Powershell: Ubuntu - Cannot launch VS code from powershell core

[mark-inderhees]

Steps to reproduce

code

Expected behavior

VS code starts

Actual behavior

VS code does not start

Environment data

Name                           Value                                           
----                           -----                                           
PSVersion                      6.0.3                                           
PSEdition                      Core                                            
GitCommitId                    v6.0.3                                          
OS                             Linux 4.15.0-29-generic #31-Ubuntu SMP Tue Ju...
Platform                       Unix                                            
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0...}                         
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.3                                             
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1                                         
WSManStackVersion              3.0

More info

I can launch VS code from bash, but not from powershell. When trying to start from powershell, no error is shown, it just returns to the prompt. Bash gives the same experience, except vs code actually starts. I verified code is in path for powershell:

```powershell
PS /home/markind/Projects> Get-Command code

CommandType Name Version Source
----------- ---- ------- ------
Application code 0.0.0.0 /usr/bin/code

PS /home/markind/Projects> which code
/usr/bin/code

[rjmholt]

Hi @mark-inderhees, what Ubuntu version are you on? I'm currently using PowerShell 6.1.0-preview.4 on Ubuntu 18.04 and code seems to work -- which suggests that this bug might be fixed in the preview release. Do you want to install the preview and try that? (Should be available with sudo apt install powershell-preview if you have the repositories installed)

[mark-inderhees]

I'm on Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS. I just tried pwsh-preview and that has the same problem.

PS /home/markind> $PSVersionTable

Name                           Value
----                           -----
PSVersion                      6.1.0-preview.4
PSEdition                      Core
GitCommitId                    6.1.0-preview.4
OS                             Linux 4.15.0-30-generic #32-Ubuntu SMP Thu Ju...
Platform                       Unix
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0...}
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.3
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1
WSManStackVersion              3.0


PS /home/markind> code .         
PS /home/markind> code 

The above both result in nothing happening. I validated launching from bash still works. I also just happened to clean isntall this version of ubuntu, so it was not something specific to my OS setup.

[rjmholt]

Hmmmm, that's annoying. I'm running two different machines with Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS and can't reproduce this issue on either.

A few possibilities to check:

• VSCode isn't being opened behind the terminal (sounds silly, but it's been an issue before)
• VSCode isn't somehow aliased or anything (unlikely but easy to check with code --version)
• VSCode might be crashing, which can be checked with code --verbose
• VSCode thinks it has a window open already, which can be avoided with code -n
• Also might be worth seeing what happens with code --wait --verbose to see if VSCode blocks or not

I know those are all VSCode things and clearly this is working in bash, but easy enough to check.

The other question I suppose is whether your PowerShell can launch other GUI apps, like:

• A generic built-in Ubuntu app or something with a native implementation like the Telegram or Signal clients
• Another Electron app or perhaps a browser like Spotify or Chromium
• VSCode Insiders

Also, I'm assuming so far that you're using the Ubuntu GNOME 3 shell, rather than KDE or MATE or i3 or something else.

[mark-inderhees]

Looks like code is crashing. Is this a code problem or a pwsh environment issue?

PS > code --verbose
Gtk-Message: 11:41:03.358: Failed to load module "canberra-gtk-module"
[3182:0808/114103.715054:ERROR:sandbox_linux.cc(343)] InitializeSandbox() called with multiple threads in process gpu-process.
[main 11:41:03 AM] Error: listen EACCES /run/user/1000/snap.powershell-preview/vscode-50fc40ed-1.25.1-main.sock
    at Object.exports._errnoException (util.js:1050:11)
    at exports._exceptionWithHostPort (util.js:1073:20)
    at Server.setupListenHandle [as _listen2] (net.js:1247:19)
    at listenInCluster (net.js:1304:12)
    at Server.listen (net.js:1413:5)
    at /usr/share/code/resources/app/out/vs/code/electron-main/main.js:166:570
    at new n.Class.derive._oncancel (/usr/share/code/resources/app/out/vs/code/electron-main/main.js:90:378)
    at Object.t.serve (/usr/share/code/resources/app/out/vs/code/electron-main/main.js:166:500)
    at n (/usr/share/code/resources/app/out/vs/code/electron-main/main.js:519:985)
    at J (/usr/share/code/resources/app/out/vs/code/electron-main/main.js:522:235)
    at e.invokeFunction (/usr/share/code/resources/app/out/vs/code/electron-main/main.js:203:400)
    at /usr/share/code/resources/app/out/vs/code/electron-main/main.js:523:392
    at Object.enter (/usr/share/code/resources/app/out/vs/code/electron-main/mai    at n.Class.derive._oncancel._run (/usr/share/code/resources/app/out/vs/code/electron-main/main.js:88:719)
    at n.Class.derive._oncancel._completed (/usr/share/code/resources/app/out/vs/code/electron-main/main.js:88:160)
    at u (/usr/share/code/resources/app/out/vs/code/electron-main/main.js:91:654)
    at H.then.o.(anonymous function) (/usr/share/code/resources/app/out/vs/code/electron-main/main.js:91:868)
    at Object.v [as _notify] (/usr/share/code/resources/app/out/vs/code/electron-main/main.js:83:572)
    at Object.enter (/usr/share/code/resources/app/out/vs/code/electron-main/mai    at n.Class.derive._oncancel._run (/usr/share/code/resources/app/out/vs/code/electron-main/main.js:88:719)
    at n.Class.derive._oncancel._completed (/usr/share/code/resources/app/out/vs/code/electron-main/main.js:88:160)
    at /usr/share/code/resources/app/out/vs/code/electron-main/main.js:119:295
    at FSReqWrap.oncomplete (fs.js:114:15)
[main 11:41:03 AM] Lifecycle#kill()

[rjmholt]

Ah! You're running the PowerShell Snap it looks like. This looks like a socket access issue -- Snap's containerised sockets make that tricky. So this is probably either a PowerShell issue or a Snap issue (still possibly a VSCode issue, but less likely). /cc @TravisEz13

[rjmholt]

https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/issues/44758 may be relevant

[rjmholt]

Here's the fix commit: https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/commit/9d75305b7f721ec22eb186dc1041477c79c8eece

[rjmholt]

@mark-inderhees Try mkdir -p /run/user/1000/snap.powershell-preview/ as a workaround. Otherwise, this shouldn't be an issue for a non-snap PowerShell installation.

I think fixing this should be as simple ensuring a directory exists in the Snap file?

[mark-inderhees]

That did the trick, vs code starts now that I have:

mkdir -p /run/user/1000/snap.powershell-preview/

How can this be fixed automatically for other snap users?

[rjmholt]

I'll port this over to the PowerShell snap repo. Looks like it should be just a matter of a line that ensures that dir is created in the snap setup.

[rjmholt]

@mark-inderhees This has just been fixed in the PowerShell snap, so should work when the next snap is released.