Launching VS Code (in WSL-ROS)

Warning

This page is out of date, you can find more up-to-date information here:
tom-howard.github.io/ros/software/on-campus/vscode

Procedure¶

Launch VS Code from the Windows Application Menu by clicking the Windows Start Menu button:
Type "vscode" (or just "code" works as well) and click on the application shortcut that should then appear in the list:
You should have already installed the "WSL" extension. If so, then a green icon should be visible in the bottom left-hand corner of the application window:

Click the green icon and then click the "New WSL Window using Distro..." option in the menu that appears:
Then, click on "WSL-ROS" to select it (it should be the only one in the list).
A new VS Code instance should launch, and in this one you should see the green "Remote" icon in the bottom left-hand corner again, but this time the icon should also contain the text: "WSL: WSL-ROS", indicating that the remote extension has been launched inside WSL-ROS:
Keep this new VS Code instance open, but close down the original one behind it.
Next, access the WSL-ROS filesystem by:
1. Clicking the "Explorer" icon in the left-hand toolbar (or use the Ctrl+Shift+E keyboard shortcut),
2. Clicking the blue "Open Folder" button,
3. Clicking "OK" to select the default /home/student/ filesystem location.
Finally (we're nearly there, I promise!), you should be presented with a pop-up, asking if you trust the /home/student [WSL: WSL-ROS] folder. Tick the checkbox and click on the blue "Yes, I trust the authors" button:
You can now navigate the WSL-ROS filesystem in the explorer window on the left-hand side of the VS Code screen. You'll need to use this to locate the packages and scripts that you create throughout this course!