Using VSCode

Introduction

Visual Studio Code is a lightweight but powerful source code editor which runs on your desktop. It provides a rich code editing experience with features like - syntax highlighting - auto-indentation - intelliSense (context-aware suggestions as you type) - linting for various programming languages - powerful debugging - Integrated Terminal

You can enhance its functionality by installing extensions from the Visual Studio Code Marketplace.

Remote-Tunnels

The Visual Studio Code Remote - Tunnels extension lets you connect to a remote machine, like a desktop PC or virtual machine (VM), via a secure tunnel.

You can connect to that machine from a VS Code client anywhere, without the requirement of SSH.

This can eliminate the need for source code to be on your VS Code client machine since the extension runs commands and other extensions directly on the remote machine.

VS Code can provide a local-quality development experience - including full IntelliSense (completions), code navigation, and debugging - regardless of where your code is hosted.

Requirements to Run Remote-Tunnels

To run Remote-Tunnels, it requires: - A GitHub account - VSCode CLI on the remote machine

So you can edit in VSCode on local machine browser the files on the remote machine.

But if you would like to use local VSCode client to edit the files on the remote machine, you still need: - VSCode client and extension Remote-Tunnels on the local machine

Setup Guide

Step-1: Create a Secure Tunnel on the Remote Machine

You can grab the CLI through a standalone install. However, the executable code has already been installed as /cvmfs/atlas.sdcc.bnl.gov/users/yesw/t3s/bin/code.

Create a secure tunnel with the tunnel command: 

code tunnel

It would print out something like:

*
* Visual Studio Code Server
*
* By using the software, you agree to
* the Visual Studio Code Server License Terms (https://aka.ms/vscode-server-license) and
* the Microsoft Privacy Statement (https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-US/privacystatement).
*
To grant access to the server, please log into https://github.com/login/device and use code B45E-B1C0

On a browser, following the above instruction, visit https://github.com/login/device, input the code. On the next web page, click on the button of Authorize Visual-Studio-Code.

Afterward, the remote machine screen would print out a new line:

What would you like to call this machine?

Provide a name to the remote machine, says, BNL-SPAR.

Then it would yield something like:

[2023-09-25 22:22:51] info Creating tunnel with the name: bnl-spar

Open this link in your browser https://vscode.dev/tunnel/bnl-spar/home/tmp/yesw

Now you can explore the files on the remote machine, and use VSCode to edit file: - Either on a browser, open the above link: https://vscode.dev/tunnel/bnl-spar/home/tmp/yesw - Or in VSCode client, open Remote Explorer, click on Remotes, then Tunnels, choose the name BNL-SPAR.

In the VSCode client, you can see the name BNL-SPAR as shown in the following screenshot:

screenshot of BNL Jupyter Launcher

Upon opening a folder/file, you just click on the button of Yes, I trusted the authors.