code-server/doc/install.md

Install

• install.sh
• Debian, Ubuntu
• Fedora, CentOS, RHEL, SUSE
• Arch Linux
• yarn, npm
• macOS
• Static Releases
• Docker

This document demonstrates how to install code-server on various distros and operating systems.

The steps in this document are exactly what the install script does.

We recommend using the install script if possible. You can run the install script with the --dry-run flag for a dry run which will print out the commands it will run to install code-server but not run anything. That way you can verify the script is functioning as intended before installing.

install.sh

We have a script to install code-server on Linux or macOS preferring to use the system package manager.

First run to print out the install process:

curl -fsSL https://code-server.dev/install.sh | sh  -s -- --dry-run

Now to actually install:

curl -fsSL https://code-server.dev/install.sh | sh

• For Debian, Ubuntu, Raspbian it will install the latest deb package.

• For Fedora, CentOS, RHEL, openSUSE it will install the latest rpm package.

• For Arch Linux it will install the AUR package.

• For any unrecognized Linux operating system it will install the latest static release into ~/.local

  • Add ~/.local/bin to your $PATH to run code-server.

• For macOS it will install the Homebrew package.

  • If Homebrew is not installed it will install the latest static release into ~/.local
  • Add ~/.local/bin to your $PATH to run code-server.

• If ran on an architecture with no binary releases, it will install the npm package with yarn or npm.

  • We only have binary releases for amd64 and arm64 presently.

Pass --static to install a static release into ~/.local. Pass --static=/usr/local to install a static release system wide. Pass --version=X.X.X to install version X.X.X instead of latest.

If you still don't trust our install script, even with the above explaination and the dry run, continue for docs on manual installation. The script runs the exact same commands depicted in the rest of this document.

Debian, Ubuntu

curl -fOL https://github.com/cdr/code-server/releases/download/v3.3.1/code-server_3.3.1_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i code-server_3.3.1_amd64.deb
systemctl --user enable --now code-server
# Now visit http://127.0.0.1:8080. Your password is in ~/.config/code-server/config.yaml

Fedora, CentOS, RHEL, SUSE

curl -fOL https://github.com/cdr/code-server/releases/download/v3.3.1/code-server-3.3.1-amd64.rpm
sudo rpm -i code-server-3.3.1-amd64.rpm
systemctl --user enable --now code-server
# Now visit http://127.0.0.1:8080. Your password is in ~/.config/code-server/config.yaml

Arch Linux

# Installs code-server from the AUR using yay.
yay -S code-server
systemctl --user enable --now code-server
# Now visit http://127.0.0.1:8080. Your password is in ~/.config/code-server/config.yaml

# Installs code-server from the AUR with plain makepkg.
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/code-server.git
cd code-server
makepkg -si
systemctl --user enable --now code-server
# Now visit http://127.0.0.1:8080. Your password is in ~/.config/code-server/config.yaml

yarn, npm

We recommend installing with yarn or npm if:

1. You aren't using amd64 or arm64.
2. glibc < v2.17

note: Installing via yarn or npm builds native modules on install and so requires C dependencies. See ./doc/npm.md for installing these dependencies.

You will need at least node v12 installed. See #1633.

yarn global add code-server
# Or: npm install -g code-server
code-server
# Now visit http://127.0.0.1:8080. Your password is in ~/.config/code-server/config.yaml

macOS

brew install code-server
brew services start code-server
# Now visit http://127.0.0.1:8080. Your password is in ~/.config/code-server/config.yaml

Static Releases

We publish self contained .tar.gz archives for every release on github. They bundle the node binary and node_modules.

1. Download the latest release archive for your system from github.
2. Unpack the release.
3. You can run code-server by executing ./bin/code-server.

You can add the code-server bin directory to your $PATH or link to it from a directory in your $PATH to easily execute code-server without the full path every time.

Here is an example script for installing and using a static code-server release on Linux:

mkdir -p ~/.local/lib ~/.local/bin
curl -fL https://github.com/cdr/code-server/releases/download/v3.3.1/code-server-3.3.1-linux-amd64.tar.gz \
  | tar -C ~/.local/lib -xz
mv ~/.local/lib/code-server-3.3.1-linux-amd64 ~/.local/lib/code-server-3.3.1
ln -s ~/.local/lib/code-server-3.3.1/bin/code-server ~/.local/bin/code-server
PATH="~/.local/bin:$PATH"
code-server
# Now visit http://127.0.0.1:8080. Your password is in ~/.config/code-server/config.yaml

Docker

# This will start a code-server container and expose it at http://127.0.0.1:8080.
# It will also mount your current directory into the container as `/home/coder/project`
# and forward your UID/GID so that all file system operations occur as your user outside
# the container.
docker run -it -p 127.0.0.1:8080:8080 \
  -v "$PWD:/home/coder/project" \
  -u "$(id -u):$(id -g)" \
  codercom/code-server:latest

Our official image supports amd64 and arm64.

For arm32 support there is a highly popular community maintained alternative:

https://hub.docker.com/r/linuxserver/code-server