Use code-server

Open the browser VS Code session on a bench, find its password, hand the session to a teammate, and restart it when it stops answering.

Every bench whose lab enables it runs code-server, which is VS Code in a
browser tab. This page opens it, logs in, and shares the session.

Who this is for. Anybody with a running bench who would rather not install
an SSH client or a remote-development extension.

Before you start. The bench must read Running, and the lab must have
code-server switched on. Look at the chips under the lab title. A lab with the
IDE shows a code-server chip and the header offers Open VS Code.

Steps

1. Press Open VS Code in the lab header. The IDE opens in a new tab and
   BenchPress shows the password for it on the page you left.

   Screenshot placeholder — docs/images/user/code-server/01-password-dialog.png: the Helpdesk sandbox lab page with a small dialog over it, headed code-server password. The dialog text reads that code-server asks for this password and that every redeploy replaces it. Below the text a read-only field holds a random twenty-character password in plain text, with a copy button beside it. The lab header behind the dialog carries the chips version-16, 2 GB, 2 vCPU, code-server and SSH, and the buttons Open VS Code and Open site.

   The password is shown, not masked. The dialog exists so the password can be
   read beside the login form that is now asking for it.

   The password is never put in the address. A query parameter would land in
   browser history, in the container access log, and in every proxy between
   the two.

2. Press the copy button in the dialog.

3. Switch to the new tab and paste the password into code-server's own login
   page.

   Screenshot placeholder — docs/images/user/code-server/02-login.png: the code-server login page filling the browser window. A white card on a pale background is headed Welcome to code-server. The line under it reads, Please log in below. Check the config file at /home/intern/.config/code-server/config.yaml for the password. A single empty field labeled PASSWORD sits below, with a blue SUBMIT button to its right.

   This page is code-server's, not BenchPress's. It points at
   /home/<username>/.config/code-server/config.yaml because that is where
   code-server keeps its own copy. Use the password BenchPress gave you. It is
   the same one.

4. Press SUBMIT. The bench opens as a workspace.

   Screenshot placeholder — docs/images/user/code-server/03-workspace.png: the code-server workspace in a browser, showing VS Code for the Web with a light theme. The Explorer on the left is rooted at FRAPPE-BENCH and expands apps into crm, erpnext, frappe, helpdesk, hrms, lms, payments and telephony, followed by config, env, logs and sites, then patches.txt and Procfile. The editor area holds the Get Started with VS Code for the Web walkthrough tab. The status bar at the foot reports 0 errors and 0 warnings.

   The workspace opens at /home/frappe/frappe-bench. The apps folder holds
   one directory per app the lab installed. In the frame that is crm,
   erpnext, frappe, helpdesk, hrms, lms, payments and telephony.

   sites holds the site data, logs holds the bench logs, and Procfile
   lists the processes the bench runs.

5. Use the built-in terminal for bench commands. The terminal is a shell in
   the same container SSH would give you, so nothing extra is needed.

Share a session with a teammate

The IDE address is a public HTTPS hostname. Send a teammate the address and
the password and they open the same workspace, from anywhere, with no VPN and
no BenchPress account.

1. Copy the code-server address from Connection details.
2. Copy the code-server password from the same card.
3. Send both.

Anybody holding those two strings has a shell on the bench. The password
is the only thing in front of it. Share a session for as long as the work
takes, then redeploy the bench, which replaces the password.

Verify

• The IDE tab shows the file tree rooted at frappe-bench.
• The terminal answers whoami with your bench username, not root.
• Connection details lists a code-server row with an https://ide-…
  address.

Troubleshooting

Reference

The two passwords are different

All three are generated per deploy and all three are replaced by a redeploy.

Restarting code-server

BenchPress has an endpoint that restarts the IDE process without touching the
bench. It runs restart.sh inside the container as root and leaves the
container, the site and the database alone.

restart_code_server has no button in the app today. Until it gets one,
restart the IDE from the API:

curl -X POST https://<your-server>/api/method/benchpress.api.restart_code_server \
     -H "Authorization: token <api_key>:<api_secret>" \
     -d "bench_name=<bench id>"

The endpoint refuses a bench that is not Running or has no container. A
redeploy also restarts the IDE, at the cost of the container's writable layer.

What the IDE can reach

code-server runs inside the bench container as your bench user. It sees the
bench filesystem and nothing else on the host. It is not a route into other
benches.

Related

• Connect over SSH and the VPN — the card that holds the IDE address and its password.
• Start, stop and redeploy — which action replaces the IDE password.
• Read a lab page — the chips that say whether a lab has an IDE.