A development container is a running container with a well-defined tool/runtime stack and its prerequisites. You can try out development containers with GitHub Codespaces or Visual Studio Code Dev Containers.
This is a sample project that lets you try out either option in a few easy steps. We have a variety of other vscode-remote-try-* sample projects, too.
Note: If you already have a Codespace or dev container, you can jump to the Things to try section.
Follow these steps to open this sample in a Codespace:
For more info, check out the GitHub documentation.
If you already have VS Code and Docker installed, you can click the badge above or here to get started. Clicking these links will cause VS Code to automatically install the Dev Containers extension if needed, clone the source code into a container volume, and spin up a dev container for use.
Follow these steps to open this sample in a container using the VS Code Dev Containers extension:
If this is your first time using a development container, please ensure your system meets the pre-reqs (i.e. have Docker installed) in the getting started steps.
To use this repository, you can either open the repository in an isolated Docker volume:
Note: Under the hood, this will use the Dev Containers: Clone Repository in Container Volume... command to clone the source code in a Docker volume instead of the local filesystem. Volumes are the preferred mechanism for persisting container data.
Or open a locally cloned copy of the code:
Once you have this sample opened, you'll be able to work with it like you would locally.
Some things to try:
Edit:
server.js
.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
.eslint
and the ESLint extension are installed. Tools are installed in the mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/javascript-node
image and Dev Container settings and metadata are automatically picked up from image labels.Terminal: Press Ctrl+Shift+` and type uname
and other Linux commands from the terminal window.
Build, Run, and Debug:
server.js
Open in Browser
in the notification telling you: Your service running on port 3000 is available
.devcontainer.json
, you can set "portsAttributes"
, such as a label for your forwarded ports and the action to be taken when the port is autoforwarded.
"portsAttributes"
, such as ".+/server.js".Note: In Dev Containers, you can access your app at
http://localhost:3000
in a local browser. But in a browser-based Codespace, you must click the link from the notification or thePorts
view so that the service handles port forwarding in the browser and generates the correct URL.
Rebuild or update your container
You may want to make changes to your container, such as installing a different version of a software or forwarding a new port. You'll rebuild your container for your changes to take effect.
Open browser automatically: As an example change, let's update the portsAttributes
in the .devcontainer/devcontainer.json
file to open a browser when our port is automatically forwarded.
.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
file."onAutoForward"
attribute in your portsAttributes
from "notify"
to "openBrowser"
.Install the GitHub CLI using a Dev Container Feature:
This project welcomes contributions and suggestions. Most contributions require you to agree to a Contributor License Agreement (CLA) declaring that you have the right to, and actually do, grant us the rights to use your contribution. For details, visit https://cla.microsoft.com.
When you submit a pull request, a CLA-bot will automatically determine whether you need to provide a CLA and decorate the PR appropriately (e.g., label, comment). Simply follow the instructions provided by the bot. You will only need to do this once across all repos using our CLA.
This project has adopted the Microsoft Open Source Code of Conduct. For more information see the Code of Conduct FAQ or contact opencode@microsoft.com with any additional questions or comments.
Copyright © Microsoft Corporation All rights reserved.
Licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE in the project root for license information.