How to persist the settings.json?

[mlhazan]

Every time I rerun the app, looks like it removes all the changes done in the previous session. Even it don't save the font size changes. I installed couple of packages but when I rerun the app, it looks like runs as a fresh app. Is there any way to save the settings.json?

[xlanor]

I would like to ask this as well.
I understand there is sshcode for this purpose, but I will be running code server on my ipad pro to use as a portable coding env, and Im not sure if its possible to persist this.

So far, what I have done (haven't really tried) is to mount a setting.json as a volume, then symlink it to the path that code server uses to store settings.json

I think this can be done by a docker file, but I'm using docker-compose for this so I'm still experimenting.

[sr229]

If you're running it via Docker, you'll need to make a volume for it or bind a volume to persist your settings @xlanor @mlhazan

[xlanor]

@sr229 , thanks for the fast response.

When I try to bind it to this, such as /home/coder/.local/share/code-server/User/settings.json, it results in an error with the container not being able to create other folders in .local

jingkai@bionic-home:~/code-server$ docker-compose up
Creating network "codeserver_default" with the default driver
Creating codeserver ...
Creating codeserver ... done
Attaching to codeserver
codeserver    | (node:6) [DEP0005] DeprecationWarning: Buffer() is deprecated due to security and usability issues. Please use the Buffer.alloc(), Buffer.allocUnsafe(), or Buffer.from() methods instead.
codeserver    | ERROR { [Error: EACCES: permission denied, mkdir '/home/coder/.local/share/code-server/extensions']
codeserver    |   [stack]:
codeserver    |    'Error: EACCES: permission denied, mkdir \'/home/coder/.local/share/code-server/extensions\'',
codeserver    |   [message]:
codeserver    |    'EACCES: permission denied, mkdir \'/home/coder/.local/share/code-server/extensions\'',
codeserver    |   errno: -13,
codeserver    |   code: 'EACCES',
codeserver    |   syscall: 'mkdir',
codeserver    |   path: '/home/coder/.local/share/code-server/extensions' }

The docker-compose file in question

   2   │ version: "3.2"
   3   │ services:
   4   │   codeserver:
   5   │     command: "--allow-http"
   6   │     container_name: codeserver
   7   │     environment:
   8   │       - PASSWORD=PWD
   9   │     image: "codercom/code-server:latest"
  10   │     ports:
  11   │       - "8443:8443"
  12   │     restart: always
  13   │     volumes:
  14   │       - "codeserver_data:/root/project"
  15   │       - "/home/jingkai/code-server/settings.json:/home/coder/.local/share/code-server/User/settings.json"
  20   │ volumes:
  21   │   codeserver_data:
  22   │     driver: local-persist
  23   │     driver_opts:
  24   │       mountpoint: /home/jingkai/data/codeserver_data

[sr229]

That's weird. I'll go ahead and try to fix that in my end and PR it. I'll send you a patch file later for the Dockerfile while you wait so you can get up to speed.

[xlanor]

Thanks for the quick response @sr229 !
Is there a public development chat (gitter, slack, irc, discord) that you guys use? This is a really interesting project!

[xlanor]

Just an update,
Instead of mounting a single file, I just mounted the entire directory instead.
My compose file is below. This works fine now.

--- 
version: "3.2"
services: 
  codeserver:
    command: "--allow-http"
    container_name: codeserver
    env_file:
      - cs.env
    image: "codercom/code-server:latest"
    ports: 
      - "8443:8443"
    restart: always
    volumes: 
      - "codeserver_data:/root/project"
      - data:/home/coder/.local/share/code-server
volumes: 
  codeserver_data: 
    driver: local-persist
    driver_opts: 
      mountpoint: /home/jingkai/data/codeserver_data
  data:
    driver: local-persist
    driver_opts:
      mountpoint: /home/jingkai/cs_settings

[sr229]

Thanks for the quick response @sr229 !
Is there a public development chat (gitter, slack, irc, discord) that you guys use? This is a really interesting project!

yes we do @xlanor! Join us over in Discord.

[sr229]

Just an update,
Instead of mounting a single file, I just mounted the entire directory instead.
My compose file is below. This works fine now.

--- 
version: "3.2"
services: 
  codeserver:
    command: "--allow-http"
    container_name: codeserver
    env_file:
      - cs.env
    image: "codercom/code-server:latest"
    ports: 
      - "8443:8443"
    restart: always
    volumes: 
      - "codeserver_data:/root/project"
      - data:/home/coder/.local/share/code-server
volumes: 
  codeserver_data: 
    driver: local-persist
    driver_opts: 
      mountpoint: /home/jingkai/data/codeserver_data
  data:
    driver: local-persist
    driver_opts:
      mountpoint: /home/jingkai/cs_settings

Ah I see! I do believe mounting the entire .code-server directory is more ideal, yes.

[sr229]

Documented the process now so other folks won't encounter the same problem. Thanks for reporting.

[xlanor]

Thanks for the update @sr229 !