How to open local terminal when running VSCode in a Dev Container

Question

I'm writing code with VSCode from inside a VSCode container.

I can open terminals inside the dev container, but I can't figure out how to open a (VSCode integrated) terminal in my local machine.

I can of course open a separate terminal application like iTerm2, but it's far more convenient to use VSCode's integrated terminal panel. Is opening a local terminal possible with VSCode dev containers?

I don't think that's possible. But could you maybe ssh from the dev container to your local machine? — carlfriedrich, Feb 17 '22 at 08:23
@carlfriedrich Yeah that's true. Not as convenient, but should be possible. — Chris Hayes, Feb 17 '22 at 16:33

James G · Accepted Answer · 2023-02-23T00:48:13.073

12

This solution is provided in the Accepted Answer on this SO question, so if the below helps, go and upvote that.

Using the command palette (default ctrl+shift+p/cmd+shift+p), there is an option

Terminal: Create New Integrated Terminal (local)

edited Feb 23 '23 at 00:48

answered Dec 02 '22 at 03:16

James G

2,069
16
28

Just tested it, works great. idk how I missed this, thanks. – Chris Hayes Dec 04 '22 at 02:59

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 17 '22 at 17:54

Provided that you have key-based SSH access from the container to the host, you can add a terminal profile to your remote settings (run command Preferences: Open Remote Settings (JSON) (Dev Container) to open them):

{
    "terminal.integrated.profiles.linux": {
        "bash (Host)": {
            "path": "ssh",
            "icon": "terminal-bash",
            "args": [
                "user@host",
            ],
        },
    },
}

This will get you an according bash (Host) entry in your "Add Terminal" drop-down menu:

This answer helped me to open my SSH terminal from Devcontainer. It is really good — Samselvaprabu, May 19 '23 at 07:49

How to open local terminal when running VSCode in a Dev Container

2 Answers2

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