Visual Studio Code is a free cross-platform source code editor developed by Microsoft. It has built-in debugging support, embedded Git control, syntax highlighting, code completion, code refactoring, and snippets.

 

The functionality of Visual Studio Code can be extended using extensions.

 

This tutorial guides you on how to install Visual Studio Code editor on Ubuntu 18.04 / Linux Mint 19 & Debian 9 from the Microsoft’s VS Code repository.

 

Configure Visual Studio Code Repository

 

Microsoft provides the official repository for easy installation of Visual Studio Code for Ubuntu and Debian operating systems. So, you can set up the Microsoft repository on your system receive the VS Code package.

 

As a first task, update the repository index using the apt command

sudo apt update

 

Install the HTTPS support for apt and other packages.

sudo apt install -y curl apt-transport-https

 

Download and import the Microsoft signing GPG key using the curl command.

curl -sSL https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc -o microsoft.asc
sudo apt-key add microsoft.asc

 

Now, add the Visual Studio Code repository to your system.

echo "deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/vscode stable main"  | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vscode.list

 

Install Visual Studio Code

 

Once you have added the repository to the system, do not forget to update the repository index.

sudo apt update

 

Use the apt command to install Visual Studio Code.

sudo apt install -y code

 

Start Visual Studio Code

 

Once the VS Code is installed on your system, you can launch it either from the command line or by clicking on the VS Code icon in graphical mode.

$ code

OR

 

Ubuntu 18:04: Activities >> Search for Visual Studio Code

 

 

Linux Mint 19: Menu >> Programming >> Visual Studio Code

 

 

Debian 9: Activities >> Search for Visual Studio Code

 

 

Visual Studio Code running on Ubuntu 18.04:

 

 

Visual Studio Code running on Linux Mint 19:

 

Visual Studio Code running on Debian 9:

 

 

Set VS Code as the default editor

 

If you have multiple source code editors and want to set the Visual Studio Code as the default editor for your project, you need run the below command to set Visual Studio Code as the default editor.

sudo update-alternatives --set editor /usr/bin/code

 

Update Visual Studio Code

 

Microsoft releases the update for Visual Studio Code monthly. You can update the version of Visual Studio Code similar to other packages, using the apt command.

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade code

 

Conclusion

You have successfully installed Visual Studio Code on your Ubuntu 18.04 / Linux Mint 19 & Debian 9. You can now install extensions and configure VS Code according to your preferences. Also, learn about the User Interface of the VS Code.

 

That’s All.

 

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