How to Set Up Visual Studio Code Server on Debian

In this tutorial, we'll guide you through setting up Visual Studio Code Server (code-server) on a remote server, enabling you to access your development environment from any device with a browser. Running code-server on a remote server provides consistent access to your code and tools, offloads processing from your local device, and allows for collaboration. By the end of this guide, you will have code-server installed as a service, accessible via SSH and IP, ensuring your environment is always available and easily manageable.

Step 1: Update Your Server

First, ensure your server’s package list is up-to-date:

sudo apt update

Step 2: Install OpenSSH

If OpenSSH is not installed, install it to allow remote access:

sudo apt install openssh-server

Enable and start the SSH service to ensure it is active:

sudo systemctl start ssh
sudo systemctl enable ssh

Step 3: Install code-server

Download and install `code-server` using the install script:

sudo apt install curl
curl -fsSL https://code-server.dev/install.sh | sh
sudo systemctl enable --now code-server@$USER

Step 4: Configure code-server

Once installed, configure `code-server` by editing its config file. Open it with:

nano ~/.config/code-server/config.yaml

Set a password (optional) and specify the host and port as shown:

password: "your_password"
bind-addr: 0.0.0.0:8080

Step 5: Create a Systemd Service for code-server

Set up `code-server` to start automatically by creating a systemd service:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/code-server.service

Add the following configuration:

[Unit]
Description=code-server
After=network.target
[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/bin/code-server --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8080
User=your_username
Restart=always
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Step 6: Enable and Start the code-server Service

Enable the service to start on boot, then start it:

sudo systemctl enable code-server
sudo systemctl start code-server

Step 7: Open the Firewall

If you are using a firewall, allow traffic to port 8080 (or the port configured in `config.yaml`):

sudo ufw allow 8080

Step 8: Access code-server

Open your web browser and go to:

http://your_server_ip:8080

Log in with your password if prompted.

Step 9: Connect with SSH

To access the server via SSH:

ssh your_username@your_server_ip

You can now access and manage `code-server` from a remote location.

Conclusion

Following these steps will have `code-server` installed and running on your server as a service, accessible from any device with a web browser. Refer to Github Repo for more details.