User guide

Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces 3.4

Using Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces 3.4

Robert Kratky

Fabrice Flore-Thébault

Red Hat Developer Group Documentation Team

Abstract

Information for users using Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces.

Chapter 1. Adopting Dev Spaces

To get started with adopting OpenShift Dev Spaces for your organization, you can read the following:

1.1. Developer workspaces

Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces provides developer workspaces with everything you need to code, build, test, run, and debug applications:

  • Project source code
  • Web-based integrated development environment (IDE)
  • Tool dependencies needed by developers to work on a project
  • Application runtime: a replica of the environment where the application runs in production

Pods manage each component of a OpenShift Dev Spaces workspace. Therefore, everything running in a OpenShift Dev Spaces workspace is running inside containers. This makes a OpenShift Dev Spaces workspace highly portable.

The embedded browser-based IDE is the point of access for everything running in a OpenShift Dev Spaces workspace.

1.1.1. Microsoft Visual Studio Code - Open Source

Microsoft Visual Studio Code - Open Source is the default browser-based IDE.

OpenShift Dev Spaces adds these features:

Open VSX registry
The IDE uses the Open VSX registry to list and download extensions. The OpenShift Dev Spaces administrator can configure the Open VSX registry URL.
Recommended extensions
The IDE installs automatically the recommended extensions.

OpenShift Dev Spaces adds these extensions:

Commands

Translates Devfile commands to Microsoft Visual Studio Code - Open Source tasks.

Procedure

  • To see the drop-down list of available tasks, type: F1 Tasks: Run Task Enter che.
Activity tracker
Tracks events provided by the Microsoft Visual Studio Code - Open Source to determine and stop inactive workspaces. This extension does not save, collect, or store data.
API
Provides helpers to interact with Dev Workspace and OpenShift Dev Spaces.
GitHub authentication
Provides support for authenticating to GitHub. It registers the github Authentication Provider that can be leveraged by other extensions. This also provides the GitHub authentication used by Settings Sync.
Port

Detects opening ports and provides redirect URI. When a process starts listening to a port, OpenShift Dev Spaces displays a notification with a link to open the resulting resource.

Procedure

  • To display the endpoint list, type: F1 Explorer: Focus on endpoints View Enter.
Remote
Provides commands for the remote authority.
Resource monitor
Monitors resources such as CPU and RAM.
Telemetry

Detects and sends the following events to a backend telemetry plugin listening on http://localhost:${DEVWORKSPACE_TELEMETRY_BACKEND_PORT}:

WORKSPACE_OPENED
Sent when the telemetry extension activates
EDITOR_USED
Sent on the vscode.workspace.onDidChangeTextDocument event
Terminal
Opens a terminal to a Dev Workspace container.

1.2. Stack samples

To demonstrate the capabilities of Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces as remote development environment, Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces contains stack samples using various programming languages. Each sample includes a devfile and you can use them as a reference to bootstrap a new project. You can customize the samples if you are a OpenShift Dev Spaces administrator.

Table 1.1. Supported languages

LanguageBuilders, runtimes, and databasesMaturity

Apache Camel K

  • Red Hat Fuse

GA

Java

  • OpenJDK 11
  • Maven 3.6
  • Gradle 6.1
  • Quarkus Tools
  • Lombok 1.18
  • JBoss EAP 7.4
  • JBoss EAP XP 3.0

GA

Node.js

  • Node.js 16
  • NPM 8
  • Express
  • MongoDB 3.6

GA

Python

  • Python 3.8
  • Pip 22.2

GA

C/C++

  • GCC
  • cmake
  • make

Technology preview

C#

  • Dotnet 3.1 on AMD64 and Intel 64 (x86_64)
  • Dotnet 6.0 on AMD64 and Intel 64 (x86_64), and IBM Z (s390x)

Technology preview

Go

  • Golang

Technology preview

PHP

  • CakePHP
  • Composer

Technology preview

1.3. Badge for first-time contributors

To enable a first-time contributor to start a workspace with a project, add a badge with a link to your OpenShift Dev Spaces instance.

Figure 1.1. Factory badge

Procedure

  1. Substitute your OpenShift Dev Spaces URL ("https://devspaces-&lt;openshift_deployment_name&gt;.&lt;domain_name&gt;") and repository URL (<your_repository_url>), and add the link to your repository in the project README.md file.

    [![Contribute](https://www.eclipse.org/che/contribute.svg)]("https://devspaces-&lt;openshift_deployment_name&gt;.&lt;domain_name&gt;"/#https://<your_repository_url>)
  2. The README.md file in your Git provider web interface displays the factory badge. Click the badge to open a workspace with your project in your OpenShift Dev Spaces instance.

1.4. Reviewing pull and merge requests

Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces workspace contains all tools you need to review pull and merge requests from start to finish. By clicking a OpenShift Dev Spaces link, you get access to Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces-supported web IDE with a ready-to-use workspace where you can run a linter, unit tests, the build and more.

Prerequisites

  • You have access to the repository hosted by your Git provider.
  • You have access to a OpenShift Dev Spaces instance.

Procedure

  1. Open the feature branch to review in OpenShift Dev Spaces. A clone of the branch opens in a workspace with tools for debugging and testing.
  2. Check the pull or merge request changes.
  3. Run your desired debugging and testing tools:

    • Run a linter.
    • Run unit tests.
    • Run the build.
    • Run the application to check for problems.
  4. Navigate to UI of your Git provider to leave comment and pull or merge your assigned request.

Verification

  • (optional) Open a second workspace using the main branch of the repository to reproduce a problem.

Chapter 2. User onboarding

If your organization is already running a OpenShift Dev Spaces instance, you can get started as a new user by learning how to start a new workspace, manage your workspaces, and authenticate yourself to a Git server from a workspace:

2.1. Starting a new workspace with a clone of a Git repository

Working with OpenShift Dev Spaces in your browser involves multiple URLs:

  • The URL of your organization’s OpenShift Dev Spaces instance, used as part of all the following URLs
  • The URL of the Workspaces page of your OpenShift Dev Spaces dashboard with the workspace control panel
  • The URLs for starting a new workspace
  • The URLs of your workspaces in use

With OpenShift Dev Spaces, you can visit a URL in your browser to start a new workspace that contains a clone of a Git repository. This way, you can clone a Git repository that is hosted on GitHub, a GitLab instance, or a Bitbucket server.

Tip

You can also use the Git Repo URL * field on the Create Workspace page of your OpenShift Dev Spaces dashboard to enter the URL of a Git repository to start a new workspace.

Prerequisites

  • Your organization has a running instance of OpenShift Dev Spaces.
  • You know the FQDN URL of your organization’s OpenShift Dev Spaces instance: "https://devspaces-&lt;openshift_deployment_name&gt;.&lt;domain_name&gt;".
  • Optional: You have authentication to the Git server configured.
  • Your Git repository maintainer keeps the devfile.yaml or .devfile.yaml file in the root directory of the Git repository. (For alternative file names and file paths, see Section 2.2, “Optional parameters for the URLs for starting a new workspace”.)

    Tip

    You can also start a new workspace by supplying the URL of a Git repository that contains no devfile. Doing so results in a workspace with Universal Developer Image and with Microsoft Visual Studio Code - Open Source as the workspace IDE.

Procedure

To start a new workspace with a clone of a Git repository:

  1. Optional: Visit your OpenShift Dev Spaces dashboard pages to authenticate to your organization’s instance of OpenShift Dev Spaces.
  2. Visit the URL to start a new workspace using the basic syntax:

    "https://devspaces-&lt;openshift_deployment_name&gt;.&lt;domain_name&gt;"#<git_repository_url>
    Tip

    You can extend this URL with optional parameters:

    "https://devspaces-&lt;openshift_deployment_name&gt;.&lt;domain_name&gt;"#<git_repository_url>?<optional_parameters> 1

    Example 2.1. A URL for starting a new workspace

    "https://devspaces-&lt;openshift_deployment_name&gt;.&lt;domain_name&gt;"#https://github.com/che-samples/cpp-hello-world

    Example 2.2. The URL syntax for starting a new workspace with a clone of a GitHub-hosted repository

    With GitHub and GitLab, you can even use the URL of a specific branch of the repository to be cloned:

    • "https://devspaces-&lt;openshift_deployment_name&gt;.&lt;domain_name&gt;"#https://github.com/<user_or_org>/<repository> starts a new workspace with a clone of the default branch.
    • "https://devspaces-&lt;openshift_deployment_name&gt;.&lt;domain_name&gt;"#https://github.com/<user_or_org>/<repository>/tree/<branch_name> starts a new workspace with a clone of the specified branch.
    • "https://devspaces-&lt;openshift_deployment_name&gt;.&lt;domain_name&gt;"#https://github.com/<user_or_org>/<repository>/pull/<pull_request_id> starts a new workspace with a clone of the branch of the pull request.

