A Guide to setting up development envirornment for seamless development

This guide explains the steps to set up and connect XLaunch, a Virtual Machine (VM) running Linux Mint, and VS Code for a seamless development environment. If you are running Windows and want to have a linux envirornment for development this guide will help.

Prerequisites

• VS Code: Download here
• Remote - SSH Extension: Install it from the VS Code marketplace
• Oracle VirtualBox: Download here
• XLaunch: Download here

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Setting up VirtualBox

1. Install VirtualBox and create a virtual machine (VM).
2. Install Linux Mint or Ubuntu inside the VM.

• Download Here:
  • Linux Mint OR
  • Ubuntu

3. Configure VM network settings:
   • Go to Settings → Network
   • Enable Adapter 2 and select NAT
   • Enable Adapter 3 and select Host-Only Adapter In the second option choose VirtualBox Ethernet Adapter

2. Enabling 3D Acceleration

1. Go to Settings → Display
2. Enable the 3D Acceleration checkbox

3 Automated Setup Script (This will Install and Configure required tools and packages)

Open Terminal in VM and Clone this repository and run the script as mentioned in this guide

Prerequisites

• Ubuntu or Linux Mint
• sudo privileges
• Internet connection

Usage

1. Save the script as vm_dev_setup.sh or clone this repository and run the script
2. Make it executable:

   chmod +x vm_dev_setup.sh

3. Run with sudo:

   sudo ./vm_dev_setup.sh
   

• What the Script Does

• Checks and installs system prerequisites
• Configures SSH
• Sets up network interfaces
• Configures X11 Forwarding
• Enables firewall
• Installs development tools

4. Connecting VS Code to VM

1. Open VS Code and install the Remote - SSH extension.
2. Click the Remote SSH icon and add a new host:

   hostname@192.168.56.xxx
   

3. hostname = Your system's hostname, x = number of your system's IP Address.
4. Enter your Linux Mint login credentials when prompted.
5. After successful connection you should see $ sign, In Vscode use: Ctrl + ` and select terminal to see the $ sign

5. Setting up XLaunch

1. Install XLaunch on your host machine.
2. Run XLaunch and select the following options:
   • Next → Next → Disable Access Control (check this box) → Finish
3. In Vscode terminal write following script to setup XDISPLAY.
   • export DISPLAY=192.168.56.1:0.0
4. Verify the setup by running:

   $ xeyes

   • A pair of animated eyes should appear, confirming the connection.

Your set up is complete makesure to refer Step 6

6. Below mentioned things should be repeated everytime when Reoppening / Restarting VirtualBox

• Use ifconfig to see NETWORK_INTERFACE_NAME IPv4 address will be visible under this

• Write this command, example: $dhclient -v enp0s8 or $dhclient -v NETWORK_INTERFACE_NAME

  If XLaunch is not required for your deveopment envirornment skip below steps

  • Reopen XLaunch and Disabling access control (Reffer 5. Setting up XLaunch Step 2:)
  • Write this command export DISPLAY=192.168.56.1:0.0 and use xeyes to verify the Setup Do not (delete / kill) this (terminal / process) if this happens in the new terminal rewrite the command: export DISPLAY=192.168.56.1:0.0 else XDISPLAY won't work

Troubleshooting

All IP Address and Port Numbers in this guide are used as an example and should not be treated as your system's IP Address / NETWORK_INTERFACE_NAME

1. SSH Connection Issues

• Ensure the SSH service is running inside the VM:

  $ service ssh start

• Verify the network port and IP address:

  $ ifconfig

• If network is not configured, use:
• enp0s9 is given as an example, in your system this might be diffrent use ifconfig from previous step to know the NETWORK_INTERFACE_NAME name

  $ dhclient -v enp0s9

  When used ifconfig IPv4 Adress will be visible Ex: 192.168.56.103 under NETWORK_INTERFACE_NAME enp0s8 during network configuration using dhclient this enp0s8 NETWORK_INTERFACE_NAME should be selected, if used different NETWORK_INTERFACE_NAME configuration will fail and ssh connection will fail

2. Display Not Working

• Confirm that 3D acceleration is enabled in the VM settings.
• Check if XLaunch is running on your host machine.
• Ensure Disable Access Control is checked in XLaunch settings.

Screenshots and References

• Add screenshots of the setup process (e.g., network settings, SSH configuration, and XLaunch test).
• Official documentation:
  • VS Code Remote SSH
  • VirtualBox Network Setup

Notes

• Always ensure your software is up to date.
• Take care when modifying system settings.
• Backup your VM and important data before making significant changes.

Troubleshooting Tips

1. Restart services if you encounter unexpected issues.
2. Double-check network configurations.
3. Verify firewall settings may be blocking connections.
4. If you encounter error while installing virtualbox Example: Missing Dependencies Python Core / win32api make sure to install python, If Python is installed use pip install pywin32
5. If you encounter Microsoft Visual C++ 2019 Redistributable Error, Install the package from here - Microsoft Visual C++ 2019 Redistributable

Contributions

Contributions and improvements to this guide are welcome! Please open an issue or submit a pull request.