Reverse Remote VSCode

Ever code . on a remote server? Then realise your mistake and feel like a fool? Well, now you don't have to!

Reverse Remote VSCode is simple solution to run the code . command on a remote server and open the VSCode editor locally using the Remote-SSH extension. This tutorial will guide you through the process of setting up Open Remote VSCode for your bash shell.

Prerequisites

• Bash shell
• VSCode installed on your local machine
• Remote-SSH extension installed in VSCode
• SSH access to your remote server

Info

• reverse_remote_vscode.sh (local)
  • creates Reverse SSH tunnel to the remote server
  • listens for the code . command from the remote server
• open_vscode.sh: (remote) passes the code . command to the local machine

Setup

Step 1: edit reverse_remote_vscode.sh

PORT=1234
REMOTEUSER=yourremoteuser
REMOTESERVER=yourremoteserver

Step 2: make the reverse_remote_vscode.sh script executable

chmod +x reverse_remote_vscode.sh

Step 3 (optional): Add to ~/.bashrc and reload shell so that it is always running

• Edit your ~/.bashrc file

  nano ~/.bashrc

• Add: source /path/to/script/reverse_remote_vscode.sh & to file

• Reload shell

  source ~/.bashrc

Step 4: scp open_vscode.sh script to the remote server

scp bin/open_vscode.sh user@remote-server:/home/user/bin/open_vscode.sh

Step 5: SSH into the remote server and make the remote script executable

• Make the script executable

  chmod +x /home/user/bin/open_vscode.sh

• Add the following line to your remote server's .bashrc or .bash_aliases file:

  nano ~/.bash_aliases

  alias code="/path/to/open_vscode.sh"

  note: you can use any alias you like, like rcode or something if this is confusing

• Reload shell

  source ~/.bashrc

Usage

On your remote server run the following command and watch the magic happen!

code . (current working directory)

also works with:

code full/path/to/folder

code ./path/to/folder