    After you enter the URL to start a new workspace in a browser tab, it renders the workspace-starting page.

    When the new workspace is ready, the workspace IDE loads in the browser tab.

    A clone of the Git repository is present in the filesystem of the new workspace.

    The workspace has a unique URL: "https://devspaces-&lt;openshift_deployment_name&gt;.&lt;domain_name&gt;"#workspace<unique_url>.

Tip

Although this is not possible in the address bar, you can add a URL for starting a new workspace as a bookmark by using the browser bookmark manager:

  • In Mozilla Firefox, go to > Bookmarks > Manage bookmarks Ctrl+Shift+O > Bookmarks Toolbar > Organize > Add bookmark.
  • In Google Chrome, go to > Bookmarks > Bookmark manager > Bookmarks bar > > Add new bookmark.

2.2. Optional parameters for the URLs for starting a new workspace

When you start a new workspace, OpenShift Dev Spaces configures the workspace according to the instructions in the devfile. When you use a URL to start a new workspace, you can append optional parameters to the URL that further configure the workspace. You can use these parameters to specify a workspace IDE, start duplicate workspaces, and specify a devfile file name or path.

2.2.1. URL parameter concatenation

The URL for starting a new workspace supports concatenation of multiple optional URL parameters by using & with the following URL syntax:

"https://devspaces-&lt;openshift_deployment_name&gt;.&lt;domain_name&gt;"#<git_repository_url>?<url_parameter_1>&<url_parameter_2>&<url_parameter_3>

Example 2.3. A URL for starting a new workspace with the URL of a Git repository and optional URL parameters

The complete URL for the browser:

"https://devspaces-&lt;openshift_deployment_name&gt;.&lt;domain_name&gt;"#https://github.com/che-samples/cpp-hello-world?new&che-editor=che-incubator/intellij-community/latest&devfilePath=tests/testdevfile.yaml

Explanation of the parts of the URL:

"https://devspaces-&lt;openshift_deployment_name&gt;.&lt;domain_name&gt;" 1
#https://github.com/che-samples/cpp-hello-world 2
?new&che-editor=che-incubator/intellij-community/latest&devfilePath=tests/testdevfile.yaml 3
1
OpenShift Dev Spaces URL.
2
The URL of the Git repository to be cloned into the new workspace.
3
The concatenated optional URL parameters.

2.2.2. URL parameter for the workspace IDE

If the URL for starting a new workspace doesn’t contain a URL parameter specifying the integrated development environment (IDE), the workspace loads with the default in-browser IDE, which is Microsoft Visual Studio Code - Open Source.

The URL parameter for specifying another supported IDE is che-editor=<editor_key>:

"https://devspaces-&lt;openshift_deployment_name&gt;.&lt;domain_name&gt;"#<git_repository_url>?che-editor=<editor_key>
Note

The workspace IDE might be already set for a remote Git repository in the che-editor.yaml file of the repository.

Table 2.1. The URL parameter <editor_key> values for supported IDEs

IDE<editor_key> valueNote

Microsoft Visual Studio Code - Open Source

che-incubator/che-code/insiders

This is the default IDE that loads in a new workspace when the URL parameter or che-editor.yaml is not used.

JetBrains IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition

che-incubator/che-idea/latest

Technology Preview.

Eclipse Theia

eclipse/che-theia/latest

Deprecated and will be removed in a future release.

2.2.3. URL parameter for starting duplicate workspaces

Visiting a URL for starting a new workspace results in a new workspace according to the devfile and with a clone of the linked Git repository.

In some situations, you might need to have multiple workspaces that are duplicates in terms of the devfile and the linked Git repository. You can do this by visiting the same URL for starting a new workspace with a URL parameter.

The URL parameter for starting a duplicate workspace is new:

"https://devspaces-&lt;openshift_deployment_name&gt;.&lt;domain_name&gt;"#<git_repository_url>?new
Note

If you currently have a workspace that you started using a URL, then visiting the URL again without the new URL parameter results in an error message.

2.2.4. URL parameter for the devfile file name

When you visit a URL for starting a new workspace, OpenShift Dev Spaces searches the linked Git repository for a devfile with the file name .devfile.yaml or devfile.yaml. The devfile in the linked Git repository must follow this file-naming convention.

In some situations, you might need to specify a different, unconventional file name for the devfile.

The URL parameter for specifying an unconventional file name of the devfile is df=<filename>.yaml:

"https://devspaces-&lt;openshift_deployment_name&gt;.&lt;domain_name&gt;"#<git_repository_url>?df=<filename>.yaml 1
1
<filename>.yaml is an unconventional file name of the devfile in the linked Git repository.
Tip

The df=<filename>.yaml parameter also has a long version: devfilePath=<filename>.yaml.

2.2.5. URL parameter for the devfile file path

When you visit a URL for starting a new workspace, OpenShift Dev Spaces searches the root directory of the linked Git repository for a devfile with the file name .devfile.yaml or devfile.yaml. The file path of the devfile in the linked Git repository must follow this path convention.

In some situations, you might need to specify a different, unconventional file path for the devfile in the linked Git repository.

The URL parameter for specifying an unconventional file path of the devfile is devfilePath=<relative_file_path>:

"https://devspaces-&lt;openshift_deployment_name&gt;.&lt;domain_name&gt;"#<git_repository_url>?devfilePath=<relative_file_path> 1
1
<relative_file_path> is an unconventional file path of the devfile in the linked Git repository.

2.2.6. URL parameter for the workspace storage

If the URL for starting a new workspace does not contain a URL parameter specifying the storage type, the new workspace is created in ephemeral or persistent storage, whichever is defined as the default storage type in the CheCluster Custom Resource.

The URL parameter for specifying a storage type for a workspace is storageType=<storage_type>:

"https://devspaces-&lt;openshift_deployment_name&gt;.&lt;domain_name&gt;"#<git_repository_url>?storageType=<storage_type> 1
1
Possible <storage_type> values:
  • ephemeral
  • per-user (persistent)
  • per-workspace (persistent)
Tip

With the ephemeral or per-workspace storage type, you can run multiple workspaces concurrently, which is not possible with the default per-user storage type.

2.2.7. URL parameter for additional remotes

When you visit a URL for starting a new workspace, OpenShift Dev Spaces configures the origin remote to be the Git repository that you specified with # after the FQDN URL of your organization’s OpenShift Dev Spaces instance.

The URL parameter for cloning and configuring additional remotes for the workspace is remotes=:

"https://devspaces-&lt;openshift_deployment_name&gt;.&lt;domain_name&gt;"#<git_repository_url>?remotes={{<name_1>,<url_1>},{<name_2>,<url_2>},{<name_3>,<url_3>},...}
Important
  • If you do not enter the name origin for any of the additional remotes, the remote from <git_repository_url> will be cloned and named origin by default, and its expected branch will be checked out automatically.
  • If you enter the name origin for one of the additional remotes, its default branch will be checked out automatically, but the remote from <git_repository_url> will NOT be cloned for the workspace.

2.3. Basic actions you can perform on a workspace

You manage your workspaces and verify their current states in the Workspaces page ("https://devspaces-&lt;openshift_deployment_name&gt;.&lt;domain_name&gt;"/dashboard/#/workspaces) of your OpenShift Dev Spaces dashboard.

After you start a new workspace, you can perform the following actions on it in the Workspaces page:

Table 2.2. Basic actions you can perform on a workspace

ActionGUI steps in the Workspaces page

Reopen a running workspace

Click Open.

Restart a running workspace

Go to > Restart Workspace.

Stop a running workspace

Go to > Stop Workspace.

Start a stopped workspace

Click Open.

Delete a workspace

Go to > Delete Workspace.

