Skip to main content
Redhat Developers  Logo
  • Products

    Featured

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux
      Red Hat Enterprise Linux Icon
    • Red Hat OpenShift AI
      Red Hat OpenShift AI
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI
      Linux icon inside of a brain
    • Image mode for Red Hat Enterprise Linux
      RHEL image mode
    • Red Hat OpenShift
      Openshift icon
    • Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform
      Ansible icon
    • Red Hat Developer Hub
      Developer Hub
    • View All Red Hat Products
    • Linux

      • Red Hat Enterprise Linux
      • Image mode for Red Hat Enterprise Linux
      • Red Hat Universal Base Images (UBI)
    • Java runtimes & frameworks

      • JBoss Enterprise Application Platform
      • Red Hat build of OpenJDK
    • Kubernetes

      • Red Hat OpenShift
      • Microsoft Azure Red Hat OpenShift
      • Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization
      • Red Hat OpenShift Lightspeed
    • Integration & App Connectivity

      • Red Hat Build of Apache Camel
      • Red Hat Service Interconnect
      • Red Hat Connectivity Link
    • AI/ML

      • Red Hat OpenShift AI
      • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI
    • Automation

      • Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform
      • Red Hat Ansible Lightspeed
    • Developer tools

      • Red Hat Trusted Software Supply Chain
      • Podman Desktop
      • Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces
    • Developer Sandbox

      Developer Sandbox
      Try Red Hat products and technologies without setup or configuration fees for 30 days with this shared Openshift and Kubernetes cluster.
    • Try at no cost
  • Technologies

    Featured

    • AI/ML
      AI/ML Icon
    • Linux
      Linux Icon
    • Kubernetes
      Cloud icon
    • Automation
      Automation Icon showing arrows moving in a circle around a gear
    • View All Technologies
    • Programming Languages & Frameworks

      • Java
      • Python
      • JavaScript
    • System Design & Architecture

      • Red Hat architecture and design patterns
      • Microservices
      • Event-Driven Architecture
      • Databases
    • Developer Productivity

      • Developer productivity
      • Developer Tools
      • GitOps
    • Secure Development & Architectures

      • Security
      • Secure coding
    • Platform Engineering

      • DevOps
      • DevSecOps
      • Ansible automation for applications and services
    • Automated Data Processing

      • AI/ML
      • Data Science
      • Apache Kafka on Kubernetes
      • View All Technologies
    • Start exploring in the Developer Sandbox for free

      sandbox graphic
      Try Red Hat's products and technologies without setup or configuration.
    • Try at no cost
  • Learn

    Featured

    • Kubernetes & Cloud Native
      Openshift icon
    • Linux
      Rhel icon
    • Automation
      Ansible cloud icon
    • Java
      Java icon
    • AI/ML
      AI/ML Icon
    • View All Learning Resources

    E-Books

    • GitOps Cookbook
    • Podman in Action
    • Kubernetes Operators
    • The Path to GitOps
    • View All E-books

    Cheat Sheets

    • Linux Commands
    • Bash Commands
    • Git
    • systemd Commands
    • View All Cheat Sheets

    Documentation

    • API Catalog
    • Product Documentation
    • Legacy Documentation
    • Red Hat Learning

      Learning image
      Boost your technical skills to expert-level with the help of interactive lessons offered by various Red Hat Learning programs.
    • Explore Red Hat Learning
  • Developer Sandbox

    Developer Sandbox

    • Access Red Hat’s products and technologies without setup or configuration, and start developing quicker than ever before with our new, no-cost sandbox environments.
    • Explore Developer Sandbox

    Featured Developer Sandbox activities

    • Get started with your Developer Sandbox
    • OpenShift virtualization and application modernization using the Developer Sandbox
    • Explore all Developer Sandbox activities

    Ready to start developing apps?

    • Try at no cost
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Videos

Using Visual Studio with Linux (Hint: Windows is still required)

August 30, 2016
Don Schenck
Related topics:
.NETDeveloper Tools
Related products:
Red Hat OpenShift

Share:

    Running .NET on Linux, using the Red Hat Container Development Kit (CDK), means your Linux VM is running "headless" -- you don't have a desktop UI. You have a command line, and that's it.

    Note: If you aren't running .NET on Linux, hop over to the Red Hat Developer's web page and download the CDK to get started.

