How to Set Up a VM Server on Windows with SSH and VS Code

This guide walks you through setting up a virtual machine (VM) on Windows, configuring SSH access, and connecting to it using VS Code. By the end, you'll have a functional VM server that's ready for development.

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have the following:

• A Windows machine with virtualization enabled.
• A hypervisor installed, such as:
  • VirtualBox (used in this guide).
  • Hyper-V (optional alternative for Windows Pro/Enterprise users).
• Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) installed (required only if using VirtualBox alongside WSL).
• VS Code installed on your Windows machine.

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Step 1: Install VirtualBox (or Hyper-V)

Option 1: Install VirtualBox

1. Download the VirtualBox installer from the official VirtualBox website.
2. Run the installer and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.

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Step 2: Create and Set Up the VM

1. Download a Linux distribution ISO (e.g., Ubuntu Server) for your VM.

   • Download Ubuntu Server here.
   • Example of the VirtualBox home screen:
     

2. Open VirtualBox, click New, and follow the prompts to create your VM.
   

3. Set the VM name to something memorable (e.g., UbuntuDev) and select the downloaded ISO.

4. When prompted, create a password that’s easy to remember.

   • Note: Since we’ll use RSA keys later, the password will have limited significance.
     

5. Allocate resources:

   • 2 CPUs and 4096 MB (4 GB) of RAM is ideal for general use.
     

6. Create a virtual hard disk:

   • Set it to 200 GB for sufficient space.
     

7. Review the summary before proceeding.
   

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Step 3: Set Up the Machine

1. Click Finish and boot the machine. You should see the following screen:
   

2. Press Enter to continue.

3. Decline the update prompt and proceed without updating.
   

4. Follow the on-screen prompts by pressing Enter at each step:

   • Keyboard layout:
     
   • Server type:
     
   • Network connections:
     
   • Configure proxy:
     
   • Ubuntu archive mirror:
     
   • Guided storage configuration:
     

5. Storage setup: Press Done and Continue on the storage configuration screen.
   

6. Set up the server profile:

   • For example, use test as the server name and 1-8 as the password.
     

7. Skip upgrading to Ubuntu Pro.
   

8. Ensure Install OpenSSH Server is selected before continuing.
   

9. Skip additional featured server snaps and wait for the system to install.
   
   

10. Once installation is complete, shut down the VM.

Step 4: Set Up OpenSSH

1. Configure Port Forwarding to enable SSH access from the host machine to the VM:

   • Go to the VM's Settings in VirtualBox.

   • Navigate to Network > Advanced > Port Forwarding.

   • Add a new rule with the following details:

     Name: SSH
     Protocol: TCP
     Host IP: 127.0.0.1
     Host Port: 2222
     Guest IP: (leave empty or use 10.0.2.15)
     Guest Port: 22
     

   • Click OK to save the rule.
     

2. Boot the VM. You can run it normally or in Headless Mode for efficiency.

3. Open Command Prompt (cmd) or a terminal on the host machine.

4. Use SSH to log in to the VM with the following command:

   ssh -p 2222 [email protected]

   Replace username with the username you created during the VM setup.
   

5. If prompted, accept the SSH key fingerprint by typing yes.

6. Once logged in, you have successfully connected to the VM using OpenSSH. Here’s an improved version of Step 5:

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Step 5: (Optional) Set Up Automatic SSH Login with RSA

1. Locate your id_rsa.pub file (usually found in C:/Users/YourUsername/.ssh on Windows).

   • If it doesn’t exist, generate a new RSA key pair with the following command:

     ssh-keygen -t rsa

2. Copy the contents of id_rsa.pub to your clipboard.

   • On Windows, you can use:

     clip < ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

3. Log in to your Ubuntu server (using your password).

4. Open or create the authorized_keys file in your server's .ssh directory:

   nano ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

5. Paste the contents of your id_rsa.pub into the file.

6. Save and exit the editor (Ctrl+O, Enter, then Ctrl+X in Nano).

7. Verify that the key works:

   • Exit the server with:

     exit

   • Reconnect using SSH:

     ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa <username>@<server-ip> -p <port>

8. If you’re not prompted for a password, the RSA key setup was successful!

   • If it still requests a password, recheck the permissions of your .ssh directory and authorized_keys file:

     chmod 700 ~/.ssh
     chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys