Vscode + devcontainers

[insultan (Piotr Justyna)]

Hi all,

First post here, so apologies if it’s already been resolved.

I posted the question on vscode issues board, but not sure it’s the right place for it: fedora silverblue + dev containers (docker/podman) · Issue #7802 · microsoft/vscode-remote-release · GitHub Hope I can get some guidance here, thanks in advance!

I am having a difficult time getting vscode + dev containers extensions working on fedora silverblue 37.1.7. On paper, the idea behind the os is very appealing, I just can’t figure out how to properly configure vs code and that extension. Here is what I tried so far and every time I am getting the same problem: vscode does not work correctly with docker/podman.

• docker installed directly on the host machine (through rpm-ostree)
• my user can execute docker commands
• vs code installed through flatpak (and I can confirm I can invoke docker commands from the vs code terminal)
• vs code installed directly on the host machine (through rpm-ostree and I can confirm I can invoke docker commands from the vs code terminal)
• vs code configured to use podman (podman comes preinstalled in that os) instead of docker

In that last scenario (preinstalled podman + vs code configured to use podman instead of docker for dev containers), I am getting a silent failure when opening a repository in a dev container. When I check the output terminal which starts when the dev container is opening, I get the following message:

2023-01-06 19:40:13.076 [error] {"message":"Command failed: /usr/share/code/code --ms-enable-electron-run-as-node /var/home/piotrjustyna/.vscode/extensions/ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers-0.266.1/dist/spec-node/devContainersSpecCLI.js read-configuration --workspace-folder /var/home/piotrjustyna/Documents/code/haskell-anywhere --log-level debug --log-format json --config /var/home/piotrjustyna/Documents/code/haskell-anywhere/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json --include-merged-configuration --mount-workspace-git-root true","code":1} remote-containers.reopenInContainer {"value":"ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers","c":"ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers"}

When I use vs code with docker (instead of podman), vs code complains with a dialog upon opening a directory in a dev container which states:

Current user does not have permission to run 'docker'. Try adding the user to the 'docker' group (Cancel/Documentation)

even though I can execute docker commands from the vs code terminal (whoami ran in vs code terminal indicates that I’m running the command as myself). The Documentation button leads to the following resource: Linux post-installation steps for Docker Engine but that is unfortunately not 100% applicable in an immutable os.

So what I’m really reporting is a number of potential problems and maybe also a general question: is there a best practices document which handholds users trying to simply:

• set up an immutable os
• set up vs code
• install the dev cotnainers externsion
• get coding

a wiki like that would be very useful.

• VSCode Version: 1.74.2
• Local OS Version: fedora silverblue 37.1.7
• Local chip architecture: x64
• Reproduces in: Remote - Containers
• Name of Dev Container Definition with Issue: irrelevant, problems using containers in general (docker + podman)

Steps to Reproduce:

1. open a directory in a remote container

[vwbusguy (Scott Williams)]

How is vscode installed? I’m using the flatpak for it on Kinoite. If it’s a flatpak, you might be able to tweak it with flatseal.

[insultan (Piotr Justyna)]

Thanks @vwbusguy It is now installed through flatpak and I did experiment with flatseal but no joy. I guess what would be really handy is to get a more experienced silverblue user to see what kind of permissions does vscode need to execute docker commands on the host machine. I am happy to turn it into a documentation page/public walkthrough for new users. I believe this could unlock silverblue for many users like me.

[castrojo (Jorge Castro)]

This might be useful: distrobox/integrate_vscode_distrobox.md at main · 89luca89/distrobox · GitHub

[insultan (Piotr Justyna)]

Thanks, I’ll try it as soon as I find a minute.

[castrojo (Jorge Castro)]

This issue has a ton of info that might be worth investigating: Unable to use the docker extension · Issue #55 · flathub/com.visualstudio.code · GitHub

[lbssousa (Laércio de Sousa)]

I’m currently able to run VSCode with devcontainers on Fedora Silverblue. I use Flatpak VSCode, but installing it as a layered RPM is much easier. The following additional steps are needed for devcontainers to work with Podman:

1. In your devcontainer.json file, you must set properties remoteUser and containerUser properly. For example, if you use any base image from Microsoft itself, you must set both properties to vscode.

2. You must provide a file ~/.config/containers/containers.conf with the following contents:

[containers]
env = [
  "BUILDAH_FORMAT=docker"
]
label = false
userns = "keep-id"

If you’re using Flatpak VSCode, the following additional steps are needed:

1. Create a wrapper script ~/.local/bin/podman-host with the following contents, and make it executable:

#!/bin/sh
exec flatpak-spawn --host podman "${@}"

2. Configure Docker Path in your Dev Container extension settings to /var/home/[username]/.local/bin/podman-host

3. Give your Flatpak write permission to /tmp folder:

flatpak override --filesystem=/tmp com.visualstudio.code

[insultan (Piotr Justyna)]

Perfect, thank you @lbssousa. That was precisely what I was looking for. Went with flatpak vs code and it worked perfectly. I’ll just add that vs code needs to be restarted for the changes to take effect.

[yanqiyu (Qiyu Yan)]

If you are using vscode from flatpak, then this script should be fine.

Everything should JUST WORK ™ with the code . command you usually use from normal workstation host.

[storopoli (Jose Storopoli)]

Additionally I had to do this in Fedora Silverblue with podman:

1. Start podman socket systemd service as a user: systemctl --user enable --now podman.socket
2. Symlink the podman socket to the docker socket: sudo ln -s /run/user/1000/podman/podman.sock /var/run/docker.sock

[lbssousa (Laércio de Sousa)]

These settings are needed if you want to use podman-remote within VSCode Flatpak (e.g. if you have installed flatpak com.visualstudio.code.tool.podman), but not if you invoke podman via flatpak-spawn --host (e.g. by creating a wrapper script in your home folder, as I suggested above).

[lbssousa (Laércio de Sousa)]

I’ve just found a better approach for step 1 above:

1. Download host-spawn
2. Copy host-spawn binary to directory $HOME/.var/app/com.visualstudio.code/data/node_modules/bin (it’s already in Flatpak’s PATH) and make it executable.
3. Created a symlink to host-spawn named podman in that same directory.
4. Configure Dev Container VSCode extension Docker path as just podman.