Code Server SSOT

2 min read

⬆️ Install & Upgrade

Runtime is the upstream Debian package code-server_4.133.0_amd64.deb from coder/code-server v4.133.0. Binary at /usr/bin/code-server, libs at /usr/lib/code-server. The exact version is pinned in config/runtime-version.txt.

First install (exact sequence as executed)

cd /home/loca/dev/code-server/tmp
curl -fsSL -O https://github.com/coder/code-server/releases/download/v4.133.0/code-server_4.133.0_amd64.deb
sudo -n dpkg -i code-server_4.133.0_amd64.deb
sudo -n install -m 644 -o root -g root /home/loca/dev/code-server/deploy/cdsr.service /etc/systemd/system/cdsr.service
sudo -n systemctl daemon-reload
sudo -n systemctl enable --now cdsr

Upgrade sequence

cd /home/loca/dev/code-server/tmp
curl -fsSL -O https://github.com/coder/code-server/releases/download/v<NEW>/code-server_<NEW>_amd64.deb
sudo -n dpkg -i code-server_<NEW>_amd64.deb
echo "<NEW>" > /home/loca/dev/code-server/config/runtime-version.txt
cd /home/loca/dev/code-server && ./scripts/install-extensions.sh
cd /home/loca/dev/code-server && ./scripts/list-extension-versions.sh
sudo -n systemctl restart cdsr

A Code version bump can invalidate extension host compatibility — always re-run the extension install and audit after upgrading the runtime.

Order matters: extensions are installed and audited on disk before the service restart, so the restart is what loads the new extension versions into the extension host. Restarting first would leave any live browser session running the old extension host while the disk-based audit already reports green. If a session was open across the upgrade, reload the browser window (Developer: Reload Window) after the restart.

config/runtime-version.txt is loca:loca 644, so the version pin is written with a plain shell redirect — no sudo and no tee needed.

Service lifecycle

  • status: systemctl status cdsr --no-pager
  • restart: sudo -n systemctl restart cdsr
  • logs: journalctl -u cdsr -n 50 --no-pager

Packaged unit stays disabled

code-server@loca (the default user-scope unit installed by the Debian package) is deliberately left disabled — verified by systemctl is-enabled code-server@loca -> disabled. Reason: it would place state in ~/.config/code-server and ~/.local/share/code-server, breaking the reproducible layout where all state lives under /home/loca/dev/code-server/data/.

Fallback if the .deb ever fails

If a packaging mismatch prevents the Debian package from installing on this host, fall back to the upstream standalone Linux amd64 tarball:

  1. Download and extract to /home/loca/.local/lib/code-server-<version>
  2. Change only ExecStart in deploy/cdsr.service to point to the extracted binary: /home/loca/.local/lib/code-server-<version>/bin/code-server
  3. Keep everything else identical: config, nginx, Authelia, wiki layout, service user, working directory, environment

This fallback preserves the same operational surface while bypassing the Debian package manager.