Using Visual Studio Code for IBM i the First Time!

Are you ready for a modern IBM i IDE?

Get VS-Code Connected to your IBM i Power system

(1) Prepare to Connect

The first thing we need to do is connect our desktop IDE (visual Studio Code for IBM i) to our IBM i System. This is easy if we follow these steps.

To connect to an IBM i we need to know:

  • The IP address or the hostname of the system
  • Your user profile name
  • Either a password or a SSH key
  • Finally... and most importantly... we need to know the IBM i Systems SSH Server is active (because this is how VS Code talks to the IBM i System)

Code for IBM i connects to the system over SSH, so the SSH Daemon must be started on your IBM i:

From your IBM i Command line enter:

STRTCPSVR SERVER(*SSHD)

(2) Let's Connect for the First Time

Click the IBM i icon in the side bar, click the “Connect to an IBM i” button:

connect code for ibm i to your system

Complete the IBM i Login information for system name, DNS or IP{ Address, (leave it at port 22 unless your network explicitly uses a different port) and then your IBM i User and password.

Next time you click on the IBM i icon you will see one or more IBM i servers.

Click your system name to connect and you will see your jobs *LIBL, a selected range of libraries to work with source files (default is QSYSINC) and an Integrated File System (IFS) browser if you wish to access source code that is stored in the IFS:

connect success for code for ibm i to your system

Most sites store source code in Source File, even if more and more are moving to the IFS for future developments.

To access your your source code, add the library and source file that you want to edit on the left hand side. When you click on the file name it will show all the source members and you can easily jump to the source members that you want to edit by typing in the subset:

Edit your source and dive into a clean modern code edit experience!

SEU vs Visual Studio Code

Which do you prefer?

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