workflows.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 3 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

File	Description
.github/workflows/main.yml	Adds a global `PATH` override (with explanatory comment) to prefer system Python for ROS 2 tests.
.github/workflows/installers.yml	Adds a global `PATH` override for installer validation jobs.
.github/workflows/eol-installers.yml	Adds a global `PATH` override for EOL installer jobs.

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Copilot · 2026-04-04T02:06:57Z

+env:
+  # Ensure the system Python (/usr/bin/python3) is used instead of
+  # the runner-managed one under /usr/local, which may lack ROS 2
+  # Python dependencies such as catkin_pkg.
+  PATH: /usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin


Setting a fixed PATH here overwrites the runner’s default PATH entries (e.g., toolcache locations). That can unexpectedly break other tools/actions that rely on those directories being present. Prefer prepending /usr/bin ahead of the existing PATH (e.g., via $GITHUB_PATH or an explicit PATH update step) so you only change python resolution without discarding other PATH entries.

Copilot · 2026-04-04T02:06:58Z

+env:
+  PATH: /usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin


This workflow-level PATH assignment replaces the runner’s default PATH rather than just prioritizing /usr/bin. That can remove important runner-provided directories and cause unrelated steps/tools to fail. Safer approach: prepend /usr/bin ahead of the existing PATH (without hardcoding the full PATH list).

Copilot · 2026-04-04T02:06:58Z

+env:
+  PATH: /usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin
+


Overriding PATH to a hardcoded value here drops any runner-added PATH entries. This is fragile and can break steps that depend on those locations. Consider prepending /usr/bin to the existing PATH instead of replacing it entirely.

Suggested change

env:

PATH: /usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin

…hon (#69) A GitHub Actions runner image update caused all scheduled CI workflows to fail since 2026-01-19. The runner's /usr/local/bin/python3 took precedence over the system /usr/bin/python3, causing ROS 2 Python dependencies (e.g. catkin_pkg) to not be found. Fixed by redefining PATH at the workflow level to prioritize /usr/bin over /usr/local/bin, ensuring the system Python is used. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

Tiryoh · 2026-04-04T13:53:50Z

Accidentally merged with a regular merge commit instead of squash merge. Reset main and re-applied as a squash commit: dc3001a

ci: Pin Python version in CI workflows to fix colcon test failures

ff91932

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

Tiryoh requested a review from Copilot April 4, 2026 02:04

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of Tiryoh April 4, 2026 02:04 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Apr 4, 2026

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Tiryoh merged commit 99db66e into main Apr 4, 2026
18 checks passed

Tiryoh deleted the fix/ci-python-version branch April 4, 2026 13:47

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ci: Pin Python version in CI workflows to fix colcon test failures#69

ci: Pin Python version in CI workflows to fix colcon test failures#69
Tiryoh merged 2 commits intomainfrom
fix/ci-python-version

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