Using Che Code without Che

Summary

I would like to use a VS Code based DevWorkspace on a cluster where Che routing class hasn’t been deployed yet: Red Hat Developer Sandbox.

For instance I would like to

DW="https://eclipse-che.github.io/che-devfile-registry/main/devfiles/nodejs/devworkspace-che-code-insiders.yaml"
oc apply -f $DW

But when I try that the DevWorkspace is stuck in the “Waiting for editor to start phase”:

bash-4.4 ~ $ oc get --watch dw nodejs-web-app
NAME             DEVWORKSPACE ID             PHASE      INFO
nodejs-web-app   workspace56ee37f5976b4079   Starting   Waiting for workspace deployment
nodejs-web-app   workspace56ee37f5976b4079   Starting   Waiting for editor to start
nodejs-web-app   workspace56ee37f5976b4079   Failing    devworkspace failed to progress past phase 'Starting' for longer than timeout (5m)

Although the DW doesn’t reach the Running phase, Che code is started and that’s the output:

total 24
drwxrwsr-x. 6 root       1031540000 4096 Apr 24 21:58 .
dr-xr-xr-x. 1 root       root         75 Apr 24 22:10 ..
drwxrwsr-x. 2 1031540000 1031540000 4096 Apr 24 21:58 bin
drwxrwsr-x. 7 1031540000 1031540000 4096 Apr 24 21:58 checode-linux-libc
drwxrwsr-x. 7 1031540000 1031540000 4096 Apr 24 21:58 checode-linux-musl
-rwxrwxr-x. 1 1031540000 1031540000 1004 Apr 24 22:10 entrypoint-volume.sh
drwxrws---. 4 1031540000 1031540000 4096 Apr 24 21:58 remote
time="2022-04-24T22:10:34Z" level=info msg="Default 'info' log level is applied"
time="2022-04-24T22:10:34Z" level=info msg="Exec containers configuration:"
time="2022-04-24T22:10:34Z" level=info msg="==> Debug level info"
time="2022-04-24T22:10:34Z" level=info msg="==> Application url 0.0.0.0:3333"
time="2022-04-24T22:10:34Z" level=info msg="==> Absolute path to folder with static resources "
time="2022-04-24T22:10:34Z" level=info msg="==> Use bearer token: false"
time="2022-04-24T22:10:34Z" level=info msg="==> Pod selector: controller.devfile.io/devworkspace_id=workspace56ee37f5976b4079"
[GIN-debug] [WARNING] Creating an Engine instance with the Logger and Recovery middleware already attached.

[GIN-debug] [WARNING] Running in "debug" mode. Switch to "release" mode in production.
 - using env:	export GIN_MODE=release
 - using code:	gin.SetMode(gin.ReleaseMode)

[GIN-debug] GET    /connect                  --> main.main.func2 (3 handlers)
[GIN-debug] GET    /attach/:id               --> main.main.func3 (3 handlers)
[GIN-debug] POST   /exec/config              --> main.main.func4 (3 handlers)
[GIN-debug] POST   /exec/init                --> main.main.func5 (3 handlers)
[GIN-debug] POST   /activity/tick            --> main.main.func6 (3 handlers)
[GIN-debug] GET    /healthz                  --> main.main.func7 (3 handlers)
⇩ Registered RPCRoutes:

Json-rpc MachineExec Routes:
✓ create
✓ check
✓ resize
✓ listContainers
[GIN-debug] Listening and serving HTTP on 0.0.0.0:3333
Server bound to 127.0.0.1:3100 (IPv4)
Extension host agent listening on 3100

Web UI available at http://localhost:3100/
[22:10:40] Extension host agent started.
[GIN] 2022/04/24 - 22:10:40 | 200 |     281.893µs |       127.0.0.1 | GET      /connect

Relevant information

I can use a Theia based DevWorkspace on the same cluster but I have to change the value of the env variable THEIA_HOST from 127.0.0.1 to 0.0.0.0 so that Theia listens to any network interface, not only on localhost:

bash-4.4 ~ $ DW="https://eclipse-che.github.io/che-devfile-registry/main/devfiles/nodejs/devworkspace-che-theia-next.yaml"
bash-4.4 ~ $ curl -sSL $DW | sed 's/127.0.0.1/0.0.0.0/g' | oc apply -f -
devworkspacetemplate.workspace.devfile.io/theia-ide-nodejs-web-app created
devworkspace.workspace.devfile.io/nodejs-web-app created
bash-4.4 ~ $ oc get --watch dw nodejs-web-app
NAME             DEVWORKSPACE ID             PHASE      INFO
nodejs-web-app   workspace7045017c21ec4407   Starting   Waiting for workspace deployment
nodejs-web-app   workspace7045017c21ec4407   Starting   Waiting for editor to start
nodejs-web-app   workspace7045017c21ec4407   Starting   Waiting for editor to start
nodejs-web-app   workspace7045017c21ec4407   Starting   Waiting for editor to start
nodejs-web-app   workspace7045017c21ec4407   Running    https://workspace7045017c21ec4407.apps.sandbox.x8i5.p1.openshiftapps.com/theia/

[benoitf]

It would require an extra arg there https://github.com/che-incubator/che-code/blob/main/build/scripts/entrypoint.sh#L31-L37

Extra arg --host https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/blob/main/src/server-main.js

Default is localhost

So we could have CODE_HOST env variable as well propagated to --host

[l0rd]

Fantastic! Thanks @azatsarynnyy and @benoitf