29-04-2021

Visual Studio Code Wsl



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Git is the most commonly used version control system. With Git, you can track changes you make to files, so you have a record of what has been done, and have the ability to revert to earlier versions of the files if needed. Git also makes collaboration easier, allowing changes by multiple people to all be merged into one source.

Developing in WSL. The Visual Studio Code Remote - WSL extension lets you use the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) as your full-time development environment right from VS Code. You can develop in a Linux-based environment, use Linux-specific toolchains and utilities, and run and debug your Linux-based applications all from the comfort of Windows. The extension runs commands and other extensions directly in WSL so you can edit files located in WSL.

  1. According to VSCode guidelines, I should install the Java Extension Pack on WSL. However, when I try to install it I get the following error: The java.home variable defined in Visual Studio Code settings points to a missing or inaccessible folder (C:Program FilesJavajdk-9.0.1) This is what the Java Extension pack shows when I install it on WSL.
  2. Developer community 2. Search Search Microsoft.com.

Git can be installed on Windows AND on WSL

An important consideration: when you enable WSL and install a Linux distribution, you are installing a new file system, separated from the Windows NTFS C: drive on your machine. In Linux, drives are not given letters. They are given mount points. The root of your file system / is the mount point of your root partition, or folder, in the case of WSL. Not everything under / is the same drive. For example, on my laptop, I've installed two version of Ubuntu (20.04 and 18.04), as well as Debian. If I open those distributions, select the home directory with the command cd ~, and then enter the command explorer.exe ., Windows File Explorer will open and show me the directory path for that distribution.

Linux distroWindows Path to access home folder
Ubuntu 20.04wsl$Ubuntu-20.04homeusername
Ubuntu 18.04wsl$Ubuntu-18.04homeusername
Debianwsl$Debianhomeusername
Windows PowerShellC:Usersusername

Tip

If you are seeking to access the Windows file directory from your WSL distribution command line, instead of C:Usersusername, the directory would be accessed using /mnt/c/Users/username, because the Linux distribution views your Windows file system as a mounted drive.

Visual Studio Code Wsl

You will need to install Git on each file system that you intend to use it with.

Installing Git

Git comes already installed with most of the Windows Subsystem for Linux distributions, however, you may want to update to the latest version. You also will need to set up your git config file.

To install Git, see the Git Download for Linux site. Each Linux distribution has their own package manager and install command.

For the latest stable Git version in Ubuntu/Debian, enter the command:

Note

Visual Studio Code Wsl

You also may want to install Git for Windows if you haven't already.

Git config file setup

To set up your Git config file, open a command line for the distribution you're working in and set your name with this command (replacing 'Your Name' with your Git username):

Set your email with this command (replacing 'youremail@domain.com' with the email you use on your Git account):

Tip

If you don't yet have a Git account, you can sign-up for one on GitHub. If you've never worked with Git before, GitHub Guides can help you get started. If you need to edit your git config, you can do so with a built-in text editor like nano: nano ~/.gitconfig.

We recommend that you secure your account with two-factor authentication (2FA).

Git Credential Manager setup

Git Credential Manager enables you to authenticate a remote Git server, even if you have a complex authentication pattern like two-factor authentication, Azure Active Directory, or using SSH remote URLs that require an SSH key password for every git push. Git Credential Manager integrates into the authentication flow for services like GitHub and, once you're authenticated to your hosting provider, requests a new authentication token. It then stores the token securely in the Windows Credential Manager. After the first time, you can use git to talk to your hosting provider without needing to re-authenticate. It will just access the token in the Windows Credential Manager.

To set up Git Credential Manager for use with a WSL distribution, open your distribution and enter this command:

Now any git operation you perform within your WSL distribution will use the credential manager. If you already have credentials cached for a host, it will access them from the credential manager. If not, you'll receive a dialog response requesting your credentials, even if you're in a Linux console.

Note

Visual Studio Code Wsl Debug

If you are using a GPG key for code signing security, you may need to associate your GPG key with your GitHub email.

Adding a Git Ignore file

We recommend adding a .gitignore file to your projects. GitHub offers a collection of useful .gitignore templates with recommended .gitignore file setups organized according to your use-case. For example, here is GitHub's default gitignore template for a Node.js project.

If you choose to create a new repo using the GitHub website, there are check boxes available to initialize your repo with a README file, .gitignore file set up for your specific project type, and options to add a license if you need one.

Git and VS Code

Visual Studio Code comes with built-in support for Git, including a source control tab that will show your changes and handle a variety of git commands for you. Learn more about VS Code's Git support.

Git line endings

If you are working with the same repository folder between Windows, WSL, or a container, be sure to set up consistent line endings.

Since Windows and Linux use different default line endings, Git may report a large number of modified files that have no differences aside from their line endings. To prevent this from happening, you can disable line ending conversion using a .gitattributes file or globally on the Windows side. See this VS Code doc about resolving Git line ending issues.

Additional resources

This tutorial walks you through enabling Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and running Visual Studio Code in WSL using the Remote - WSL extension.

Prerequisites

You need Visual Studio Code installed.

Install the extension

The Remote - WSL extension enables you to run Visual Studio Code within the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).

Prerequisite check

With the Remote - WSL extension installed, you will see a new Status bar item at the far left.

