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Visual Studio Code

VSCode is a text editor and debugger for working with many different language. VSCode comes with github integration by default and allows for language specific syntax highlighting and autocomplete with IntelliSense.

Currently, VSCode Server version 3.10.2 is available on the Palmetto cluster.

Starting a VSCode Server​

  1. Start by heading to the Open OnDemand website.

  2. Click the Interactive Apps button in the top navbar, then select Code Server (VSCode).

    Screenshot of the OpenOD website with the interactive apps tab open and code server (VSCode) outlined.

  3. Once you have selected to create a VSCode server you will be prompted with a GUI where you can choose what hardware and software your server will have.

    Screenshot of the VSCode server configuration page.

    Normally, the number of resource chunks should be 1 unless you are working with a clustered computing software.

  4. Once you launch your server you will be taken to your current list of interactive sessions.

    Your job will be queued until resources are available to handle your request.

    Screenshot of the list of interactive sessions page showing the job waiting in queue

  5. Once your resources are available you will be able to connect to your VSCode server with a button that says Connect to VS Code.

    Screenshot of the list of interactive sessions page with a box showing the job is ready and the connect to VSCode button

    If you get stuck in the queuing phase, try lowering the resources your server is using or making sure interconnect = any in the server request options.

VSCode Dashboard​

Once you have connect to your VSCode server you will be sent to the VSCode dashboard. Here you can choose a directory to start working in by clicking open folder then specifying the directory.

Screenshot of the VSCode dashboard with the open folder button selected with example directory.

Additionally in the VSCode server you have access to the terminal. Clicking on the context menu on the top leftmost position of the screen will bring up a menu from there you are able to open up a terminal by following the path Terminal->New Terminal.

Screenshot of the VSCode context menu with the terminal tab open and new terminal selected.

Once you are in your terminal you can run any of the software that you loaded while requesting the server.

$ module avail

Currently Loaded Modules:
1) anaconda3/2019.10-gcc/8.3.1
2) libxml2/2.9.10-gcc/8.3.1
3) openmpi/3.1.4-gcc/8.3.1-ucx

Utilizing VSCode features​

The leftmost area of the screen has a few icons where you can use some of the features of the VSCode text editor. In order of appearance these features are :

  1. Directory browser
  2. Find and replace tool
  3. Github integration
  4. Debugger
  5. Extension marketplace

The first item is the directory browser this is where you can create, edit, or delete files. Screenshot of the VSCode directory browser.

The second item is a find and replace tool that works throughout your entire working directory. We can see here that searching for return showed up in 3 different files in our current working directory.

Screenshot of a VSCode find and replace tool example.

The third item allows VSCode to integrate with github, initially you can start a repository within your current working directory or if you are already in a git repository you can see file changes made and perform git operations.

Here we can see that the file readme.txt has been added and Test.c has been modified. Screenshot of a VSCode source control example.

The fourth item is the built in debugger. The debugger requires extensions to use and compatibility with Palmetto's VSCode server is not guaranteed.

The fifth item is the extension marketplace where you can install community made extensions to modify your version of VSCode.These extensions differ from the desktop version of VSCode as some are closed source. The extensions will persist throughout vscode server sessions as they are stored in your home directory at ~/.local/share/code-server/extensions

You can see further documentation and VSCode server specific commands at the code server documentation website