openvscode-server.md

title	OpenVSCode Server
additional_search_terms	ide vs code vs visual studio
minutes_to_complete	30
author	Jason Andrews
official_docs	https://github.com/gitpod-io/openvscode-server/tree/docs
weight	1
tool_install	true
multi_install	false
multitool_install_part	false
layout	installtoolsall

OpenVSCode Server is a version of VS Code which runs on any computer and can be accessed using a browser. The project was initiated by Gitpod and is available on GitHub

OpenVSCode Server supports the Arm architecture and is useful for developing on a remote Arm machine. It can be used on cloud instances, without requiring a Linux desktop to be installed. It's also useful when developing on a local Arm machine with a Linux subsystem, such as Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), ChromeOS with Linux enabled, or Multipass.

What do I need before installing OpenVSCode Server?

Follow the instructions below to install OpenVSCode Server natively on an Arm Linux machine.

Confirm you are using an Arm machine by running:

uname -m

The output should be:

aarch64

If you see a different result, you are not using an Arm computer running 64-bit Linux.

How do I download OpenVSCode Server?

Download a release of OpenVSCode Server from the GitHub release area. The releases are in sync with VS Code and change frequently. Make sure to download the arm64 version.

For example, use wget to download.

wget https://github.com/gitpod-io/openvscode-server/releases/download/openvscode-server-v1.101.2/openvscode-server-v1.101.2-linux-arm64.tar.gz 

How do I install OpenVSCode Server?

Install the download by extracting the file

tar xvfz openvscode-server-v1.101.2-linux-arm64.tar.gz

How do I start OpenVSCode Server?

To start OpenVSCode Server run:

./openvscode-server-v1.101.2-linux-arm64/bin/openvscode-server 

The server will print a URL to access VS Code in a browser. The URL is localhost URL. If your machine is a remote system or a Linux subsystem there are two options to connect using your local browser.

• Use SSH to forward port 3000 and connect using localhost
• Open port 3000 on the remote machine and use the public IP address instead of localhost

How do I connect using SSH port forwarding?

Refer to SSH for more info about SSH.

Use the -L option of ssh to forward port 3000.

ssh -L 3000:localhost:3000 user@ip-address

After connecting with port forwarding, use the localhost link printed by openvscode-server. It includes a token for security and will be similar to:

http://localhost:3000/?tkn=40711257-5e5d-4906-b88f-fe13b1f317b7

Open the link in your local browser and VS Code will appear.

How do I connect by opening a port on the remote machine?

The second option is to open port 3000 for access. On a cloud instance this involves changing the security group to open TCP port 3000. For best security, Make sure to open the port for your IP address only, not from all IP addresses.

Each cloud provider will have instructions on how to work with security group. Refer to the AWS documentation as an example.

With the port open, substitute the public IP address of the instance instead of localhost.

On ChromeOS you can use the Linux configuration settings to automatically do port forwarding. No SSH connection is needed.

What other configuration options are available?

There are command line options to change the port, the token, and other configuration options. To see the options run:

./openvscode-server-v1.101.2-linux-arm64/bin/openvscode-server --help

If you are running all on a local machine the token can be eliminated using the --without-connection-token option.

It's also possible to run an existing docker image which uses Ubuntu Linux for Arm and mounts your host directory to access files on your computer. Refer to the GitHub README for more information.

Install your favorite Extensions, select your favorite Color Theme, and enjoy VS Code in the browser.