[mikewhy]

I looked into this when setting up a new machine. Well, not exactly openvscode but code-server. I have the same questions I had when investigating that:

- with docker, how would you install eg. node and go binaries?

- with docker, how would you set up some dotfiles?

- how do you map remote ports to your local machine?

I ended up going with VSCode Remote (SSH), and am loving it. But I still think I'd be happier with a pure browser experience.

[makethetick]

I have a similar setup, I use Caprover as a nicer way to manage docker. You can build whatever you want into the dockerfile then just map the user directory to a local one and port forward where needed.

If you want to run a web app through a domain with SSL then it's trivial to setup a nginx proxy container.

It takes minutes to spin up a new dev environment with everything setup out of the box including environment variables and access tokens.

[schainks]

Could you say more about your set up? I'm looking for something similar.

[mikewhy]

So the goal was running my development machine remotely.

I didn't want to clog up my server with a development toolchain, so I first tried VSCode Remote (Docker). It's what I would prefer, yet I never found managing a development environment in Docker comfortable. My dev machine bootstrap is scripted, but trying out new software and mapping ports on a whim don't lend themselves well.

Currently I am using VSCode Remote (SSH) running in a virtual machine. This keeps the development environment separate from the server, and any random tools I need to install are still there after any restart.

The VM was just Ubuntu Server with sshd. VSCode Remote (SSH) is great. Installing the extension on a client machine sets up the server on the machine you connect to. Ports can be mapped from the server right in VSCode (it can even automatically detect them and mapped them for you). Terminals work as expected, mouse emulation works.