Remote Golang Development in VS Code

Docker containers are a popular way to create reproducible development environments without having to install complex dependencies on your local machine. This also allows new team members to reproduce your environment by installing docker and opening your workspace in Visual Studio Code.

So, in this little article, I will guide you to setup a dev container for Golang.

Dependencies

Docker

For more details of Docker, please check Get Started with Docker

Remote development extension pack

The Remote Development extension pack allows you to open any folder in a container or or a remote machine and take advantage of VS Code’s full feature set.

Dev Container configuration

Create a .devcontainer folder at the root of your project.

├── .devcontainer
│   ├── Dockerfile
│   └── devcontainer.json
├── go.mod
└── main.go

Dockerfile

Create the Dockerfile inside .devcontainer folder and add the following content.

# See here for image contents: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-dev-containers/tree/v0.166.1/containers/go/.devcontainer/base.Dockerfile
# [Choice] Go version: 1, 1.16, 1.15
ARG VARIANT="1"
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/vscode/devcontainers/go:0-${VARIANT}

# [Optional] Uncomment this section to install additional OS packages.
# RUN apt-get update && export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive \
#     && apt-get -y install --no-install-recommends <your-package-list-here>

# [Optional] Uncomment the next line to use go get to install anything else you need
# RUN go get -x <your-dependency-or-tool>

devcontainer.json

Create the devcontainer.json file inside .devcontainer folder and add the following content.

{
    "name": "iris-grpc-api",
    "build": {
        "dockerfile": "Dockerfile",
        "args": {
            // Update the VARIANT arg to pick a version of Go: 1, 1.16, 1.15
            "VARIANT": "1.16",
        }
    },
    "runArgs": [
        "--cap-add=SYS_PTRACE",
        "--security-opt",
        "seccomp=unconfined"
    ],
    "settings": {
        "terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.linux": "/bin/bash",
        "go.toolsManagement.checkForUpdates": "local",
        "go.useLanguageServer": true,
        "go.gopath": "/go",
        "go.goroot": "/usr/local/go"
    },
    // Add the IDs of extensions you want installed when the container is created.
    "extensions": [
        "golang.Go",
        "mhutchie.git-graph"
    ],
    // Use 'forwardPorts' to make a list of ports inside the container available locally.
    // "forwardPorts": [],
    // Use 'postCreateCommand' to run commands after the container is created.
    // "postCreateCommand": "go version",
    // Comment out connect as root instead. More info: https://aka.ms/vscode-remote/containers/non-root.
    "remoteUser": "vscode"
}

The devcontainer.json file tells VS Code how to access or create a development container. With this configuration, VS Code will:

• Create a Docker image with the variant specified, for more details about config options, please check Go Containers.
• Install golang.Go extension that provides rich language support for the Go programming language.
• Install mhutchie.git-graph extension that provides a Git Graph View of your repository.

For more details about Dev Container config options, please check Dev Container JSON Reference.

Start the Development Container

Launch the VS Code Command Panel(ctrl/cmd + Shit + P) and look for the command Remote-Containers: Reopen in container.

This will build the Docker image defined inside .devcontainer/Dockerfile, install the VS Code dependencies in there and bind mount everything for you.

Finally, you have a terminal running inside VS Code(open a terminal if you don’t see it).

Wrapping up

I hope you enjoyed this little guide. Remember you can add additional OS packages in your Dockerfile.