2.4. Authenticating to a Git server from a workspace

In a workspace, you can run Git commands that require user authentication like cloning a remote private Git repository or pushing to a remote public or private Git repository.

User authentication to a Git server from a workspace is configured by the administrator or, in some cases, by the individual user:

Chapter 3. Customizing workspace components

To customize workspace components:

Chapter 4. Introduction to devfile in Dev Spaces

Devfiles are yaml text files used for development environment customization. Use them to configure a devfile to suit your specific needs and share the customized devfile across multiple workspaces to ensure identical user experience and build, run, and deploy behaviours across your team.

Devfile and Universal Developer Image

You do not need a devfile to start a workspace. If you do not include a devfile in your project repository, Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces automatically loads a default devfile with a Universal Developer Image (UDI).

OpenShift Dev Spaces devfile registry

OpenShift Dev Spaces devfile registry contains ready-to-use devfiles for different languages and technologies.

Note

Devfiles included in the registry are specific to Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces and should be treated as samples rather than templates. They might require updates to work with other versions of the components featured in the samples.

Chapter 5. Selecting a workspace IDE

The default in-browser IDE in a new workspace is Microsoft Visual Studio Code - Open Source.

Note

Because the OpenShift Dev Spaces build of Microsoft Visual Studio Code - Open Source supports custom branding, your organization might be using a branded build.

You can select another supported in-browser IDE by either method:

Table 5.1. Supported in-browser IDEs

IDEidNote

Microsoft Visual Studio Code - Open Source

che-incubator/che-code/insiders

This is the default IDE that loads in a new workspace when the URL parameter or che-editor.yaml is not used.

JetBrains IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition

che-incubator/che-idea/latest

Technology Preview.

Eclipse Theia

eclipse/che-theia/latest

Deprecated and will be removed in a future release.

5.1. Selecting an in-browser IDE for one new workspace

You can select your preferred in-browser IDE when using a URL for starting a new workspace. This way, each developer using OpenShift Dev Spaces can start a workspace with a clone of the same project repository and the personal choice of the in-browser IDE.

Procedure

  1. Include the Section 2.2.2, “URL parameter for the workspace IDE” in the URL for starting a new workspace.
  2. Visit the URL in the browser.

Verification

  • Verify that the selected in-browser IDE loads in the browser tab of the started workspace.

5.2. Selecting an in-browser IDE for all workspaces that clone the same Git repository

5.2.1. Setting up che-editor.yaml

To define the same in-browser IDE for all workspaces that will clone the same remote Git repository of your project, you can use the che-editor.yaml file.

This way, you can set a common default editor for your team and provide new contributors with the most suitable editor for your project. You can also use the che-editor.yaml file when you need to set a different IDE default for a particular project repository rather than the default IDE of your organization’s OpenShift Dev Spaces instance.

Procedure

  • In the remote Git repository of your project, create a /.che/che-editor.yaml file with lines that specify the relevant parameter, as described in the next section.

Verification

  1. Visit the URL for starting a new workspace.
  2. Verify that the selected in-browser IDE loads in the browser tab of the started workspace.

5.2.2. Parameters for che-editor.yaml

The simplest way to select an IDE in the che-editor.yaml is to specify the id of an IDE that is available in the table of supported in-browser IDEs in Chapter 5, Selecting a workspace IDE:

Example 5.1. id selects an IDE from the plugin registry

id: che-incubator/che-idea/latest

As alternatives to providing the id parameter, the che-editor.yaml file supports a reference to the URL of another che-editor.yaml file or an inline definition for an IDE outside of a plugin registry:

Example 5.2. reference points to a remote che-editor.yaml file

reference: https://<hostname_and_path_to_a_remote_file>/che-editor.yaml

Example 5.3. inline specifies a complete definition for a customized IDE without a plugin registry

inline:
  schemaVersion: 2.1.0
  metadata:
    name: JetBrains IntelliJ IDEA Community IDE
  components:
    - name: intellij
      container:
        image: 'quay.io/che-incubator/che-idea:next'
        volumeMounts:
          - name: projector-user
            path: /home/projector-user
        mountSources: true
        memoryLimit: 2048M
        memoryRequest: 32Mi
        cpuLimit: 1500m
        cpuRequest: 100m
        endpoints:
          - name: intellij
            attributes:
              type: main
              cookiesAuthEnabled: true
              urlRewriteSupported: true
              discoverable: false
              path: /?backgroundColor=434343&wss
            targetPort: 8887
            exposure: public
            secure: false
            protocol: https
      attributes: {}
    - name: projector-user
      volume: {}

For more complex scenarios, the che-editor.yaml file supports the registryUrl and override parameters:

Example 5.4. registryUrl points to a custom plugin registry rather than to the default OpenShift Dev Spaces plugin registry

id: <editor_id> 1
registryUrl: <url_of_custom_plugin_registry>
1
The id of the IDE in the custom plugin registry.

Example 5.5. override of the default value of one or more defined properties of the IDE

... 1
override:
  containers:
    - name: che-idea
      memoryLimit: 1280Mi
      cpuLimit: 1510m
      cpuRequest: 102m
    ...
1
id:, registryUrl:, or reference:.

Chapter 6. Using credentials and configurations in workspaces

You can use your credentials and configurations in your workspaces.

To do so, mount your credentials and configurations to the Dev Workspace containers in the OpenShift cluster of your organization’s OpenShift Dev Spaces instance:

  • Mount your credentials and sensitive configurations as Kubernetes Secrets.
  • Mount your non-sensitve configurations as Kubernetes ConfigMaps.

If you need to allow the Dev Workspace Pods in the cluster to access container registries that require authentication, create an image pull Secret for the Dev Workspace Pods.

The mounting process uses the standard Kubernetes mounting mechanism and requires applying additional labels and annotations to your existing resources. Resources are mounted when starting a new workspace or restarting an existing one.

You can create permanent mount points for various components:

6.1. Mounting Secrets

To mount confidential data into your workspaces, use Kubernetes Secrets.

Using Kubernetes Secrets, you can mount usernames, passwords, SSH key pairs, authentication tokens (for example, for AWS), and sensitive configurations.

Mount Kubernetes Secrets to the Dev Workspace containers in the OpenShift cluster of your organization’s OpenShift Dev Spaces instance.

Prerequisites

  • An active oc session with administrative permissions to the destination OpenShift cluster. See Getting started with the CLI.
  • In your user project, you created a new Secret or determined an existing Secret to mount to all Dev Workspace containers.

Procedure

  1. Add the labels, which are required for mounting the Secret, to the Secret.

    $ oc label secret <Secret_name> \
            controller.devfile.io/mount-to-devworkspace=true \
            controller.devfile.io/watch-secret=true
  2. Optional: Use the annotations to configure how the Secret is mounted.

    Table 6.1. Optional annotations

    AnnotationDescription

    controller.devfile.io/mount-path:

    Specifies the mount path.

    Defaults to /etc/secret/<Secret_name>.

    controller.devfile.io/mount-as:

    Specifies how the resource should be mounted: file, subpath, or env.

    Defaults to file.

    mount-as: file mounts the keys and values as files within the mount path.

    mount-as: subpath mounts the keys and values within the mount path using subpath volume mounts.

    mount-as: env mounts the keys and values as environment variables in all Dev Workspace containers.

Example 6.1. Mounting a Secret as a file

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: mvn-settings-secret
  labels:
    controller.devfile.io/mount-to-devworkspace: 'true'
    controller.devfile.io/watch-secret: 'true'
  annotations:
    controller.devfile.io/mount-path: '/home/user/.m2'
data:
  settings.xml: <Base64_encoded_content>

When you start a workspace, the /home/user/.m2/settings.xml file will be available in the Dev Workspace containers.

With Maven, you can set a custom path for the settings.xml file. For example:

$ mvn --settings /home/user/.m2/settings.xml clean install

6.1.1. Creating image pull Secrets

To allow the Dev Workspace Pods in the OpenShift cluster of your organization’s OpenShift Dev Spaces instance to access container registries that require authentication, create an image pull Secret.

You can create image pull Secrets by using oc or a .dockercfg file or a config.json file.

