code-con

A Docker container image for MS Visual Studio Code and CDR code-server.

Motivation

App	Pros	Cons
VS Code	Full IDE with extensions	Desktop app
code-server	Web app	Installing MS extensions violates Term-of-Use (ToU)

Uses

• Headless server: run app with X in a remote server.
• Reproducible science: pack all tools and data needed for a experiment along with the IDE in order to re-run it or do a step-by-step execution.
• Cybersecurity: you can run and test apps and libraries within a secure container without affecting your host system.
• Edit, compile and run any source code with just attaching the folder to a Docker volume.
• Distribute your app image along with a full IDE version with all components (compiler, debugger, extensiones, etc) already installed.
• Change some packages installed in this image in order to switch to other languages (Python, R, Javascript, etc).
• In Windows, you may want to run, test or debug your app against Linux libraries without using WSL.

Word of caution: this image is intended as a Proof-of-Concept (PoC) for educational purposes only.

Prerequisites

• Docker
• Windows: install MobaXterm to run the X11 server
• Mac: install XQuartz
• Terminal: you may use MobaXterm or any other app

Software and versions

As of April 2022, the image comes with the following software installed:

Software apps or packages	Version
VS Code	1.66
code-server	4.2.0
build-essential (gcc, g++, make)	12.4
C/C++ IntelliSense, debugging, and code browsing extension	1.9.7

Install & build up

Move to a specific folder/directory, for instance c:\temp in Windows or \tmp in Mac, and type the following:

git clone http://github.com/mcolebrook/code-con
cd code-con
docker build -t code-con .

Or just invoke image mcolebrook/code-con from Docker Hub in the following section.

Starting up the image

Windows

Note: we consider that you cloned the project in c:\temp. If not, please change directory accordingly. Besides, please remember to put the right IP address (fill in the DISPLAY option).

docker run --rm -it --name code-con --hostname linux \
--cap-add=SYS_ADMIN \
-p 8080:8080 -e DISPLAY=___.___.___.___:0.0  \
--mount type=bind,source=/c/temp/code-con/settings/vscode-settings.json,target=/home/user/.config/Code/User/settings.json \
--mount type=bind,source=/c/temp/code-con/settings/code-server-settings.json,target=/home/user/.local/share/code-server/User/settings.json \
-v /c/temp/code-con/src:/home/user/src \
mcolebrook/code-con

Mac

Note: we consider that you cloned the project in \tmp. If not, please change directory accordingly.

xhost +

docker run --rm -it --name code-con --hostname linux \
--cap-add=SYS_ADMIN \
-p 8080:8080 -e DISPLAY=host.docker.internal:0.0  \
--mount type=bind,source=/tmp/code-con/settings/vscode-settings.json,target=/home/user/.config/Code/User/settings.json \
--mount type=bind,source=/tmp/code-con/settings/code-server-settings.json,target=/home/user/.local/share/code-server/User/settings.json \
-v /tmp/code-con/src:/home/user/src \
mcolebrook/code-con

If you get any trouble, please refer to the following blog [1].

Running Visual Studio Code

vscode.sh

If you want to start editing inside the default folder location (src) just type:

vscode.sh .

Running CDR code-server

code-server.sh

Then, go to the browser and type: <YOUR IP ADDRESS>:8080 (Windows) or localhost:8080(Mac)

If you want to start editing inside the default folder location (src) just type:

code-server.sh .

Note: If you are under Windows 8.x, get the right IP address using: docker-machine ip

Screenshots

• VS Code debugging helloworld in Windows

• code-server running helloworld in Mac

Cite as

@software{Colebrook_code-con_2021,
title = {{code-con: a Docker image of VS Code and CDR code-server}},
author = {Colebrook, Marcos},
year = {2021}
url = {https://github.com/mcolebrook/code-con}
}

Acknowledgements

This work has been developed within project UDIGEN, grant RTC-2017-6471-1 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ERDF A way of making Europe”.

This project has been developed thanks to previous work done by: Binal Patel (@caesarnine), Jess Frazelle (@jessfraz), Christopher Miles (cmiles74), Coder, Microsoft.

References

[1] Mamykin K, How to run dockerized X Windows apps on macOS.

[2] Docker Inc., Best practices for writing Dockerfiles.

[3] Vass T (2019), Intro Guide to Dockerfile Best Practices.

[4] Noring C (2019), Improve your Dockerfile, best practices.

[5] Nüst D, Sochat V, Marwick B, Eglen SJ, Head T, Hirst T, Evans BD (2020), Ten simple rules for writing Dockerfiles for reproducible data science, PLOS Computational Biology 16(11): e1008316.