- Node.js version
- Ubuntu, Debian
- Fedora, CentOS, RHEL
- Alpine
- macOS
- FreeBSD
- Windows
- Installing
- Troubleshooting
If you're installing code-server via npm
, you'll need to install additional
dependencies required to build the native modules used by VS Code. This article
includes installing instructions based on your operating system.
WARNING: Do not use
yarn
to install code-server. Unlikenpm
, it does not respect lockfiles for distributed applications. It will instead use the latest version available at installation time - which might not be the one used for a given code-server release, and might lead to unexpected behavior.
We use the same major version of Node.js shipped with Code's remote, which is
currently 20.x
. VS Code also lists Node.js
requirements.
Using other versions of Node.js may lead to unexpected behavior.
sudo apt-get install -y \
build-essential \
pkg-config \
python3
npm config set python python3
Proceed to installing
sudo yum groupinstall -y 'Development Tools'
sudo yum config-manager --set-enabled PowerTools # unnecessary on CentOS 7
sudo yum install -y python2
npm config set python python2
Proceed to installing
apk add alpine-sdk bash libstdc++ libc6-compat python3 krb5-dev
Proceed to installing
xcode-select --install
Proceed to installing
pkg install -y git python npm-node20 pkgconf
pkg install -y libinotify
Proceed to installing
Installing code-server requires all of the prerequisites for VS Code development. When installing the C++ compiler tool chain, we recommend using "Option 2: Visual Studio 2019" for best results.
Next, install code-server with:
npm install --global code-server
code-server
# Now visit http://127.0.0.1:8080. Your password is in ~/.config/code-server/config.yaml
A postinstall.sh
script will attempt to run. Select your terminal (e.g., Git bash) as the default shell for npm run-scripts. If an additional dialog does not appear, run the install command again.
If the code-server
command is not found, you'll need to add a directory to your PATH. To find the directory, use the following command:
npm config get prefix
For help and additional troubleshooting, see #1397.
After adding the dependencies for your OS, install the code-server package globally:
npm install --global code-server
code-server
# Now visit http://127.0.0.1:8080. Your password is in ~/.config/code-server/config.yaml
If you need further assistance, post on our GitHub Discussions page.
Occasionally, you may run into issues with Node.js.
If you install code-server using npm
, and you upgrade your Node.js
version, you may need to reinstall code-server to recompile native modules.
Sometimes, you can get around this by navigating into code-server's lib/vscode
directory and running npm rebuild
to recompile the modules.
A step-by-step example of how you might do this is:
- Install code-server:
brew install code-server
- Navigate into the directory:
cd /usr/local/Cellar/code-server/<version>/libexec/lib/vscode/
- Recompile the native modules:
npm rebuild
- Restart code-server
To debug installation issues, install with npm
:
# Uninstall
npm uninstall --global code-server > /dev/null 2>&1
# Install with logging
npm install --loglevel verbose --global code-server