ec2-code-tunnel-setup.md

VS Code Tunnel Setup

Creating EC2

Create an EC2 t2.medium Ubuntu instance with 50GB storage.

1. Connect to EC2

Use one of:

• EC2 Instance Connect (browser terminal)

You only need this once to start the tunnel.

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2. Download the VS Code CLI on EC2

Run:

cd ~
wget https://update.code.visualstudio.com/latest/cli-linux-x64/stable -O vscode-cli.tar.gz
tar -xzf vscode-cli.tar.gz

This extracts a binary named code.

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3. Start the tunnel

Run:

chmod +x code
./code tunnel

You will see:

• A login URL
• A device code

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4. Authenticate

1. Open the URL in your laptop browser

2. Sign in with:

   • GitHub, or
   • Microsoft account

3. Approve the device

After approval, the terminal will show that the tunnel is running.

Leave this process running.

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5. Open The link

You would get a link like this open it and enjoy!

https://vscode.dev/tunnel/xxxx/home/ubuntu

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7. Common issues and fixes

Permission errors saving files → Fix ownership:

sudo chown -R ubuntu:ubuntu <project-folder>

If the tunnel stops repeat the same steps.