Chapter 5. Managing IDE extensions
Chapter 5. Managing IDE extensions IDEs use extensions or plugins to extend their functionality, and the mechanism for managing extensions differs between IDEs. Section 5.1, "Extensions for Microsoft Visual Studio Code - Open Source" Section 5.2, "Open VSX registry URL" 5.1. Extensions for Microsoft Visual Studio Code - Open Source To manage extensions, this IDE uses one of these Open VSX registry instances: The embedded instance of the Open VSX registry that runs in the plugin-registry pod of OpenShift Dev Spaces to support air-gapped, offline, and proxy-restricted environments. The embedded Open VSX registry contains only a subset of the extensions published on open-vsx.org . This subset is customizable . The public open-vsx.org registry that is accessed over the internet. A standalone Open VSX registry instance that is deployed on a network accessible from OpenShift Dev Spaces workspace pods. The default is the embedded instance of the Open VSX registry. 5.1.1. Selecting an Open VSX registry instance The default is the embedded instance of the Open VSX registry. If the default Open VSX registry instance is not what you need, you can select one of the following instances: The Open VSX registry instance at https://open-vsx.org that requires access to the internet. A standalone Open VSX registry instance that is deployed on a network accessible from OpenShift Dev Spaces workspace pods. Procedure Edit the openVSXURL value in the CheCluster custom resource: spec: components: pluginRegistry: openVSXURL: " <url_of_an_open_vsx_registry_instance> " 1 1 For example: openVSXURL: "https://open-vsx.org" . Important Using https://open-vsx.org is not recommended in an air-gapped environment, isolated from the internet. In order to reduce the risk of malware infections and unauthorized access to your code use the embedded or self-hosted Open VSX registry with the curated set of extensions. To select the embedded Open VSX registry instance in the plugin-registry pod, use openVSXURL: '' . You can customize the list of included extensions . You can also point openVSXURL at the URL of a standalone Open VSX registry instance if its URL is accessible from within your organization's cluster and not blocked by a proxy. 5.1.2. Adding or removing extensions in the embedded Open VSX registry instance You can add or remove extensions in the embedded Open VSX registry instance. This results in a custom build of the Open VSX registry that can be used in your organization's workspaces. Tip To get the latest security fixes after a OpenShift Dev Spaces update, rebuild your container based on the latest tag or SHA. Procedure Get the publisher and extension name of each chosen extension: Find the extension on the Open VSX registry website and copy the URL of the extension's listing page and extension's version. Extract the <publisher> and <extension> name from the copied URL: Tip If the extension is only available from Microsoft Visual Studio Marketplace , but not Open VSX , you can ask the extension publisher to also publish it on open-vsx.org according to these instructions , potentially using this GitHub action . If the extension publisher is unavailable or unwilling to publish the extension to open-vsx.org , and if there is no Open VSX equivalent of the extension, consider reporting an issue to the Open VSX team. Build the custom plugin registry image and update CheCluster custom resource: Tip During the build process, each extension will be verified for compatibility with the version of Visual Studio Code used in OpenShift Dev Spaces. Using OpenShift Dev Spaces instance: Important For IBM Power ( ppc64le ) and IBM Z ( s390x ), the custom plugin registry is expected to be built locally on the corresponding architecture. Login to your OpenShift Dev Spaces instance as an administrator. Create a new Red Hat Registry Service Account and copy username and token. Start a workspace using the plugin registry repository . Open a terminal and check out the Git tag that corresponds to your OpenShift Dev Spaces version (e.g., devspaces-3.15-rhel-8 ): Open the openvsx-sync.json file and add or remove extensions. Execute 1. Login to registry.redhat.io task in the workspace (Terminal Run Task... devfile 1. Login to registry.redhat.io) and login to registry.redhat.io . Execute 2. Build and Publish a Custom Plugin Registry task in the workspace (Terminal Run Task... devfile 2. Build and Publish a Custom Plugin Registry). Execute 3. Configure Che to use the Custom Plugin Registry task in the workspace (Terminal Run Task... devfile 3. Configure Che to use the Custom Plugin Registry). Using Linux operating system: Tip Podman and NodeJS version 18.20.3 or higher should be installed in the system. Download or fork and clone the Dev Spaces repository . + Go to the plugin registry submodule: + Checkout the tag that corresponds to your OpenShift Dev Spaces version (e.g., devspaces-3.15-rhel-8 ): Create a new Red Hat Registry Service Account and copy username and token. Login to registry.redhat.io : For each extension that you need to add or remove, edit the openvsx-sync.json file : To add extensions, add the publisher, name and extension version to the openvsx-sync.json file. To remove extensions, remove the publisher, name and extension version from the openvsx-sync.json file. Use the following JSON syntax: { "id": " <publisher> . <name> ", "version": " <extension_version> " } Tip If you have a closed-source extension or an extension developed only for internal use in your organization, you can add the extension directly from a .vsix file by using a URL accessible to your custom plugin registry container: { "id": " <publisher> . <name> ", "download": " <url_to_download_vsix_file> ", "version": " <extension_version> " } Read the
spec: components: pluginRegistry: openVSXURL: " <url_of_an_open_vsx_registry_instance> " 1 https://open-vsx.org/extension/ <publisher> / <name> git checkout devspaces-USDPRODUCT_VERSION-rhel-8 git clone https://github.com/redhat-developer/devspaces.git cd devspaces/dependencies/che-plugin-registry/ git checkout devspaces-USDPRODUCT_VERSION-rhel-8 login registry.redhat.io { "id": " <publisher> . <name> ", "version": " <extension_version> " } { "id": " <publisher> . <name> ", "download": " <url_to_download_vsix_file> ", "version": " <extension_version> " } ./build.sh -o <username> -r quay.io -t custom podman push quay.io/ <username/plugin_registry:custom> spec: components: pluginRegistry: deployment: containers: - image: quay.io/ <username/plugin_registry:custom> openVSXURL: '' spec: components: [...] pluginRegistry: openVSXURL: <your_open_vsx_registy> [...]