6.1.1.1. Creating an image pull Secret with oc

Prerequisites

Procedure

  1. In your user project, create an image pull Secret with your private container registry details and credentials:

    $ oc create secret docker-registry <Secret_name> \
        --docker-server=<registry_server> \
        --docker-username=<username> \
        --docker-password=<password> \
        --docker-email=<email_address>
  2. Add the following label to the image pull Secret:

    $ oc label secret <Secret_name> controller.devfile.io/devworkspace_pullsecret=true controller.devfile.io/watch-secret=true

6.1.1.2. Creating an image pull Secret from a .dockercfg file

If you already store the credentials for the private container registry in a .dockercfg file, you can use that file to create an image pull Secret.

Prerequisites

  • An active oc session with administrative permissions to the destination OpenShift cluster. See Getting started with the CLI.
  • base64 command line tools are installed in the operating system you are using.

Procedure

  1. Encode the .dockercfg file to Base64:

    $ cat .dockercfg | base64 | tr -d '\n'
  2. Create a new OpenShift Secret in your user project:

    apiVersion: v1
    kind: Secret
    metadata:
      name: <Secret_name>
      labels:
        controller.devfile.io/devworkspace_pullsecret: 'true'
        controller.devfile.io/watch-secret: 'true'
    data:
      .dockercfg: <Base64_content_of_.dockercfg>
    type: kubernetes.io/dockercfg
  3. Apply the Secret:

    $ oc apply -f - <<EOF
    <Secret_prepared_in_the_previous_step>
    EOF

6.1.1.3. Creating an image pull Secret from a config.json file

If you already store the credentials for the private container registry in a $HOME/.docker/config.json file, you can use that file to create an image pull Secret.

Prerequisites

  • An active oc session with administrative permissions to the destination OpenShift cluster. See Getting started with the CLI.
  • base64 command line tools are installed in the operating system you are using.

Procedure

  1. Encode the $HOME/.docker/config.json file to Base64.

    $ cat config.json | base64 | tr -d '\n'
  2. Create a new OpenShift Secret in your user project:

    apiVersion: v1
    kind: Secret
    metadata:
      name: <Secret_name>
      labels:
        controller.devfile.io/devworkspace_pullsecret: 'true'
        controller.devfile.io/watch-secret: 'true'
    data:
      .dockerconfigjson: <Base64_content_of_config.json>
    type: kubernetes.io/dockerconfigjson
  3. Apply the Secret:

    $ oc apply -f - <<EOF
    <Secret_prepared_in_the_previous_step>
    EOF

6.1.2. Using a Git-provider access token

OAuth for GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket needs to be configured by the administrator of your organization’s OpenShift Dev Spaces instance. If your administrator could not configure it for OpenShift Dev Spaces users, the workaround is for you to apply your personal access token as a Kubernetes Secret.

Mounting your access token as a Secret enables the OpenShift Dev Spaces Server to access the remote repository that is cloned during workspace creation, including access to the repository’s /.che and /.vscode folders.

Apply the Secret in your user project of the OpenShift cluster of your organization’s OpenShift Dev Spaces instance.

After applying the Secret, you can create new workspaces from a private GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket-server repository.

You can create and apply multiple access-token Secrets per a Git provider. You must apply each of those Secrets in your user project.

Prerequisites

  • You have cluster administrator permissions for the cluster on which your organization’s OpenShift Dev Spaces instance is running.
  • You have logged in to the cluster.

    Tip

    On OpenShift, you can use the oc command-line tool to log in to the cluster:

    $ oc login "https://devspaces-&lt;openshift_deployment_name&gt;.&lt;domain_name&gt;" --username=<my_user>

Procedure

  1. Generate your access token on your Git provider’s website.
  2. Encode your access token to Base64.

    Tip

    If you have the base64 command-line tools installed in the operating system, you can use the command line:

    $ echo -n '<your_access_token_string>' | base64

  3. Visit "https://devspaces-&lt;openshift_deployment_name&gt;.&lt;domain_name&gt;"/api/user in the web browser and copy the id value from the response. This is your OpenShift Dev Spaces user ID.
  4. Get your Git provider user ID by following the Git provider’s API documentation:

    • GitHub: Get a user. See the id value in the response.
    • GitLab: List users: For normal users, use the username filter: /users?username=:username. See the id value in the response.
    • Bitbucket Server: Get users. See the id value in the response.
  5. Prepare a new OpenShift Secret.

    kind: Secret
    apiVersion: v1
    metadata:
      name: personal-access-token-<your_choice_of_name_for_this_token>
      labels:
        app.kubernetes.io/component: scm-personal-access-token
        app.kubernetes.io/part-of: che.eclipse.org
      annotations:
        che.eclipse.org/che-userid: <devspaces_user_id>1
        che.eclipse.org/scm-personal-access-token-name: <git_provider_name>2
        che.eclipse.org/scm-url: <git_provider_endpoint>3
        che.eclipse.org/scm-userid: '<git_provider_user_id>'4
        che.eclipse.org/scm-username: <git_provider_username>
    data:
      token: <Base64_encoded_access_token>
    type: Opaque
    1
    Your OpenShift Dev Spaces user ID.
    2
    The Git provider name: github or gitlab or bitbucket-server.
    3
    The Git provider URL.
    4
    Your Git provider user ID.
  6. Visit "https://devspaces-&lt;openshift_deployment_name&gt;.&lt;domain_name&gt;"/api/kubernetes/namespace to get your OpenShift Dev Spaces user namespace as name.
  7. Switch to your OpenShift Dev Spaces user namespace in the cluster.

    Tip

    On OpenShift:

    • The oc command-line tool can return the namespace you are currently on in the cluster, which you can use to check your current namespace:

      $ oc project

    • You can switch to your OpenShift Dev Spaces user namespace on a command line if needed:

      $ oc project <your_user_namespace>

  8. Apply the Secret.

    Tip

    On OpenShift, you can use the oc command-line tool:

    $ oc apply -f - <<EOF
    <Secret_prepared_in_step_5>
    EOF

Verification

  1. Start a new workspace by using the URL of a remote Git repository that the Git provider hosts.
  2. Make some changes and push to the remote Git repository from the workspace.

6.2. Mounting ConfigMaps

To mount non-confidential configuration data into your workspaces, use Kubernetes ConfigMaps.

Using Kubernetes ConfigMaps, you can mount non-sensitive data such as configuration values for an application.

Mount Kubernetes ConfigMaps to the Dev Workspace containers in the OpenShift cluster of your organization’s OpenShift Dev Spaces instance.

Prerequisites

  • An active oc session with administrative permissions to the destination OpenShift cluster. See Getting started with the CLI.
  • In your user project, you created a new ConfigMap or determined an existing ConfigMap to mount to all Dev Workspace containers.

Procedure

  1. Add the labels, which are required for mounting the ConfigMap, to the ConfigMap.

    $ oc label configmap <ConfigMap_name> \
            controller.devfile.io/mount-to-devworkspace=true \
            controller.devfile.io/watch-configmap=true
  2. Optional: Use the annotations to configure how the ConfigMap is mounted.

    Table 6.2. Optional annotations

    AnnotationDescription

    controller.devfile.io/mount-path:

    Specifies the mount path.

    Defaults to /etc/config/<ConfigMap_name>.

    controller.devfile.io/mount-as:

    Specifies how the resource should be mounted: file, subpath, or env.

    Defaults to file.

    mount-as:file mounts the keys and values as files within the mount path.

    mount-as:subpath mounts the keys and values within the mount path using subpath volume mounts.

    mount-as:env mounts the keys and values as environment variables in all Dev Workspace containers.

Example 6.2. Mounting a ConfigMap as environment variables

kind: ConfigMap
apiVersion: v1
metadata:
  name: my-settings
  labels:
    controller.devfile.io/mount-to-devworkspace: 'true'
    controller.devfile.io/watch-configmap: 'true'
  annotations:
    controller.devfile.io/mount-as: env
data:
  <env_var_1>: <value_1>
  <env_var_2>: <value_2>

When you start a workspace, the <env_var_1> and <env_var_2> environment variables will be available in the Dev Workspace containers.

6.3. Enabling artifact repositories in a restricted environment

By configuring technology stacks, you can work with artifacts from in-house repositories using self-signed certificates:

6.3.1. Maven

You can enable a Maven artifact repository in Maven workspaces that run in a restricted environment.

Prerequisites

  • You are not running any Maven workspace.
  • You know your user namespace, which is <username>-devspaces where <username> is your OpenShift Dev Spaces username.

