A Devcontainer config that just works

README.md

A Devcontainer config that just works

A devcontainer configuration that just works. It uses Ubuntu 24.04 and uses the ubuntu user inside the container. The ubuntu user will have the same userid as the host user (in most cases) so the file permissions don't get warped.

Setup

The devcontainer.json and Dockerfile files need to go into a .devcontainer/ folder, like so:

.devcontainer/Dockerfile
.devcontainer/devcontainer.json

devcontainer.json

{
    "name": "Just-Works-TM Devcontainer",
    "build": {
        "dockerfile": "Dockerfile"
    },
    "containerEnv": {
        "HOST_OS": "${localEnv:OS}",
        "HOST_USERNAME": "${env:USERNAME}"
    },
    "customizations": {
        "vscode": {
            // Install relevant extensions in the dev container
            "extensions": [
            ]
        }
    },

    // Ensure the workspace is mounted correctly
    "workspaceMount": "source=${localWorkspaceFolder},target=/workspace,type=bind",
    "workspaceFolder": "/workspace",
    
    // Run commands after the container is created
    "postAttachCommand": ""
}

Dockerfile

FROM ubuntu:24.04

ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive

RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
    ca-certificates \
    curl \
    git \
    build-essential \
    locales \
    sudo \
    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

# Set the locale
RUN  sed -i '/en_US.UTF-8/s/^# //g' /etc/locale.gen && locale-gen
ENV LANG=en_US.UTF-8
ENV LANGUAGE=en_US:en
ENV LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8

# Let's git trust our own repo.
RUN git config --global --add safe.directory /workspace

# Set up the non-root user.
ARG USERNAME=ubuntu
RUN echo $USERNAME ALL=\(root\) NOPASSWD:ALL > /etc/sudoers.d/$USERNAME \
  && chmod 0440 /etc/sudoers.d/$USERNAME

USER $USERNAME
ENV ENV=~/.profile