VSCode Server with Traefik

A self-hosted VS Code Server instance with authentication via Traefik reverse proxy. This setup provides a web-based VS Code editor accessible through your browser with basic auth protection.

Prerequisites

• Docker
• Docker Compose
• Git

Project Structure

vscode-server/
├── docker-compose.yml      # Docker Compose configuration
├── .env.example            # Environment variables template
├── vscode/                 # VS Code Server Dockerfile
│   ├── Dockerfile
│   └── vscode.sources
├── traefik/                # Traefik configuration
│   └── usersfile           # Basic auth credentials
├── data/                   # VS Code Server data volume
└── README.md

Configuration

1. Set up environment variables

Copy the example environment file and update it with your desired configuration:

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env and set the PROJECTS_DIR to point to your local projects directory:

PROJECTS_DIR=/path/to/your/projects

2. Configure authentication (Optional)

To set up or change basic authentication credentials, edit the traefik/usersfile. You can generate credentials using:

htpasswd -c traefik/usersfile username

Or use online tools to generate the format: username:hashed_password

Running the Project

Start the containers

docker compose up -d

This will:

• Build and start the VS Code Server container
• Start the Traefik reverse proxy
• Create a bridge network connecting both services

Stop the containers

docker compose down

View logs

docker compose logs -f

Accessing VS Code Server

Once running, access VS Code Server at:

http://localhost:8080

You will be prompted for basic authentication credentials (configured in traefik/usersfile).

Volumes

• /home/vscode/data - Mounted to ./data/ on the host (VS Code configuration and extensions)
• /home/vscode/projects - Mounted to the directory specified in PROJECTS_DIR environment variable

Services

VS Code Server

• Container name: vscode-server
• Network: web
• Port: Exposed via Traefik on port 8080

Traefik

• Container name: vscode-traefik
• Image: traefik:v2.10
• Port: 8080:8080 (HTTP access)
• Authentication: Basic auth using traefik/usersfile

Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Example
PROJECTS_DIR	Path to local projects directory	/home/user/projects