Procedure

  1. In the <username>-devspaces namespace, apply the Secret for the TLS certificate:

    kind: Secret
    apiVersion: v1
    metadata:
      name: tls-cer
      annotations:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-path: /home/user/certs
        controller.devfile.io/mount-as: file
      labels:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-to-devworkspace: 'true'
        controller.devfile.io/watch-secret: 'true'
    data:
      tls.cer: >-
        <Base64_encoded_content_of_public_cert> 1
    1
    Base64 encoding with disabled line wrapping.
  2. In the <username>-devspaces namespace, apply the ConfigMap to create the settings.xml file:

    kind: ConfigMap
    apiVersion: v1
    metadata:
      name: settings-xml
      annotations:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-as: subpath
        controller.devfile.io/mount-path: /home/user/.m2
      labels:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-to-devworkspace: 'true'
        controller.devfile.io/watch-configmap: 'true'
    data:
      settings.xml: |
        <settings xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/SETTINGS/1.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
          xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/SETTINGS/1.0.0 https://maven.apache.org/xsd/settings-1.0.0.xsd">
          <localRepository/>
          <interactiveMode/>
          <offline/>
          <pluginGroups/>
          <servers/>
          <mirrors>
            <mirror>
              <id>redhat-ga-mirror</id>
              <name>Red Hat GA</name>
              <url>https://<maven_artifact_repository_route>/repository/redhat-ga/</url>
              <mirrorOf>redhat-ga</mirrorOf>
            </mirror>
            <mirror>
              <id>maven-central-mirror</id>
              <name>Maven Central</name>
              <url>https://<maven_artifact_repository_route>/repository/maven-central/</url>
              <mirrorOf>maven-central</mirrorOf>
            </mirror>
            <mirror>
              <id>jboss-public-repository-mirror</id>
              <name>JBoss Public Maven Repository</name>
              <url>https://<maven_artifact_repository_route>/repository/jboss-public/</url>
              <mirrorOf>jboss-public-repository</mirrorOf>
            </mirror>
          </mirrors>
          <proxies/>
          <profiles/>
          <activeProfiles/>
        </settings>
  3. Optional: When using EAP-based devfiles, apply a second settings-xml ConfigMap in the <username>-devspaces namespace, and with the same content, a different name, and the /home/jboss/.m2 mount path.
  4. In the <username>-devspaces namespace, apply the ConfigMap for the TrustStore initialization script:

    Java 8

    kind: ConfigMap
    apiVersion: v1
    metadata:
      name: init-truststore
      annotations:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-as: subpath
        controller.devfile.io/mount-path: /home/user/
      labels:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-to-devworkspace: 'true'
        controller.devfile.io/watch-configmap: 'true'
    data:
      init-java8-truststore.sh: |
        #!/usr/bin/env bash
    
        keytool -importcert -noprompt -file /home/user/certs/tls.cer -trustcacerts -keystore ~/.java/current/jre/lib/security/cacerts -storepass changeit

    Java 11

    kind: ConfigMap
    apiVersion: v1
    metadata:
      name: init-truststore
      annotations:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-as: subpath
        controller.devfile.io/mount-path: /home/user/
      labels:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-to-devworkspace: 'true'
        controller.devfile.io/watch-configmap: 'true'
    data:
      init-java11-truststore.sh: |
        #!/usr/bin/env bash
    
        keytool -importcert -noprompt -file /home/user/certs/tls.cer -cacerts -storepass changeit

  5. Start a Maven workspace.
  6. Open a new terminal in the tools container.
  7. Run ~/init-truststore.sh.

6.3.2. Gradle

You can enable a Gradle artifact repository in Gradle workspaces that run in a restricted environment.

Prerequisites

  • You are not running any Gradle workspace.

Procedure

  1. Apply the Secret for the TLS certificate:

    kind: Secret
    apiVersion: v1
    metadata:
      name: tls-cer
      annotations:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-path: /home/user/certs
        controller.devfile.io/mount-as: file
      labels:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-to-devworkspace: 'true'
        controller.devfile.io/watch-secret: 'true'
    data:
      tls.cer: >-
        <Base64_encoded_content_of_public_cert> 1
    1
    Base64 encoding with disabled line wrapping.
  2. Apply the ConfigMap for the TrustStore initialization script:

    kind: ConfigMap
    apiVersion: v1
    metadata:
      name: init-truststore
      annotations:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-as: subpath
        controller.devfile.io/mount-path: /home/user/
      labels:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-to-devworkspace: 'true'
        controller.devfile.io/watch-configmap: 'true'
    data:
      init-truststore.sh: |
        #!/usr/bin/env bash
    
        keytool -importcert -noprompt -file /home/user/certs/tls.cer -cacerts -storepass changeit
  3. Apply the ConfigMap for the Gradle init script:

    kind: ConfigMap
    apiVersion: v1
    metadata:
      name: init-gradle
      annotations:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-as: subpath
        controller.devfile.io/mount-path: /home/user/.gradle
      labels:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-to-devworkspace: 'true'
        controller.devfile.io/watch-configmap: 'true'
    data:
      init.gradle: |
        allprojects {
          repositories {
            mavenLocal ()
            maven {
              url "https://<gradle_artifact_repository_route>/repository/maven-public/"
              credentials {
                username "admin"
                password "passwd"
              }
            }
          }
        }
  4. Start a Gradle workspace.
  5. Open a new terminal in the tools container.
  6. Run ~/init-truststore.sh.

6.3.3. npm

You can enable an npm artifact repository in npm workspaces that run in a restricted environment.

Prerequisites

  • You are not running any npm workspace.
Warning

Applying a ConfigMap that sets environment variables might cause a workspace boot loop.

If you encounter this behavior, remove the ConfigMap and edit the devfile directly.

Procedure

  1. Apply the Secret for the TLS certificate:

    kind: Secret
    apiVersion: v1
    metadata:
      name: tls-cer
      annotations:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-path: /home/user/certs
        controller.devfile.io/mount-as: file
      labels:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-to-devworkspace: 'true'
        controller.devfile.io/watch-secret: 'true'
    data:
      tls.cer: >-
        <Base64_encoded_content_of_public_cert> 1
    1
    Base64 encoding with disabled line wrapping.
  2. Apply the ConfigMap to set the following environment variables in the tools container:

    kind: ConfigMap
    apiVersion: v1
    metadata:
      name: disconnected-env
      annotations:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-as: env
      labels:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-to-devworkspace: 'true'
        controller.devfile.io/watch-configmap: 'true'
    data:
      NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS: /home/user/certs/tls.cer
      NPM_CONFIG_REGISTRY: >-
        https://<npm_artifact_repository_route>/repository/npm-all/

6.3.4. Python

You can enable a Python artifact repository in Python workspaces that run in a restricted environment.

Prerequisites

  • You are not running any Python workspace.
Warning

Applying a ConfigMap that sets environment variables might cause a workspace boot loop.

If you encounter this behavior, remove the ConfigMap and edit the devfile directly.

Procedure

  1. Apply the Secret for the TLS certificate:

    kind: Secret
    apiVersion: v1
    metadata:
      name: tls-cer
      annotations:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-path: /home/user/certs
        controller.devfile.io/mount-as: file
      labels:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-to-devworkspace: 'true'
        controller.devfile.io/watch-secret: 'true'
    data:
      tls.cer: >-
        <Base64_encoded_content_of_public_cert> 1
    1
    Base64 encoding with disabled line wrapping.
  2. Apply the ConfigMap to set the following environment variables in the tools container:

    kind: ConfigMap
    apiVersion: v1
    metadata:
      name: disconnected-env
      annotations:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-as: env
      labels:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-to-devworkspace: 'true'
        controller.devfile.io/watch-configmap: 'true'
    data:
      PIP_INDEX_URL: >-
        https://<python_artifact_repository_route>/repository/pypi-all/
      PIP_CERT: /home/user/certs/tls.cer

6.3.5. Go

You can enable a Go artifact repository in Go workspaces that run in a restricted environment.

Prerequisites

  • You are not running any Go workspace.
Warning

Applying a ConfigMap that sets environment variables might cause a workspace boot loop.

If you encounter this behavior, remove the ConfigMap and edit the devfile directly.

