Visual Studio Code Installation

1. Installation

  1. Open the appropriate OS section:

    Expand for Windows

    1. Download the installer from here.

    Expand for Rhel

    • Original install doc can be referenced here.

    • Steps:

      1. Install the key and repo

        sudo rpm --import https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc\

      2. Install the repo

        sudo sh -c 'echo -e "[code]\nname=Visual Studio Code\nbaseurl=https://packages.microsoft.com/yumrepos/vscode\nenabled=1\ngpgcheck=1\ngpgkey=https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc" > /etc/yum.repos.d/vscode.repo'

      3. Update the package cache

        dnf check-update

      4. Install

        sudo dnf install code
    Expand for Ubuntu

    • Original install doc can be referenced here.

    • If Snap is installed then:

      sudo snap install --classic code
    Expand for Fedora

    • If Snap is installed then:

      sudo snap install --classic code

    • Alternate to Snap

      1. Visit the VS Code Download page and download the .rpm package.

      2. Now Install

        sudo dnf -y localinstall ./code-1.121.0-1779186559.el8.x86_64.rpm (1)
        1 Use the downloaded file’s name

2. Configuration

2.1. Edit Config

  • Add the following to the VSCode settings file:

    1. Open the config file for editing:

      Unix Config File location
      ~/.config/Code/User/settings.json

      You may need to create the folder first with:

      mkdir -p ~/.config/Code/User
      Windows Config File location
      %APPDATA%\Code\User\settings.json

    2. Add these key-value pairs:

      New entries
          "git.autofetch": true,
    "workbench.sideBar.location": "right",
    "files.autoSave": "afterDelay",
    "window.titleBarStyle": "native", (1)
    "workbench.colorTheme": "Visual Studio Light",
    "workbench.iconTheme": "material-icon-theme",
    "workbench.experimental.modernUI": true,
    "editor.codeLens": false,
    "explorer.compactFolders": false,
    "plantuml.render": "PlantUMLServer",
    "plantuml.server": "https://plantuml.xackleystudio.com/plantuml", (2)
    "asciidoc.extensions.enableKroki": true,
    "asciidoc.preview.defaultStyle": "antora",
    "python.analysis.typeCheckingMode": "strict",
      1 This is a workaround for the SSH X11 forwarding Window Resize bug.
      2 Use a valid PlantUML Server.

2.2. Install Extensions

  1. AsciiDoc

  2. C# Dev Kit

  3. Continue (AI code assistant)

  4. Docker

  5. Draw.io Integration

  6. Markdown Preview Enhanced

  7. markdownlint

  8. Material Icon Theme

  9. PowerShell

  10. Pylance

  11. PyScript

  12. Python

  13. scriptcsRunner

  14. SQL Server (mssql)

  15. YAML

3. Extension Configuration

3.1. Continue

4. AI Configuration

If you want to use a model that is not available as a built-in model or want to control the model hosting, you can bring your own language model API key (BYOK) to use models from other providers or to run models locally. For background on why you might bring your own key and what to consider, see Bring your own language model key.

BYOK models work without signing in to a GitHub account and without a Copilot plan. You can add models with the Chat: Manage Language Models command even when you are not signed in. This enables you to use AI chat features entirely with your own models, including fully offline scenarios with local models such as Ollama.

4.1. Via Gui

  1. Open the cmd palette window with: cntrl+shift+p

  2. Select Chat: Manage Language Models

  3. Click the + Add Model…​ drop down button.

  4. Choose Ollama.

  5. Supply a Group Name.

  6. Supply the IP address or server name.

4.2. Via JSON

  1. Edit the chatLanguageModels.json file:

    Linux
    ~/.config/Code/User/chatLanguageModels.json
    Windows
    C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Roaming\Code\User\chatLanguageModels.json
    Sample config
    [
	{
		"name": "Ollama p-rocky-ai",
		"vendor": "ollama",
		"url": "http://p-rocky-ai:11434"
	},
	{
		"name": "Ollama p-rocky-phoenix",
		"vendor": "ollama",
		"url": "http://192.168.1.53:11434"
	}
]

  2. To open the chat window use one of:

    1. Menu: View  Chat

    2. cntrl+alt+i

  3. In the bottom of the chat window, click on the currently selected model.

  4. From here you can either search for a model or click on Other Models and choose one of the other local models.