Linux Dev Environment Setup

Linux Setup

Setup Home Dev Environment on Linux

This has links to information on setting up VS Code and Node on a Linux comuter.

Total Time Needed :

2

Hours

30

Minutes

Required Tools:

– A Computer with Linux OS installed.

Steps to Set up Your Development Environment

Step 0: Disclaimer

I haven’t had a chance to test this out. I don’t have a Linux computer right now. I am also assuming that if you’re running Linux you’re used to Googling things and working out issues.

Step 1: Make sure you have apt-get

– Open the command prompt
– Run: sudo apt-get update
– Be more forceful (sudo apt-get -f install) if the update fails

Step 2: Install VS Code

VS Code is the code editor we will use in class. It’s made by Microsoft but it’s free, cross platform and integrates well with what we are doing.

– follow the instructions on this page: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/setup/linux

Step 3: Install NVM

This is the Node Version Manager and will be used to install Node (next step). This page has these instructions in more detail (external link).
– Open the command prompt
– run: curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.37.2/install.sh | bash

instructions: https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm#installing-and-updating

Step 4: Install Node

Node is a handy tool that gives you access to a lock of command line developer tools. If you have ever seen a tutorial that started “It’s easy just npm install myThingy” and had no idea what that really meant, this will let you do that. Luckily if NVM is installed properly then Node is simple

– Open the command prompt
– run: nvm install node

Node should install and tell you what version it is.

You can test by typing: node -v
It should show something like v15.7.0

Step 5: Install Git

– Open the command prompt
– run: sudo apt-get install git
and type Y when it asks to continue
– run: sudo apt-get install libnss3-dev
and type Y when it asks to continue

– run: git config --global user.name "Your Actual Name"
Change to your name. keep the quotes.
– run: git config --global user.email "Your Actual Email"
Change to your email. Keep the quotes

You may need to set up SSH keys to use GitHub:
https://docs.github.com/en/github/authenticating-to-github/connecting-to-github-with-ssh

Notes

Apologies, but I haven’t had a chance to test out Chromebook. I will try to get one and try it out.

If you’re trying this and running into issues then you can ask me for help.