Procedure

  1. Apply the Secret for the TLS certificate:

    kind: Secret
    apiVersion: v1
    metadata:
      name: tls-cer
      annotations:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-path: /home/user/certs
        controller.devfile.io/mount-as: file
      labels:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-to-devworkspace: 'true'
        controller.devfile.io/watch-secret: 'true'
    data:
      tls.cer: >-
        <Base64_encoded_content_of_public_cert> 1
    1
    Base64 encoding with disabled line wrapping.
  2. Apply the ConfigMap to set the following environment variables in the tools container:

    kind: ConfigMap
    apiVersion: v1
    metadata:
      name: disconnected-env
      annotations:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-as: env
      labels:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-to-devworkspace: 'true'
        controller.devfile.io/watch-configmap: 'true'
    data:
      GOPROXY: >-
        http://<athens_proxy_route>
      SSL_CERT_FILE: /home/user/certs/tls.cer

6.3.6. NuGet

You can enable a NuGet artifact repository in NuGet workspaces that run in a restricted environment.

Prerequisites

  • You are not running any NuGet workspace.
Warning

Applying a ConfigMap that sets environment variables might cause a workspace boot loop.

If you encounter this behavior, remove the ConfigMap and edit the devfile directly.

Procedure

  1. Apply the Secret for the TLS certificate:

    kind: Secret
    apiVersion: v1
    metadata:
      name: tls-cer
      annotations:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-path: /home/user/certs
        controller.devfile.io/mount-as: file
      labels:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-to-devworkspace: 'true'
        controller.devfile.io/watch-secret: 'true'
    data:
      tls.cer: >-
        <Base64_encoded_content_of_public_cert> 1
    1
    Base64 encoding with disabled line wrapping.
  2. Apply the ConfigMap to set the environment variable for the path of the TLS certificate file in the tools container:

    kind: ConfigMap
    apiVersion: v1
    metadata:
      name: disconnected-env
      annotations:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-as: env
      labels:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-to-devworkspace: 'true'
        controller.devfile.io/watch-configmap: 'true'
    data:
      SSL_CERT_FILE: /home/user/certs/tls.cer
  3. Apply the ConfigMap to create the nuget.config file:

    kind: ConfigMap
    apiVersion: v1
    metadata:
      name: init-nuget
      annotations:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-as: subpath
        controller.devfile.io/mount-path: /projects
      labels:
        controller.devfile.io/mount-to-devworkspace: 'true'
        controller.devfile.io/watch-configmap: 'true'
    data:
      nuget.config: |
        <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
        <configuration>
          <packageSources>
            <add key="nexus2" value="https://<nuget_artifact_repository_route>/repository/nuget-group/"/>
          </packageSources>
          <packageSourceCredentials>
            <nexus2>
                <add key="Username" value="admin" />
                <add key="Password" value="passwd" />
            </nexus2>
          </packageSourceCredentials>
        </configuration>

Chapter 7. Requesting persistent storage for workspaces

OpenShift Dev Spaces workspaces and workspace data are ephemeral and are lost when the workspace stops.

To preserve the workspace state in persistent storage while the workspace is stopped, request a Kubernetes PersistentVolume (PV) for the Dev Workspace containers in the OpenShift cluster of your organization’s OpenShift Dev Spaces instance.

You can request a PV by using the devfile or a Kubernetes PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC).

An example of a PV is the /projects/ directory of a workspace, which is mounted by default for non-ephemeral workspaces.

Persistent Volumes come at a cost: attaching a persistent volume slows workspace startup.

Warning

Starting another, concurrently running workspace with a ReadWriteOnce PV might fail.

7.1. Requesting persistent storage in a devfile

When a workspace requires its own persistent storage, request a PersistentVolume (PV) in the devfile, and OpenShift Dev Spaces will automatically manage the necessary PersistentVolumeClaims.

Prerequisites

  • You have not started the workspace.

Procedure

  1. Add a volume component in the devfile:

    ...
    components:
      ...
      - name: <chosen_volume_name>
        volume:
          size: <requested_volume_size>G
      ...
  2. Add a volumeMount for the relevant container in the devfile:

    ...
    components:
      - name: ...
        container:
          ...
          volumeMounts:
            - name: <chosen_volume_name_from_previous_step>
              path: <path_where_to_mount_the_PV>
          ...

Example 7.1. A devfile that provisions a PV for a workspace to a container

When a workspace is started with the following devfile, the cache PV is provisioned to the golang container in the ./cache container path:

schemaVersion: 2.1.0
metadata:
  name: mydevfile
components:
  - name: golang
    container:
      image: golang
      memoryLimit: 512Mi
      mountSources: true
      command: ['sleep', 'infinity']
      volumeMounts:
        - name: cache
          path: /.cache
  - name: cache
    volume:
      size: 2Gi

7.2. Requesting persistent storage in a PVC

You can opt to apply a PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC) to request a PersistentVolume (PV) for your workspaces in the following cases:

  • Not all developers of the project need the PV.
  • The PV lifecycle goes beyond the lifecycle of a single workspace.
  • The data included in the PV are shared across workspaces.
Tip

You can apply a PVC to the Dev Workspace containers even if the workspace is ephemeral and its devfile contains the controller.devfile.io/storage-type: ephemeral attribute.

Prerequisites

  • You have not started the workspace.
  • An active oc session with administrative permissions to the destination OpenShift cluster. See Getting started with the CLI.
  • A PVC is created in your user project to mount to all Dev Workspace containers.

Procedure

  1. Add the controller.devfile.io/mount-to-devworkspace: true label to the PVC.

    $ oc label persistentvolumeclaim <PVC_name> \ controller.devfile.io/mount-to-devworkspace=true
  2. Optional: Use the annotations to configure how the PVC is mounted:

    Table 7.1. Optional annotations

    AnnotationDescription

    controller.devfile.io/mount-path:

    The mount path for the PVC.

    Defaults to /tmp/<PVC_name>.

    controller.devfile.io/read-only:

    Set to 'true' or 'false' to specify whether the PVC is to be mounted as read-only.

    Defaults to 'false', resulting in the PVC mounted as read-write.

Example 7.2. Mounting a read-only PVC

apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  name: <pvc_name>
  labels:
    controller.devfile.io/mount-to-devworkspace: 'true'
  annotations:
    controller.devfile.io/mount-path: </example/directory> 1
spec:
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 3Gi 2
  volumeName: <pv_name>
  storageClassName: manual
  volumeMode: Filesystem
1
The mounted PV is available at </example/directory> in the workspace.
2
Example size value of the requested storage.

Chapter 8. Integrating with OpenShift

8.1. Managing workspaces with OpenShift APIs

On your organization’s OpenShift cluster, OpenShift Dev Spaces workspaces are represented as DevWorkspace custom resources of the same name. As a result, if there is a workspace named my-workspace in the OpenShift Dev Spaces dashboard, there is a corresponding DevWorkspace custom resource named my-workspace in the user’s project on the cluster.

Because each DevWorkspace custom resource on the cluster represents a OpenShift Dev Spaces workspace, you can manage OpenShift Dev Spaces workspaces by using OpenShift APIs with clients such as the command-line oc.

Each DevWorkspace custom resource contains details derived from the devfile of the Git repository cloned for the workspace. For example, a devfile might provide devfile commands and workspace container configurations.

8.1.1. Listing all workspaces

As a user, you can list your workspaces by using the command line.

Prerequisites

  • An active oc session with permissions to get the DevWorkspace resources in your project on the cluster. See Getting started with the CLI.
  • You know the relevant OpenShift Dev Spaces user namespace on the cluster.

    Tip

    You can visit "https://devspaces-&lt;openshift_deployment_name&gt;.&lt;domain_name&gt;"/api/kubernetes/namespace to get your OpenShift Dev Spaces user namespace as name.

  • You are in the OpenShift Dev Spaces user namespace on the cluster.

    Tip

    On OpenShift, you can use the command-line oc tool to display your current namespace or switch to a namespace.

Procedure

  • To list your workspaces, enter the following on a command line:

    $ oc get devworkspaces

    Example 8.1. Output

    NAMESPACE   NAME                 DEVWORKSPACE ID             PHASE     INFO
    user1-dev   spring-petclinic     workspace6d99e9ffb9784491   Running   https://url-to-workspace.com
    user1-dev   golang-example       workspacedf64e4a492cd4701   Stopped   Stopped
    user1-dev   python-hello-world   workspace69c26884bbc141f2   Failed    Container tooling has state CrashLoopBackOff
Tip

You can view PHASE changes live by adding the --watch flag to this command.