The Remote Status bar item can quickly show you in which context VS Code is running (local or remote) and clicking on the item will bring up the Remote - WSL commands.

Enable WSL

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is an optional feature on Windows 10. You can enable it through the Windows Features dialog or PowerShell.

Windows Features dialog

In the Windows search bar, type 'features' to bring up the Turn Windows Features on and off dialog. Scroll down and check Windows Subsystem for Linux.

Select OK and you will be prompted to restart Windows.

PowerShell

If you prefer, you can open PowerShell as an Administrator and type:

After the command runs, you will be prompted to restart Windows.

Check WSL

After restarting Windows, you can check that you have WSL enabled by opening a Command Prompt and typing 'wsl'.

WSL is enabled, but you haven't installed a Linux distribution yet.

Install a Linux distro

You install Linux distributions for WSL from the Microsoft Store. You can use the store app, or search for a Linux distro in the Windows search bar. Choose the Linux distribution you want to install (for example Ubuntu) and follow the prompts.

Select Install.

And when done, select Launch to get started. This will open a Linux terminal and complete the installation. You'll need to create a user ID and password since you are setting up a full Linux instance. You are now running Linux on Windows.

Python development

If you don't have Python already installed, run the following commands to install Python3 and pip, the package manager for Python, into your Linux installation.

And to verify, run:

Start with the canonical 'Hello World' app. Create a new folder called 'helloWorld' and then add a Python file that will print a message when run:

In a remote Linux environment (this WSL distro is technically another machine without UI, that just happens to be running locally on your computer), your development tools and experiences are pretty limited. You can run Vim in the terminal to edit your file, or you can edit the sources on the Windows side through the wsl$ mount:

The problem with this model is that the Python runtime, pip, or any conda packages for that matter, are not installed on Windows.

Remember, Python is installed in the Linux distro, which means if you're editing Python files on the Windows side, you can't run or debug them unless you install the same Python development stack on Windows. And that defeats the purpose of having an isolated Linux instance set up with all your Python tools and runtimes!

Run in WSL

In the WSL terminal, make sure you are in the helloWorld folder, and type in 'code .' to launch Visual Studio Code. The '.' argument tells VS Code to open the current folder.

Note: If this command does not work, you may need to restart your terminal, or you may not have added VS Code to your path when it was installed.

The first thing you'll see is a message about 'Installing VS Code Server' (the c7d83e57… number is the version of the VS Code Server that matches the client-side tools you just installed). VS Code is installing a small server on the Linux side that the desktop VS Code will then talk to. That server will then install and host extensions in WSL, so that they run in the context of the tools and frameworks installed in WSL. In other words, your language extensions will run against the tools and frameworks installed in WSL, not against what is installed on the Windows side, as it should for the proper development experience.

The next thing that happens is VS Code will start and open the helloWorld folder. You may see a quick notification telling you that VS Code is connecting to WSL, and you may be prompted to allow access to the Node.js-based server.

Now, when you hover over hello.py, you get the proper Linux path.

Visual Studio Code Wsl Remote

Integrated Terminal

Run Terminal > New Terminal (⌃` (Windows, Linux Ctrl+`)) to open a new terminal instance.

You'll start a new instance of the bash shell in WSL, again from VS Code running on Windows.

Tip: In the lower left corner of the Status Bar, you can see that you're connected to your WSL: Ubuntu instance.

Edit and debug

Installing the Python extension (and additional tools)

Click on hello.py to open it for editing. You will be prompted with an extension recommendation, in this case to install the Microsoft Python extension, which will give you rich editing and debugging experiences. Go ahead and select Install and reload if prompted.

To prove that the extension is installed in WSL, open the Extensions view again (⇧⌘X (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+X)). You will see a section titled WSL: Ubuntu – Installed, and you can see any extensions that are installed on the WSL side.

Upon reload, you'll also get prompted telling you that the pylint linter is not installed. Linters are used to show errors and warnings in source code. Go ahead and select Install.

Now, when you edit your code, you get rich colorization and completions.

And when you save your file (⌘S (Windows, Linux Ctrl+S)), you'll get linting errors and warnings on the file.

Debugging

With your tools set up, let's take this one step further. Set a breakpoint on line 1 of hello.py by clicking in the gutter to the left of the line number or by putting the cursor on the line and pressing F9.

Now, press F5 to run your application. You will be asked how to run the application, and since this is a simple file, just choose Python File.

The app will start, and you'll hit the breakpoint. You can inspect variables, create watches, and navigate the call stack.

Press F10 to step and you'll see the output of the print statement in the debug console.

You get the full development experience of Visual Studio Code, using the Linux instance installed in WSL.

If you want to open another folder in WSL, open the File menu and choose Open Folder. You'll get a minimal file and folder navigator for the Linux file system, not the Windows file system.

If you want to switch back to the Windows, select the Show Local option and you'll get the standard Windows File Open dialog.

Ending your WSL connection

You can end your session in WSL and go back to running VS Code locally with File > Close Remote Connection.

Congratulations!

Congratulations, you've successfully completed this tutorial!

Install Vscode Wsl2

Next, check out the other Remote Development extensions.

Visual Studio Code Wsl

Or get them all by installing the Remote Development Extension Pack.