Gitpod Remote extension overrides remote.SSH.configFile setting

[LinqLover]

Bug description

After installation this extension has overridden my Extension overrides remote.SSH.configFile setting. This is not okay; it has broken all my already configured hosts via the Remote-SSH connection.

Steps to reproduce

Install Gitpod Remote extension

Expected behavior

Remote-SSH connections should still work

Example repository

No response

Anything else?

No response

[akosyakov]

Hi, sorry for breaking you. Unfortunately we decided to take this shortcut for now. We are investigating alternatives like #5602 But it does not sound like a quick fix. If you have simpler ideas from user perspective please share.

[akosyakov]

/schedule

[roboquat]

@akosyakov: Issue scheduled in the IDE team (WIP: 0)

In response to this:

/schedule

Instructions for interacting with me using PR comments are available here. If you have questions or suggestions related to my behavior, please file an issue against the kubernetes/test-infra repository.

[loujaybee]

Removing from groundwork until Jetbrains work is complete when we'll pick up local companion app changes again.

[akosyakov]

Also hope it doesn't override what extensions are automatically installed on remote ssh servers. At the moment these have been overridden by the just the gitpod extension rather than appending it

Oh 😬 Please file another issue 🙏

[loujaybee]

Issue will likely be completed within VS Code GA: #7184

[loujaybee]

Update, this will be part of SSH Gateway integration (which is part of GA linked above): #8513

[stale]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.

[pbrkr]

This issue is still outstanding, not stale.

[scycer]

Still outstanding, very frustrating as I SSH to servers from my local AND separetly use gitpod, manually changing back the ssh config each time to fix this

[pomdtr]

@scycer you can fix this by disabling gitpod.remote.useLocalApp in your vscode settings.

[axonasif]

Yes, thats correct @pomdtr!
Additionally, please see: #10692 (comment)

[scycer]

Thanks! Can confirm that works just right!

[scycer]

I take that back, this morning when I was attempting to open a gitpod locally in my VSCode instance, without the "local companion app" enabled, it kept prompting for a password. I tried to do a direct SSH as well and still it asked for a password, what am I missing?

[axonasif]

I take that back, this morning when I was attempting to open a gitpod locally in my VSCode instance, without the "local companion app" enabled, it kept prompting for a password. I tried to do a direct SSH as well and still it asked for a password, what am I missing?

You probably didn't create a SSH keypair, follow: https://www.gitpod.io/docs/configure/ssh#create-an-ssh-key

[scycer]

I definitely have an SSH keypair, that's how remote to other servers (using keys not passwords)

[loujaybee]

Hey @scycer, sorry for the trouble you are having, we're doing quite a lot of active development on SSH access, especially for VS Code Desktop, hopefully some of the upcoming changes improve the experience, e.g.

• Epic: SSH key support for VS Code Desktop #8513
• Epic: Upload users SSH keys to Gitpod #9932 (PR: Support ssh public keys configuration #10573)

To clarify, the current SSH method uses an auth token approach, so the SSH key is not actually used, as authentication is provided via the token, not the SSH key. That said, the key must be in place to avoid the password check. The password check is misleading as it will appear when no SSH key is found. However, a fix is currently waiting to be deployed: #10704 which should remove the password check and avoid this issue entirely.

In the mean-time, a couple of things to check:

• Update your keys algorithm - Some algorithms are not compatible (unfortunately I don't have a list of compatible algorithms to hand, hopefully since the check is being removed, this won't be necessary)

• Key location - Check to ensure that the key is in the default SSH location for your operating system (more details here: https://www.gitpod.io/docs/configure/ssh)

Other related documentation:

• https://www.gitpod.io/docs/ides-and-editors/vscode#vs-code-desktop-ssh-access
• https://www.gitpod.io/docs/ides-and-editors/command-line

[iQQBot]

Update your keys algorithm - Some algorithms are not compatible (unfortunately I don't have a list of compatible algorithms to hand, hopefully since the check is being removed, this won't be necessary)

We currently only not support rsa private key if your ssh client is openssh and version > 8.7

[GMFranceschini]

I just had this issue, removed gitpod extension, and related gitpod_ssh_config file. I can't see my past host, nor can I connect to them again. This is very frustrating because I can't even restore the previous state. Any advice to clean up everything?

[GMFranceschini]

Ok, for anyone having the same issue: the solution is to edit the VScode setting .json to restore the original path to the ssh_config file, which was replaced by the gitpod one.

[val-samonte]

Did you guys backed up the old config at least? This is unacceptable, terrible and irresponsible. You messed up my configuration and it is irreversible.

[jeanp413]

@val-samonte could you clarify what's the issue you experienced? currently we only add one line Include "code_gitpod.d/config" to your ssh config file (we don't overwrite it)

[val-samonte]

@jeanp413 I have deleted the modified config file due to frustration but I assure you it didn't just modify the config by adding that 1 liner, it instead replaced all contents inside config (else I won't be having trouble reconnecting with my existing configuration, right?). Also as far I can remember you did even put comments inside the config file that says something like "this config file is managed by gitpod".

[loujaybee]

Hey @val-samonte, we definitely would not expect your local configurations to be overwritten, and we do want to be very careful not to touch any SSH configurations that are unrelated to Gitpod. Since we have used several connection methods for VS Code in the past, could you confirm...

1. What is your value of the remote.SSH.configFile setting in VS Code?
2. What is the exact name + file path of the updated configuration file and/or directory?

The expected behaviour is:

1. A new file is created at ~/.ssh/code_gitpod.d/config
2. That file should contain (amongst other details) a header ### This file is managed by Gitpod.
3. The statement Include "code_gitpod.d/config" will be added to ~/.ssh/config.
4. The include is marked with the header ## START GITPOD INTEGRATION.
5. No existing configurations are expected to be updated or changed.

Does this align with the behaviour that you are seeing/have seen with your settings? Are you able to also create a new issue, so we can look further into it? As this issue relates to an outdated/different connection method than the connection method that we have observed from the logs of your workspace.