Note

Users with administrative permissions on the cluster can list all workspaces from all OpenShift Dev Spaces users by including the --all-namespaces flag.

8.1.2. Creating workspaces

If your use case does not permit use of the OpenShift Dev Spaces dashboard, you can create workspaces with OpenShift APIs by applying custom resources to the cluster.

Note

Creating workspaces through the OpenShift Dev Spaces dashboard provides better user experience and configuration benefits compared to using the command line:

  • As a user, you are automatically logged in to the cluster.
  • OpenShift clients work automatically.
  • OpenShift Dev Spaces and its components automatically convert the target Git repository’s devfile into the DevWorkspace and DevWorkspaceTemplate custom resources on the cluster.
  • Access to the workspace is secured by default with the routingClass: che in the DevWorkspace of the workspace.
  • Recognition of the DevWorkspaceOperatorConfig configuration is managed by OpenShift Dev Spaces.
  • Recognition of configurations in spec.devEnvironments specified in the CheCluster custom resource including:

    • Persistent storage strategy is specified with devEnvironments.storage.
    • Default IDE is specified with devEnvironments.defaultEditor.
    • Default plugins are specified with devEnvironments.defaultPlugins.
    • Container build configuration is specified with devEnvironments.containerBuildConfiguration.

Prerequisites

Procedure

  1. To prepare the DevWorkspace custom resource, copy the contents of the target Git repository’s devfile.

    Example 8.2. Copied devfile contents with schemaVersion: 2.2.0

    components:
      - name: tooling-container
        container:
          image: quay.io/devfile/universal-developer-image:ubi8-latest
    Tip

    For more details, see the devfile v2 documentation.

  2. Create a DevWorkspace custom resource, pasting the devfile contents from the previous step under the spec.template field.

    Example 8.3. A DevWorkspace custom resource

    kind: DevWorkspace
    apiVersion: workspace.devfile.io/v1alpha2
    metadata:
      name: my-devworkspace1
      namespace: user1-dev2
    spec:
      routingClass: che
      started: true3
      contributions:4
        - name: ide
          uri: "https://devspaces-&lt;openshift_deployment_name&gt;.&lt;domain_name&gt;"/plugin-registry/v3/plugins/che-incubator/che-code/insiders/devfile.yaml
      template:
        projects:5
          - name: my-project-name
            git:
              remotes:
                origin: https://github.com/eclipse-che/che-docs
        components:6
          - name: tooling-container
            container:
              image: quay.io/devfile/universal-developer-image:ubi8-latest
    1
    Name of the DevWorkspace custom resource. This will be the name of the new workspace.
    2
    User namespace, which is the target project for the new workspace.
    3
    Determines whether the workspace must be started when the DevWorkspace custom resource is created.
    4
    URL reference to the Microsoft Visual Studio Code - Open Source IDE devfile from the plugin registry.
    5
    Details about the Git repository to clone into the workspace when it starts.
    6
    List of components such as workspace containers and volume components.
  3. Apply the DevWorkspace custom resource to the cluster.

Verification

  1. Verify that the workspace is starting by checking the PHASE status of the DevWorkspace.

    $ oc get devworkspaces -n <user_project> --watch

    Example 8.4. Output

    NAMESPACE        NAME                  DEVWORKSPACE ID             PHASE      INFO
    user1-dev        my-devworkspace       workspacedf64e4a492cd4701   Starting   Waiting for workspace deployment
  2. When the workspace has successfully started, its PHASE status changes to Running in the output of the oc get devworkspaces command.

    Example 8.5. Output

    NAMESPACE            NAME                  DEVWORKSPACE ID             PHASE      INFO
    user1-dev            my-devworkspace       workspacedf64e4a492cd4701   Running    https://url-to-workspace.com

    You can then open the workspace by using one of these options:

    • Visit the URL provided in the INFO section of the output of the oc get devworkspaces command.
    • Open the workspace from the OpenShift Dev Spaces dashboard.

8.1.3. Stopping workspaces

You can stop a workspace by setting the spec.started field in the Devworkspace custom resource to false.

Prerequisites

  • An active oc session on the cluster. See Getting started with the CLI.
  • You know the workspace name.

    Tip

    You can find the relevant workspace name in the output of $ oc get devworkspaces.

  • You know the relevant OpenShift Dev Spaces user namespace on the cluster.

    Tip

    You can visit "https://devspaces-&lt;openshift_deployment_name&gt;.&lt;domain_name&gt;"/api/kubernetes/namespace to get your OpenShift Dev Spaces user namespace as name.

  • You are in the OpenShift Dev Spaces user namespace on the cluster.

    Tip

    On OpenShift, you can use the command-line oc tool to display your current namespace or switch to a namespace.

Procedure

  • Run the following command to stop a workspace:

    $ oc patch devworkspace <workspace_name> \
    -p '{"spec":{"started":false}}' \
    --type=merge -n <user_namespace> && \
    oc wait --for=jsonpath='{.status.phase}'=Stopped \
    dw/<workspace_name> -n <user_namespace>

8.1.4. Starting stopped workspaces

You can start a stopped workspace by setting the spec.started field in the Devworkspace custom resource to true.

Prerequisites

  • An active oc session on the cluster. See Getting started with the CLI.
  • You know the workspace name.

    Tip

    You can find the relevant workspace name in the output of $ oc get devworkspaces.

  • You know the relevant OpenShift Dev Spaces user namespace on the cluster.

    Tip

    You can visit "https://devspaces-&lt;openshift_deployment_name&gt;.&lt;domain_name&gt;"/api/kubernetes/namespace to get your OpenShift Dev Spaces user namespace as name.

  • You are in the OpenShift Dev Spaces user namespace on the cluster.

    Tip

    On OpenShift, you can use the command-line oc tool to display your current namespace or switch to a namespace.

Procedure

  • Run the following command to start a stopped workspace:

    $ oc patch devworkspace <workspace_name> \
    -p '{"spec":{"started":true}}' \
    --type=merge -n <user_namespace> && \
    oc wait --for=jsonpath='{.status.phase}'=Running \
    dw/<workspace_name> -n <user_namespace>

8.1.5. Removing workspaces

You can remove a workspace by simply deleting the DevWorkspace custom resource.

Warning

Deleting the DevWorkspace custom resource will also delete other workspace resources if they were created by OpenShift Dev Spaces: for example, the referenced DevWorkspaceTemplate and per-workspace PersistentVolumeClaims.

Tip

Remove workspaces by using the OpenShift Dev Spaces dashboard whenever possible.

Prerequisites

  • An active oc session on the cluster. See Getting started with the CLI.
  • You know the workspace name.

    Tip

    You can find the relevant workspace name in the output of $ oc get devworkspaces.

  • You know the relevant OpenShift Dev Spaces user namespace on the cluster.

    Tip

    You can visit "https://devspaces-&lt;openshift_deployment_name&gt;.&lt;domain_name&gt;"/api/kubernetes/namespace to get your OpenShift Dev Spaces user namespace as name.

  • You are in the OpenShift Dev Spaces user namespace on the cluster.

    Tip

    On OpenShift, you can use the command-line oc tool to display your current namespace or switch to a namespace.

Procedure

  • Run the following command to remove a workspace:

    $ oc delete devworkspace <workspace_name> -n <user_namespace>

8.2. Automatic OpenShift token injection

This section describes how to use the OpenShift user token that is automatically injected into workspace containers which allows running OpenShift Dev Spaces CLI commands against OpenShift cluster.

Procedure

  1. Open the OpenShift Dev Spaces dashboard and start a workspace.
  2. Once the workspace is started, open a terminal in the container that contains the OpenShift Dev Spaces CLI.
  3. Execute OpenShift Dev Spaces CLI commands which allow you to run commands against OpenShift cluster. CLI can be used for deploying applications, inspecting and managing cluster resources, and viewing logs. OpenShift user token will be used during the execution of the commands.

    Token Injection in IDE
Warning

The automatic token injection currently works only on the OpenShift infrastructure.

