Original how-to: How to run Visual Studio (VS) Code Remote over SSH on FreeBSD 13 and 14.
Important: If you previously used the Debian solution described below, you can remove it with
service linux disable && service debian disable. Reboot, and after logging back in, make sure you have nothing mounted in /compat, and then manually remove /compat/linux and /compat/debian.
# service linux enable
# service linux start
# cp .bash_linux ~
# pkg install linux-rl9-libsigsegvAllow sshd to accept BASH_ENV references during the connection:
# sysrc sshd_flags="-o AcceptEnv=BASH_ENV"... and then restart sshd with service sshd restart.
It is also a good idea to reboot and check that everything starts up properly to avoid surprises later.
Edit your ~/ssh/config file on your computer where the VS Code client is installed and add a special host entry just for VS Code connections:
Host vscode-server
Hostname my.vscode.server.com
SetEnv BASH_ENV=".bash_linux"
Next, in VS Code, after installing the Remote - SSH extension, add a new remote SSH host via the command pallete by selecting Remote-SSH: Add New SSH Host... and following the prompts. Then connect to the new host via the Open a remote window icon in the lower left or the command pallete by selecting Remote-SSH: Connect to Host.... The first time you make the connection, VS Code will ask you to specify your remote platform. Choose "Linux".
A convenient way to open VS Code onto your remote SSH connection and start in a project workspace is to create a shortcut icon on the desktop and set the target property to something like this:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft VS Code\Code.exe" --folder-uri vscode-remote://ssh-remote+vscode-server/home/username/path/to/project
... where vscode-server matches the Host identifier in the ssh config entry and everything else after that matches the path to your project.
This legacy option is compatible with VS Code 1.88+ and FreeBSD 14. This is possible using debootstrap to install a stable release of Debian, such as 12.5, codename "Bookworm".
Inspiration for this repo originally came from the many good contributions in this discussion: Configure FreeBSD to work with VScode's remote ssh extension. Many thanks to all of those who participated in figuring this out.
Important: If you previously installed the
linux_base-c7package for VS Code, it is no longer compatible with recent versions of VS Code Server and remote SSH connections will not work. You can remove it withservice linux stop && service linux disable && pkg delete linux_base-c7. Reboot and then manually remove /compat/linux.
# pkg install debootstrap
# service linux enable && service linux start
# debootstrap bookworm /compat/debian
# cp .bash_debian ~
# install -m 0755 -o root -g wheel debian /usr/local/etc/rc.d
# service debian enable && service debian startAllow sshd to accept BASH_ENV references during the connection:
# sysrc sshd_flags="-o AcceptEnv=BASH_ENV"... and then restart sshd with service sshd restart.
It is also a good idea to reboot and check that everything starts up properly to avoid surprises later.
Edit your ~/ssh/config file on your computer where the VS Code client is installed and add a special host entry just for VS Code connections:
Host vscode-server
Hostname my.vscode.server.com
SetEnv BASH_ENV=".bash_debian"
Next, in VS Code, after installing the Remote - SSH extension, add a new remote SSH host via the command pallete by selecting Remote-SSH: Add New SSH Host... and following the prompts. Then connect to the new host via the Open a remote window icon in the lower left or the command pallete by selecting Remote-SSH: Connect to Host.... The first time you do this you need to specify the host platform, and in this case will be Linux.
Note for Windows users: If you use the shortcut feature described above, you must add /compat/debian as a path component for it to work. Example:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft VS Code\Code.exe" --folder-uri vscode-remote://ssh-remote+vscode-server/compat/debian/home/username/path/to/project