CDK VSCode Server Construct

This is a CDK Construct for creating a VSCode server on an Amazon Linux EC2 instance.

You can easily access Visual Studio Code Server through your browser and start development.

In the EC2 security group's inbound rules, communication from the Internet is not allowed, ensuring secure access to the VSCode server. Additionally, by passing the IAM policy to be attached to the EC2 instance as a property, you can grant appropriate permissions for AWS access within VSCode.

Usage

Install the package:

npm install cdk-code-server

Use it in your CDK stack:

import { CodeServer } from 'cdk-code-server';

new CodeServer(this, 'CodeServer');

You can customize the instance type, vpc, and other properties:

import { CodeServer } from 'cdk-code-server';
import * as ec2 from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-ec2';

// Use an existing VPC
declare const vpc: ec2.IVpc;
// Use an existing policy as a instance role
declare const policy: iam.PolicyStatememnt;

new CodeServer(this, 'CodeServer', {
  vpc,
  // Specify the instance type
  // Default is c7g.2xlarge
  instanceType: ec2.InstanceType.of(ec2.InstanceClass.T3, ec2.InstanceSize.MEDIUM),
  // Specify the CPU architecture
  // Default is ec2.AmazonLinuxCpuType.ARM_64
  cpuType: ec2.AmazonLinuxCpuType.X86_64,
  // Specify the IAM policy for the instance role
  // Default is a policy that has an administrator access
  policy,
  // Specify the size of the EBS volume
  // Default is 30 GB
  volumeSize: 100,
});

Setup VSCode Server

After the stack is deployed, you can access the server via AWS Systems Manager (SSM) Session Manager by default and start the VSCode server:

Access to the EC2 instance (Default: SSM)

1. In the AWS Console, go to the EC2 Instances page and select your instance.
2. Click the "Connect" button, choose "Session Manager", and click "Connect".
3. Once connected, switch to the ec2-user account:

sudo su --login ec2-user

Start the VSCode server

Execute the following command to start the VSCode server:

[ec2-user@ip-10-0-0-23 ~]$ code tunnel service install
[2024-06-10 02:10:42] info Using GitHub for authentication, run `code tunnel user login --provider <provider>` option to change this.
To grant access to the server, please log into https://github.com/login/device and use code 3811-9932

Next, open your browser and go to https://github.com/login/device, enter the code, and complete the authentication.

In the example above, enter '3811-9932' > Continue > Continue > Authorize-Visual-Studio-Code.

Return to the EC2 instance, run the code tunnel again, and open the displayed URL https://vscode.dev/tunnel/ip-{privateIp}{region} in your browser.

[ec2-user@ip-10-0-0-23 ~]$ code tunnel
*
* Visual Studio Code Server
*
* By using the software, you agree to
* the Visual Studio Code Server License Terms (https://aka.ms/vscode-server-license) and
* the Microsoft Privacy Statement (https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-US/privacystatement).
*
[2024-06-10 02:11:44] info Creating tunnel with the name: ip-10-0-0-23ap-north
[2024-06-10 02:11:44] info Open this link in your browser https://vscode.dev/tunnel/ip-10-0-0-23ap-north

Connected to an existing tunnel process running on this machine.

Open this link in your browser https://vscode.dev/tunnel/ip-10-0-0-23ap-north

VSCode will open, and you'll be prompted with "What type of account did you use to start this tunnel?" Select GitHub.

At this point, the GitHub authentication screen may appear again, so press Authorize.

Once you open the terminal, you’re all set.

(Option) Access via EC2 Instance Connect Endpoint (EIC Endpoint)

If the useInstanceConnectEndpoint option is set to true, you can connect via the EC2 Instance Connect Endpoint.

1. In the AWS Console, go to the EC2 Instances page and select your instance.
2. Click the "Connect" button, choose "EC2 Instance Connect", then select "Connect using EC2 Instance Connect Endpoint", and click "Connect".
3. Once connected, you will see a screen similar to the following:

1. Follow the same steps as in the SSM section to start the VSCode server and connect via tunnel.