Chapter 9. Troubleshooting Dev Spaces

This section provides troubleshooting procedures for the most frequent issues a user can come in conflict with.

9.1. Viewing Dev Spaces workspaces logs

You can view OpenShift Dev Spaces logs to better understand and debug background processes should a problem occur.

An IDE extension misbehaves or needs debugging
The logs list the plugins that have been loaded by the editor.
The container runs out of memory
The logs contain an OOMKilled error message. Processes running in the container attempted to request more memory than is configured to be available to the container.
A process runs out of memory
The logs contain an error message such as OutOfMemoryException. A process inside the container ran out of memory without the container noticing.

9.1.1. Workspace logs in CLI

You can use the OpenShift CLI to observe the OpenShift Dev Spaces workspace logs.

Prerequisites

  • The OpenShift Dev Spaces workspace <workspace_name> is running.
  • Your OpenShift CLI session has access to the OpenShift project <namespace_name> containing this workspace.

Procedure

  • Get the logs from the pod running the <workspace_name> workspace in the <namespace_name> project:

    $ oc logs --follow --namespace='<workspace_namespace>' \
      --selector='controller.devfile.io/devworkspace_name=<workspace_name>'

9.1.2. Workspace logs in OpenShift console

You can use the OpenShift console to observe the OpenShift Dev Spaces workspace logs.

Procedure

  1. In the OpenShift Dev Spaces dashboard, go to Workspaces.
  2. Click on a workspace name to display the workspace overview page. This page displays the OpenShift project name <project_name>.
  3. Click on the upper right Applications menu, and click the OpenShift console link.
  4. Run the next steps in the OpenShift console, in the Administrator perspective.
  5. Click Workloads > Pods to see a list of all the active workspaces.
  6. In the Project drop-down menu, select the <project_name> project to narrow the search.
  7. Click on the name of the running pod that runs the workspace. The Details tab contains the list of all containers with additional information.
  8. Go to the Logs tab.

9.1.3. Language servers and debug adapters logs in the editor

In the Visual Studio Code editor running in your workspace, you can configure the installed language server and debug adapter extensions to view their logs.

Procedure

  1. Configure the extension: click File > Preferences > Settings, expand the Extensions section, search for your extension, and set the trace.server or similar configuration to verbose, if such configuration exists. Refer to the extension documentation for further configuration.
  2. View your language server logs by clicking ViewOutput, and selecting your language server in the drop-down list for the Output view.

Additional resources

9.2. Troubleshooting workspace start failures

Verbose mode allows users to reach an enlarged log output, investigating failures at a workspace start.

In addition to usual log entries, the Verbose mode also lists the container logs of each workspace.

9.2.1. Restarting a OpenShift Dev Spaces workspace in Verbose mode after start failure

This section describes how to restart a OpenShift Dev Spaces workspace in the Verbose mode after a failure during the workspace start. Dashboard proposes the restart of a workspace in the Verbose mode once the workspace fails at its start.

Prerequisites

  • A running instance of OpenShift Dev Spaces.
  • An existing workspace that fails to start.

Procedure

  1. Using Dashboard, try to start a workspace.
  2. When it fails to start, click on the displayed Open in Verbose mode link.
  3. Check the Logs tab to find a reason for the workspace failure.

9.2.2. Starting a OpenShift Dev Spaces workspace in Verbose mode

This section describes how to start the Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces workspace in Verbose mode.

Prerequisites

  • A running instance of Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces.
  • An existing workspace defined on this instance of OpenShift Dev Spaces.

Procedure

  1. Open the Workspaces tab.
  2. On the left side of a row dedicated to the workspace, access the drop-down menu displayed as three horizontal dots and select the Open in Verbose mode option. Alternatively, this option is also available in the workspace details, under the Actions drop-down menu.
  3. Check the Logs tab to find a reason for the workspace failure.

9.3. Troubleshooting slow workspaces

Sometimes, workspaces can take a long time to start. Tuning can reduce this start time. Depending on the options, administrators or users can do the tuning.

This section includes several tuning options for starting workspaces faster or improving workspace runtime performance.

9.3.1. Improving workspace start time

Caching images with Image Puller

Role: Administrator

When starting a workspace, OpenShift pulls the images from the registry. A workspace can include many containers meaning that OpenShift pulls Pod’s images (one per container). Depending on the size of the image and the bandwidth, it can take a long time.

Image Puller is a tool that can cache images on each of OpenShift nodes. As such, pre-pulling images can improve start times. See https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_openshift_dev_spaces/3.4/html-single/administration_guide/index#administration-guide:caching-images-for-faster-workspace-start.

Choosing better storage type

Role: Administrator and user

Every workspace has a shared volume attached. This volume stores the project files, so that when restarting a workspace, changes are still available. Depending on the storage, attach time can take up to a few minutes, and I/O can be slow.

Installing offline

Role: Administrator

Components of OpenShift Dev Spaces are OCI images. Set up Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces in offline mode to reduce any extra download at runtime because everything needs to be available from the beginning. See https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_openshift_dev_spaces/3.4/html-single/administration_guide/index#administration-guide:installing-che-in-a-restricted-environment.

Optimizing workspace plugins

Role: User

When selecting various plugins, each plugin can bring its own sidecar container, which is an OCI image. OpenShift pulls the images of these sidecar containers.

Reduce the number of plugins, or disable them to see if start time is faster. See also https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_openshift_dev_spaces/3.4/html-single/administration_guide/index#administration-guide:caching-images-for-faster-workspace-start.

Reducing the number of public endpoints

Role: Administrator

For each endpoint, OpenShift is creating OpenShift Route objects. Depending on the underlying configuration, this creation can be slow.

To avoid this problem, reduce the exposure. For example, to automatically detect a new port listening inside containers and redirect traffic for the processes using a local IP address (127.0.0.1), the Che-Theia IDE plugin has three optional routes.

By reducing the number of endpoints and checking endpoints of all plugins, workspace start can be faster.

CDN configuration

The IDE editor uses a CDN (Content Delivery Network) to serve content. Check that the content uses a CDN to the client (or a local route for offline setup).

To check that, open Developer Tools in the browser and check for vendors in the Network tab. vendors.<random_id>.js or editor.main.* should come from CDN URLs.

9.3.2. Improving workspace runtime performance

Providing enough CPU resources

Plugins consume CPU resources. For example, when a plugin provides IntelliSense features, adding more CPU resources can improve performance.

Ensure the CPU settings in the devfile definition, devfile.yaml, are correct:

apiVersion: 1.0.0

components:
  -
    type: chePlugin
    id: __<plugin_id>__
    cpuLimit: 1360Mi 1
    cpuRequest: 100m 2
1
Specifies the CPU limit for the plugin.
2
Specifies the CPU request for the plugin.
Providing enough memory

Plug-ins consume CPU and memory resources. For example, when a plugin provides IntelliSense features, collecting data can consume all the memory allocated to the container.

Providing more memory to the plugin can increase performance. Ensure about the correctness of memory settings:

  • in the plugin definition - meta.yaml file
  • in the devfile definition - devfile.yaml file

    apiVersion: v2
    
    spec:
      containers:
        - image: "quay.io/my-image"
          name: "vscode-plugin"
          memoryLimit: "512Mi" 1
      extensions:
        - https://link.to/vsix
    1
    Specifies the memory limit for the plugin.

    In the devfile definition (devfile.yaml):

    apiVersion: 1.0.0
    
    components:
      -
        type: chePlugin
        id: __<plugin_id>__
        memoryLimit: 1048M  1
        memoryRequest: 256M
    1
    Specifies the memory limit for this plugin.

9.4. Troubleshooting network problems

This section describes how to prevent or resolve issues related to network policies. OpenShift Dev Spaces requires the availability of the WebSocket Secure (WSS) connections. Secure WebSocket connections improve confidentiality and also reliability because they reduce the risk of interference by bad proxies.

Prerequisites

  • The WebSocket Secure (WSS) connections on port 443 must be available on the network. Firewall and proxy may need additional configuration.

Procedure

  1. Verify the browser supports the WebSocket protocol. See: Searching a websocket test.
  2. Verify firewalls settings: WebSocket Secure (WSS) connections on port 443 must be available.
  3. Verify proxy servers settings: The proxy transmits and intercepts WebSocket Secure (WSS) connections on port 443.

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