Ansible Dev Server using Code Server

code-server is an open-source project from Coder that runs Visual Studio Code on a remote server and serves it to your browser. Put the Ansible tools on that server, and you have a fully configured Ansible development environment on any device with a browser: a laptop, a borrowed machine, even a tablet.

Why use code-server for Ansible development

• Work anywhere: open a browser and log in.
• Consistent environment: every developer works in the same set-up.
• Minimal local requirements: nothing to install on the device you’re using.
• Central management: update and secure it in one place.

How it fits together

1. A remote server (a VM, or an EC2 instance on AWS) runs code-server.
2. The Ansible Development Tools are installed on that server.
3. You reach it from a browser, with password authentication, over an encrypted connection.

Prerequisites

• A Linux server or cloud instance, such as an AWS EC2 instance or an on-premises VM.
• SSH access to it.
• Python 3, for the Ansible tools.
• Optional: Podman or Docker, if you want to run execution environments.
• Optional: a domain name, if you want to reach it over HTTPS without an SSH tunnel.

Install code-server

1. Download and install code-server:

   curl -fsSL https://code-server.dev/install.sh | sh

2. Set the password. Edit ~/.config/code-server/config.yaml:

   bind-addr: 127.0.0.1:8080
   auth: password
   password: choose-a-long-random-password
   cert: false

   127.0.0.1 is code-server’s default, and the safe one: it listens only on the server itself, and you reach it through a tunnel or a reverse proxy (next section).

3. Start code-server:

   code-server

   

   To keep it running after you log out, run it as a service. The code-server documentation shows the systemd set-up.

4. Install the Ansible tools in a virtual environment, and the Ansible extension:

   python3 -m venv ~/ansible-venv
   ~/ansible-venv/bin/pip install ansible-dev-tools
   code-server --install-extension redhat.ansible
   code-server --list-extensions

   A virtual environment keeps the tools apart from the system’s Python; recent Ubuntu and Debian releases refuse a system-wide pip install. In code-server, point the Ansible extension’s Python interpreter setting at ~/ansible-venv/bin/python so it finds them.

   code-server installs extensions from Open VSX, not from Microsoft’s VS Code Marketplace, which only allows Microsoft’s own products. Most popular extensions, including Red Hat’s Ansible extension, are published there; a few Microsoft extensions are not.

Reach it from your browser

The simplest secure way: an SSH tunnel. From your laptop:

ssh -N -L 8080:127.0.0.1:8080 user@your-server

Then browse to http://localhost:8080 and log in with the password from the config file. The traffic travels inside SSH, and nothing new is exposed on the server.

From any device, without SSH: HTTPS through a reverse proxy. Point a domain at the server, keep code-server on 127.0.0.1:8080, and put Caddy or NGINX with Let’s Encrypt in front of it. That gives you a real certificate, which code-server needs for some features to work.

Without HTTPS, code-server warns that it is “being accessed in an insecure context”, and web views and the clipboard may not work:

Keep it safe

• Don’t expose plain HTTP to the internet. If you must bind to 0.0.0.0 for a quick test, restrict the port in your firewall or AWS security group to your own IP address, and undo it afterwards.
• Use a long random password, and don’t commit config.yaml anywhere.
• Keep code-server updated. Run the install script again to upgrade.

Wrapping up

code-server gives you a portable, consistent Ansible workspace that follows you to any browser, with the server doing the heavy lifting. Start with the SSH tunnel; add HTTPS when you need to reach it from devices without SSH.