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux's built-in editor, VIM, which is launched by the command vi, is not a full-featured development environment. Not even close. That's like saying a first-grader in the annual holiday play isn't Meryl Streep; there's a world of difference.

    So what is a Windows developer to do? You're accustomed to using Visual Studio -- the worlds greatest development environment in my not-so-humble opinion -- but you want to start developing code on your Linux VM.

    The short answer is "Shared Volume". Since we're going to assume that the CDK is being used, this blog post will get down to the very specifics you need. Following these instructions, you can share a directory|folder ("directory" is the chosen vocabulary in Linux; "folder" is more frequently used in Windows) between the Linux VM and Windows, then use any editor to edit your code. Of course, you'll choose Visual Studio, because it's so awesome.

    The first step is to create a shared folder on your Windows machine. Open PowerShell as administrator

     

     

    and use the New-Item command:

     

    Windows PowerShell
    Copyright (C) 2016 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
    PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> NEW-ITEM C:\MyShare -type directory
    
    Directory: C:\
    
    Mode                LastWriteTime         Length Name
    ----                -------------         ------ ----
    d-----        8/30/2016  12:22 PM                MyShare

    In this example, we've created a folder C:\MyShare.

    The next step is to share it. Use the PowerShell command New-SmbShare, replacing the token <your_username> with your Windows username:

    New-SmbShare -Name MyShare -Path C:\MyShare -FullAccess <your_username>

    Note that the shared name does not need to match the folder name, but I find this much easier to remember.

    Since we're using Vagrant (as part of the Red Hat CDK), the way to share the folder between Windows and Linux is by adding the following entry to your Vagrantfile (Note: If you used the default values when installing the CDK, the file path will be C:\DevelopmentSuite\cdk\components\rhel\rhel-ose\Vagrantfile):

    config.vm.synced_folder "\\MyShare", "/MyShare", type: "nfs", smb_username: "<your_username>", smb_password: "<your_password>"

    Replace <your_username> with your Windows username and <your_password> with your Windows password. You do not need to include these two parameters; if you do not add them to your Vagrantfile, you will be prompted for your username and password.

    The next time you start your VM (using the vagrant up command), you can ssh into it (using the vagrant ssh command) and move to your new, shared directory:

    cd /MyShare

    In Windows, you can open Visual Studio and create a new project in C:\MyShare and the files will appear in your Linux VM. And vice versa.

    Now you can edit your code, on your Linux VM, from the comfort of Visual Studio (or Visual Studio Code or any other editor).

    Happy editing.

    P.S. Wouldn't it be great if you could actually debug your code from within Visual Studio? Well ... you can! Keep watching this blog for a post about this very soon.

    For additional information and articles on .NET Core visit our .NET Core web page for more on this topic.

    Last updated: March 16, 2023

    Recent Posts

    • Integrate Red Hat AI Inference Server & LangChain in agentic workflows

    • Streamline multi-cloud operations with Ansible and ServiceNow

    • Automate dynamic application security testing with RapiDAST

    • Assessing AI for OpenShift operations: Advanced configurations

    • OpenShift Lightspeed: Assessing AI for OpenShift operations

    Red Hat Developers logo LinkedIn YouTube Twitter Facebook

    Products

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux
    • Red Hat OpenShift
    • Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

    Build

    • Developer Sandbox
    • Developer Tools
    • Interactive Tutorials
    • API Catalog

    Quicklinks

    • Learning Resources
    • E-books
    • Cheat Sheets
    • Blog
    • Events
    • Newsletter

    Communicate

    • About us
    • Contact sales
    • Find a partner
    • Report a website issue
    • Site Status Dashboard
    • Report a security problem

    RED HAT DEVELOPER

    Build here. Go anywhere.

    We serve the builders. The problem solvers who create careers with code.

    Join us if you’re a developer, software engineer, web designer, front-end designer, UX designer, computer scientist, architect, tester, product manager, project manager or team lead.

    Sign me up

    Red Hat legal and privacy links

    • About Red Hat
    • Jobs
    • Events
    • Locations
    • Contact Red Hat
    • Red Hat Blog
    • Inclusion at Red Hat
    • Cool Stuff Store
    • Red Hat Summit

    Red Hat legal and privacy links

    • Privacy statement
    • Terms of use
    • All policies and guidelines
    • Digital accessibility

    Report a website issue