Workstation Setup

I will be editing files using VSCode on my Windows desktop, connected via the Remote-SSH extension. This gives me the full IDE experience (syntax highlighting, linting, file explorer, integrated terminal) while keeping all files on the control node where Ansible actually runs.

01 SSH Key - Windows

First, I setup SSH key authentication from my Windows pc to ansible-ctrl.

I generated a key pair with PowerShell.

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "Windows-desktop > ansible-ctrl" -f $env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\ansible-ctrl

I left the passphrase empty for convenience since this is on my personal pc.

I then copied the public key to ansible-ctrl

type $env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\ansible-ctrl.pub | ssh nesto@ansible-ctrl "mkdir -p ~/.ssh && cat >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys"

Then I tested the key.

ssh -i $env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\ansible-ctrl nesto@ansible-ctrl

It should connect without prompting for a password.

01a Windows SSH Config

Next, I updated the SSH config file on my Windows pc so that VSCode and the command line know how to connect to lab hosts without specifying the full details every time.

Host ansible-ctrl
    HostName      ansible-ctrl
    User          user
    IdentityFile  ~/.ssh/ansible-ctrl

Host clab
    HostName      clab
    User          user
    IdentityFile  ~/.ssh/ansible-ctrl

Host gitea
    HostName      gitea
    User          user
    IdentityFile  ~/.ssh/ansible-ctrl

Host netbox
    HostName      netbox
    User          user
    IdentityFile  ~/.ssh/ansible-ctrl

Now I should be able to connect without a password.

02 VSCode Setup

I then installed the Remote-SSH Extension. This extension connects VSCode to a remote machine over SSH, installs a lightweight server component on the remote, and then all file operations, terminal sessions, and extensions run on the remote machine. The Windows VSCode instance is just a frontend.

From within VSCode:

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+X to open the Extensions panel
2. Search for “Remote - SSH”
3. Install the extension by Microsoft

Next, I connected to ansible-ctrl VM.

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+P to open the Command Palette
2. Type “Remote-SSH: Connect to Host”
3. Select ansible-ctrl from the list
4. A new VCCode window opens, connected to the remote machine
5. When prompted for the platform select Linux

Once connected I opened the project directory.

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+P
2. Type “File: Open Folder”
3. Navigate to /home/nesto/network-automation-lab
4. Click Ok

Every file I open, edit, and save is on ansible-ctrl.

02a Extensions

02b Settings

I configured a few settings to make the editing experience a bit easier. These settings are store in a .vscode/settings.json file in the project directory and apply only when the project is open.

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38

{
  // YAML settings
  "yaml.validate": true,
  "yaml.format.enable": true,
  "yaml.format.singleQuote": false,

  // Ansible settings
  "ansible.python.interpreterPath": "/home/nesto/network-automation-lab/.venv/bin/python3",
  "ansible.validation.enabled": true,
  "ansible.validation.lint.enabled": true,

  // File associations
  "files.associations": {
    "*.yml": "ansible",
    "*.yaml": "ansible",
    "*.j2": "jinja",
    "*.cfg": "cisco"
  },

  // Editor settings
  "editor.tabSize": 2,
  "editor.insertSpaces": true,
  "editor.detectIndentation": false,
  "editor.renderWhitespace": "boundary",
  "editor.rulers": [120],

  // Trim trailing whitespace on save (matches pre-commit hook)
  "files.trimTrailingWhitespace": true,
  "files.insertFinalNewline": true,

  // Exclude clutter from the file explorer
  "files.exclude": {
    "**/.git": true,
    "**/.venv": true,
    "**/__pycache__": true,
    "**/.vault": true
  }
}

The Ansible extension’s linting feature depends on ansible-lint being installed in the Python environment.

1
2

pip install ansible-lint
pip freeze > requirements.txt

The Ansible extension should now automatically start showing linting warnings and errors inline as I type.

02c Integrated Terminal

The integrated terminal in VSCode opens a shell on ansible-ctrl when connected via Remote-SSH.

Because I setup ~/.bashrc to auto-activate the virtual environment, the terminal should show the (.venv) prompt immediately. If it doesn’t it’s because the ~/bashrc file isn’t being sourced.

To fix it, I add the activation code to .bash_profile as well, or set the terminal profile in VSCode settings:

"terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.linux": "bash",
"terminal.integrated.profiles.linux": {
  "bash": {
    "path": "/bin/bash",
    "args": ["--login"]
  }
}

03 Other Tools

MobaXterm

I use this to quickly SSH into a VM if I don’t have VSCode running.

WinSCP

I use this to quickly transfer files from my Windows PC to any VM.

04 Workflow

1. Open VSCode
2. Connect to ansible-ctrl
3. Create a feature branch: `git checkout -b feat/name-of-change
4. Edit playbooks, roles, etc.
5. Run playbooks from the terminal
6. Review changes in the Source Control panel (Ctrl+Shift+G)
7. Stage, commit, push from terminal
8. Open Gitea, create a PR, review, merge