David Klhufek

Setting Up Your Development Environment on Fedora Linux: Visual Studio Code and Git

24 Jan 2025

Setting Up Your Development Environment on Fedora

Fedora Linux is a powerful operating system for developers, offering flexibility, security, and cutting-edge software. In this guide, we’ll walk through how to set up a productive development environment by installing Visual Studio Code and configuring Git.


Step 1️⃣: Install Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is a lightweight and powerful code editor popular among developers. To install it on Fedora or other RHEL-based distributions like CentOS, follow these steps:

  1. Add the Yum Repository:
    Visual Studio Code is available in the Microsoft yum repository for RHEL, Fedora, and CentOS-based distributions. Set it up by running the following commands:

    sudo rpm --import https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc echo -e "[code] name=Visual Studio Code baseurl=https://packages.microsoft.com/yumrepos/vscode enabled=1 gpgcheck=1 gpgkey=https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc" | sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/vscode.repo > /dev/null
    
  2. Install Visual Studio Code:
    After adding the repository, update your package cache and install VS Code using the dnf package manager:

    dnf check-update
    sudo dnf install code
    

    If you prefer the Insiders edition, replace code with code-insiders.

  3. Launch VS Code:
    Once installed, you can launch VS Code from the application menu or by typing:

    code
    
  4. Recommended Extensions:
    To enhance your development experience, install these extensions:

    • PHP Intelephense: For WordPress and PHP development.
    • ESLint: To lint and fix JavaScript code.
    • Prettier: For automatic code formatting.
    • GitLens: For advanced Git integration.

Step 2️⃣: Set Up Git

Git is an essential tool for version control. Let’s set it up on Fedora:

  1. Install Git:
    Use the following command to install Git:

    sudo dnf install git
    
  2. Configure Git:
    Set up your Git identity with the following commands:

    git config --global user.name "Your Name"
    git config --global user.email "your.email@example.com"
    
  3. Generate SSH Key:
    Generate an SSH key to authenticate with GitHub or GitLab:

    ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your.email@example.com"
    

    Add the generated SSH key to your GitHub/GitLab account. For detailed instructions, check the GitHub SSH setup guide.

  4. Test Your Configuration:
    Verify your Git setup:

    git --version
    git config --list
    

Conclusion

With Visual Studio Code and Git configured on Fedora, your development environment is ready to handle any project. These tools provide a solid foundation for productivity and version control, making Fedora an excellent choice for developers.

Happy coding! 🚀