System Syntax

A VS Code extension that provides syntax highlighting for Linux system configuration files, including SSH client configuration, iptables rules, network interfaces configuration, fstab files, and APT sources lists.

Features

• SSH Config Support: Full syntax highlighting for ~/.ssh/config files
• iptables Rules Support: Syntax highlighting for rules.v4 and rules.v6 files
• Network Interfaces Support: Syntax highlighting for /etc/network/interfaces and interfaces.d/* files
• Fstab Support: Syntax highlighting for /etc/fstab files with mount options and filesystem types
• APT Sources Support: Syntax highlighting for /etc/apt/sources.list and APT repository files
• Universal Theme Compatibility: Works with all VS Code and Cursor IDE themes
• Hover Information: Contextual help for SSH directives, iptables targets, network interface options, mount options, and APT sources
• Extensible Architecture: Easy to add support for additional system configuration files

Supported File Types

SSH Configuration

• File: .ssh/config
• Language ID: ssh-config
• Features:
  • Host block highlighting
  • Directive recognition
  • Comment support
  • String and boolean value highlighting
  • Hover information for common directives

iptables Rules

• Files: rules.v4, rules.v6
• Language ID: iptables-rules
• Features:
  • Table and chain definition highlighting
  • Rule syntax recognition
  • Protocol, source, destination highlighting
  • Target and policy highlighting
  • Hover information for targets and protocols

Network Interfaces

• Files: interfaces, files in interfaces.d/
• Language ID: network-interfaces
• Features:
  • Interface definition highlighting (auto, allow-hotplug, iface)
  • Address family recognition (inet, inet6, loopback, ppp, ipx)
  • Configuration method highlighting (static, dhcp, manual)
  • Network options highlighting (address, netmask, gateway, dns-nameservers)
  • Script hooks highlighting (pre-up, up, post-up, pre-down, down, post-down)
  • Source directive support for modular configuration
  • Mapping stanza support
  • Hover information for directives and options

Installation

From VSIX Package

1. Download the latest .vsix file from the releases page
2. Open VS Code
3. Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X)
4. Click the "..." menu and select "Install from VSIX..."
5. Select the downloaded .vsix file

From Source

1. Clone this repository
2. Install dependencies: npm install
3. Compile TypeScript: npm run compile
4. Package the extension: vsce package
5. Install the generated .vsix file

Usage

SSH Configuration

Open any .ssh/config file and the extension will automatically provide syntax highlighting. Hover over SSH directives to see helpful information.

Example SSH config:

# SSH Client Configuration
Host myserver
    HostName 192.168.1.100
    User admin
    Port 22
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa
    ForwardAgent yes
    Compression yes
    ServerAliveInterval 60
    ServerAliveCountMax 3

iptables Rules

Open any rules.v4 or rules.v6 file for syntax highlighting. Hover over targets and protocols for contextual help.

Example iptables rules:

# iptables rules
*filter
:INPUT ACCEPT [0:0]
:FORWARD ACCEPT [0:0]
:OUTPUT ACCEPT [0:0]

# Allow SSH
-A INPUT -p tcp --dport 22 -j ACCEPT

# Allow HTTP and HTTPS
-A INPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -j ACCEPT

# Drop everything else
-A INPUT -j DROP
COMMIT

Network Interfaces

Open any interfaces file or files in interfaces.d/ for syntax highlighting. Hover over directives and options for contextual help.

Example network interfaces configuration:

# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

# The primary network interface
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
    address 192.168.1.100
    netmask 255.255.255.0
    gateway 192.168.1.1
    dns-nameservers 8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4

# Wireless interface with DHCP
auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
    wpa-ssid "MyNetwork"
    wpa-psk "MyPassword"

# Source additional configuration files
source /etc/network/interfaces.d/*.cfg

Fstab Files

• Files: fstab, /etc/fstab
• Language ID: fstab
• Features:
  • Device type highlighting (UUID, LABEL, PARTUUID, PARTLABEL, block devices)
  • Mount point highlighting
  • Filesystem type recognition (ext4, xfs, btrfs, swap, vfat, ntfs, tmpfs, etc.)
  • Mount options highlighting with key-value differentiation
  • Dump and fsck order flags
  • Hover information for device types, filesystem types, and mount options

APT Sources Lists

• Files: sources.list, /etc/apt/sources.list, /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*.list
• Language ID: apt-sources
• Features:
  • Archive type highlighting (deb, deb-src)
  • Repository URL highlighting (http, https, ftp, file, cdrom, etc.)
  • Distribution name recognition (Ubuntu releases, Debian releases)
  • Component highlighting (main, contrib, non-free, universe, etc.)
  • APT options highlighting (arch, trusted, signed-by, etc.)
  • Hover information for distributions, components, and repository URLs

Hosts file

Example hosts file

# /etc/hosts - Host file example
# This file contains a mapping of IP addresses to hostnames
# Each entry should be kept on an individual line

# IPv4 loopback address
127.0.0.1	localhost

# IPv6 loopback address
::1		localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback

# Common local network entries
192.168.1.1	router.local
192.168.1.100	server.local
10.0.0.1	gateway.local

# Development servers
127.0.0.1	localhost.localdomain
127.0.0.1	myapp.local
127.0.0.1	api.local

Fstab Files

Example fstab file:

# /etc/fstab: static file system information
UUID=12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789abc /               ext4    errors=remount-ro 0       1
UUID=87654321-4321-4321-4321-cba987654321 /boot/efi       vfat    umask=0077      0       1
UUID=11111111-2222-3333-4444-555555555555 none            swap    sw              0       0
LABEL=Data /mnt/data ext4 defaults,noatime 0 2
/dev/sdb1 /mnt/external ntfs defaults,uid=1000,gid=1000,umask=0022 0 0
tmpfs /tmp tmpfs defaults,noatime,mode=1777 0 0

APT Sources Lists

Example sources.list file:

# Ubuntu repositories
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy-security main restricted universe multiverse

# Additional repositories
deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/vscode stable main
deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu jammy stable

Themes (Removed)

The extension includes two optimized themes:

- System Syntax Light: Optimized for light VS Code themes - System Syntax Dark: Optimized for dark VS Code themes

Custom themes have been removed to focus on supporting IDE default themes. The extension now uses standard TextMate grammar scopes that are compatible with all VS Code and Cursor IDE themes, ensuring consistent syntax highlighting regardless of the user's preferred theme.

Extending the Extension

The extension is designed to be easily extensible. To add support for additional system configuration files:

1. Create a new grammar file in syntaxes/
2. Create a language configuration in language-configurations/
3. Add the language definition to package.json
4. Add hover providers in src/modules/
5. Register the hover provider in src/modules/index.ts

Example: Adding support for Apache config

1. Create syntaxes/apache-config.tmLanguage.json
2. Create language-configurations/apache-config.json
3. Add to package.json:

{
  "id": "apache-config",
  "aliases": ["Apache Config"],
  "extensions": [".conf", "httpd.conf"],
  "configuration": "./language-configurations/apache-config.json"
}

Development

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v14 or later)
• npm
• VS Code Extension Development Host

Setup

npm install
npm run compile

Testing

1. Press F5 to open a new Extension Development Host window
2. Open test files to verify syntax highlighting
3. Test hover functionality

Building

npm run compile
vsce package

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Add tests if applicable
5. Submit a pull request

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Changelog

• See separate CHANGELOG.md file

Roadmap

• You tell me, add an issue or pull request. But no promises.