Overview

This tutorial provides instructions for installing Visual Studio Code on Ubuntu. While the steps outlined here may work for other versions of Ubuntu (and some non-Ubuntu Linux distributions), these instructions were tested against Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.

Outcomes

• A working code installation

Prerequisites

Before starting this tutorial, ensure that ...

• You have a working Ubuntu 20.04 LTS installation
• You are comfortable with the basics of the Linux command line

Background

Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is a free and extensible cross-platform code editor released by Microsoft.

Installation

Step 1: Installing Visual Studio Code

1. In your VM, open your web browser (ex. Firefox), and paste the following link:

   • https://code.visualstudio.com/

2. Click the .deb icon to download the VS Code.

3. In the pop-up window, select the Save File option, and hit OK.

4. Navigate to Files → Downloads and double-click on the .deb file that you just downloaded.

5. The installation window should appear. Click Install.

You may be asked to enter your user password. Follow the directions presented.

Step 2: Starting Visual Studio Code

There are two main ways to start Visual Studio Code.

Option 1

In the Activities search bar type Visual Studio Code and click on the icon to launch the application.

Option 2

Open your terminal and type code:

code

This should cause VS Code to launch.

Learn more

• Introductory videos
• Documentation
• Remote editing
• Debugger