Assets Download from the cloud

Omniverse Isaac Sim
1

Hello!

I am wondering how I can download any assets from the cloud. I have my docker container to generate synthetic data, but it fails to load the assets (it worked a few years ago). Did it moved to another location? How is it supposed to work without a nucleus server?

Best regards,
Christof

6.0.0
5.1.0
5.0.0
4.5.0
4.2.0
4.1.0
4.0.0
4.5.0
2023.1.1
2023.1.0-hotfix.1
Other (please specify):

2

Hi @christof.schuetzenhoefer,

The cloud assets are still available – they haven’t moved. Since Isaac Sim 4.1.0, both the workstation and Docker versions access assets directly from an S3-hosted CDN by default, so a Nucleus server is not required.

As noted in the Isaac Sim 4.2.0 Setup FAQ (Differences Between Workstation And Docker):

“The Isaac Sim Docker container does not include Nucleus and will access assets directly from the Cloud by default.”

“From version 4.1.0, the workstation version of Isaac Sim will access assets directly from the Cloud by default but can be changed in to use local Nucleus using the --/persistent/isaac/asset_root/default=omniverse://localhost/NVIDIA/Assets/Isaac/4.2 flag.”

How It Works

Isaac Sim resolves assets through the persistent.isaac.asset_root.default setting. In Docker, this defaults to:

https://omniverse-content-production.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Assets/Isaac/4.2

Assets are fetched on demand over HTTPS – no Nucleus server, no special authentication, just outbound internet access from the container.

Common Reasons It Fails in Docker

  1. No outbound internet access – The container needs to reach omniverse-content-production.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com on port 443. You can verify connectivity from inside the container with:

    curl -I "https://omniverse-content-production.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Assets/Isaac/4.2/Isaac/Robots/Jetbot/jetbot.usd"

    If this times out, your Docker network or firewall is blocking it.

  2. DNS resolution failure – Some Docker network configurations don’t resolve external DNS. Try adding --dns 8.8.8.8 to your docker run command.

  3. Proxy or corporate firewall – If you’re behind a proxy, pass HTTP_PROXY / HTTPS_PROXY environment variables to the container.

  4. Overridden asset root – If you previously configured a local Nucleus path (e.g., omniverse://localhost/...), the container will try to connect to Nucleus instead of the cloud and fail. Check user.config.json inside the container at /root/.local/share/ov/data/Kit/Isaac-Sim/ for any stale asset_root overrides.

If You Need Offline / Air-Gapped Assets

Starting with Isaac Sim 6.0.0, there’s an official Local Assets Pack you can download and mount into the container:

  1. Download the Isaac Sim Assets Complete Pack (5 zip files)
  2. Extract and mount the directory into your container
  3. Set the asset root to point to the local path:
    ./runheadless.native.sh --/persistent/isaac/asset_root/default="/path/to/Assets/Isaac/6.0"

For 4.2.0, an equivalent offline pack wasn’t officially provided, but you can download assets from the S3 URL above while online, then point to the local copy.

Recommended Path

If you’re starting fresh with SDG, I’d recommend upgrading to Isaac Sim 6.0.0 – the Docker container workflow is the same, but the asset pack download is now officially supported and the SDG pipeline has had significant improvements. The 6.0.0 docs cover the full container setup and local assets workflow.

Could you share the specific error messages you’re seeing when assets fail to load? That would help narrow down whether it’s a connectivity issue, a path resolution problem, or something else.

3

Hi @christof.schuetzenhoefer, we wanted to follow up since we haven’t heard back after our earlier response. We hope the guidance on S3 CDN access, connectivity checks, DNS settings, and proxy configuration was helpful in resolving your issue. Since we haven’t received an update in 14 days, we’ll be closing this thread. If you’re still experiencing problems, please open a new topic and link back to this one. Thank you!