Mac and Windows users should install Docker Desktop 2.0+, and Linux users will need a distribution of Docker CE/EE 18.06 or newer. Install Docker LocallyĪ local installation of Docker is required for Visual Studio Code to manage containers on the AWS instance from your local machine. The following extensions are required for remote container-based development with Visual Studio Code: Step 3. Install Visual Studio Code Remote Container Extensions If using EC2, I’d recommend checking if your organization has a base AMI you should be using. Your AWS credentials must have permissions required for managing a Lightsail instance and SSH keys, or if using EC2, you’ll need permissions for SSH Key Pairs, Security Groups, and EC2 instances. If you’re looking for an actual Node.js application using Dev Containers, check out the Mandalorion Gifs Node.js repository, including an example devcontainer.json file and launch configuration for step-debugging.Īlternatively, you can use one of Microsoft’s sample repositories with examples in Go, Python, Rust, NET core, and other popular languages. The Visual Studio Code Remote Development in Containers guide and tutorial are also great resources to help you get started. If you’re entirely new to Dev Containers, I’d recommend watching my webinar on Visual Studio Dev Containers for Node.js apps on AWS to give you a solid overview of what’s involved.

This guide assumes you’re familiar with the Terminal, SSH, Docker, Linux (Ubuntu more specifically), and AWS, so if you’re not experienced using these technologies, be prepared to spend more time getting things set up. While the remote Ubuntu configuration steps are AWS-specific, the process will be almost identical for other cloud providers. This guide will provide a list of system requirements and links to resources to get you set up and ready for remote development on AWS using Visual Studio Code Dev Containers.

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