oh-my-zsh +VSCode on WIN is awesome

7 min readJul 5, 2023

With any Linux distribution attached, Windows clients are suddenly becoming workhorses that are OS agnostic.

Linux opens up a whole new set of functions to standard shell/Powershell, and in combination with VSCode, there are (almost) endless possibilities.

From creating a SSL certificate in under a minute, complex git operations to handling Kubernetes clusters with ease, all the bells and whizzes at your fingertips.

MS evolved the very early WSL (=WindowsSubsystemforLinux) to Version WSL 2, which got a lot of security and performance improvements.

Here you will find an installation path from vanilla ubuntu to a customized zsh shell, with tons of options; ready for your preferred functions and style.

Ubuntu Installation

If ubuntu is installed already, it can be easily reset by uninstalling in Apps & features and installed again
For anyone who needs to upgrade from WSL1, please use link, or reinstall from scratch from Microsoft Store
If you never had WSL activated on your laptop, you have to activate your feature first:

A.) Easy Installation type:

GoTo: Microsoft Store, search for “Ubuntu”, choose the latest “LTS” (LongTermSupport) and install it from there.

Restart PC

3. Check with Powershell (in your UserProfile):

1.  wsl -l -v

B.) Do it the hard way:

Execute Step1 — Step6 from https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install-manual
for an elevated shell, ask your IT Administrator for help
Use an LTS version such as 20.04
Check with Powershell (in your UserProfile):

wsl -l -v

If Version is still on WSL Version 1, execute:

wsl --set-version <NAME> 2
example: wsl –set-version Ubuntu-20.04 2

Processing will need 5–10 minutes, check for the “operation complete” message.
Restart PC

First Startup of Ubuntu

After restart, open Application “Ubuntu”
Once it has finished the initial bootup, enter your preferred username and (sudo) password for the shell when asked in the prompt

ATTENTION: losing the password is a bad idea!

Installation of executables, Zsh and “oh-my-zsh”

execute commands in following order line by line:

sudo apt-get install -y build-essential curl file git jq apt-transport-https ca-certificates ssh-agent

sudo curl -fsSLo /usr/share/keyrings/kubernetes-archive-keyring.gpg https://packages.cloud.google.com/apt/doc/apt-key.gpg

echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/kubernetes-archive-keyring.gpg] https://apt.kubernetes.io/ kubernetes-xenial main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kubernetes.list

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install -y kubectl

sudo apt-get install -y zsh && sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/robbyrussell/oh-my-zsh/master/tools/install.sh)" -y

git clone https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k.git $ZSH_CUSTOM/themes/powerlevel10k

git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions.git $ZSH_CUSTOM/plugins/zsh-autosuggestions

git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting.git $ZSH_CUSTOM/plugins/zsh-syntax-highlighting

git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-history-substring-search.git ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-history-substring-search

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install zsh-syntax-highlighting

mkdir ~/.kube && chmod 0700 ~/.kube

cd .oh-my-zsh/custom/plugins && chmod 0700 zsh-autosuggestions && chmod 0700 zsh-syntax-highlighting && chsh -s $(which zsh)

sudo apt autoremove -y

Fonts, VSCode Installation/Configuration

Install Fonts (by just downloading and executing links below):
MesloLGS NF Regular.ttf
MesloLGS NF Bold.ttf
MesloLGS NF Italic.ttf
MesloLGS NF Bold Italic.ttf
Make sure your WSL distro is running with “WSL Version 2” (see “Ubuntu installation”
Install Visual Studio Code
Enter VSCode, install “Remote — WSL” under “Extensions” (CTRL-SHIFT-X)
Press “CTRL” + “,” to get into VSCODE Settings
search for “Terminal Font”
Enter “MesloLGS NF”

ZSH Setup

Go to Ubuntu shell and execute: “code .zshrc”
Software Packages will be installed quickly.
Afterwards, VSCode will pop up with the .zshrc file that needs some adaption
Edit:

ZSH_THEME=powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k

plugins=(ssh-agent docker docker-compose git git-flow kubectl zsh-autosuggestions zsh-syntax-highlighting history-substring-search z)

Plugins in oh-my-zsh are a very powerful thing. Find some reference for used plugins at the end of the article.

If you want to to explore yourself, here is one of the many plugin resources you can work with: Plugin Collection

3.Add at the bottom:

#kubectl autocompletion
source <(kubectl completion zsh)

#bash history completion
bindkey '\e[A' history-search-backward
bindkey '\e[B' history-search-forward
bindkey "^[[H" beginning-of-line
bindkey "^[[F" end-of-line

#use VSCode as editor in "kubectl edit"
export KUBE_EDITOR="code - wait"

#automated file detection for any new cluster-config, after adding any ".yaml" file into ~/.kube/ folder, reload with #zsh
export DIR=/$HOME/.kube/
if ls ${DIR}/*.yaml &>/dev/null 
then
mergedKubeConfigs=$HOME/.kube/config
 for i in $HOME/.kube/*.yaml; do mergedKubeConfigs=$mergedKubeConfigs:$i; done
 export KUBECONFIG=$mergedKubeConfigs
fi

Powerlevel10k Configuration

Powerlevel10k is a brilliant tool to enrich your shell prompt with data on top, like:

In VSCode, go to “Terminal/New Terminal”
Follow along the dialog
if this dialog does not show up, you can execute “p10k configure” to start OR re-execute if its not to your liking
make sure the symbols appear properly on screen, if they don’t; make sure you have executed this steps correctly

Wrong Font in use:

Please check again your settings in “Fonts, VSCode Installation/Configuration”

Window too small:

If this error appears, please widen your VSCode window

Correct font in use:

Recommended values to begin with (right font necessary):

Symbol check1: y
Symbol check2: y
Symbol check3: y
Symbol check4: y
Prompt Style: 1–2
Character Set: 1
Prompt Colors: 1–4
Show Current Time: 1–3
Prompt Height: 2
Prompt Connection: 1
Prompt Frame: 1
Prompt Spacing: 1
Icons: 2
Prompt Flow: 1
Enable Transient Prompt: y
Instant Prompt Mode: 1 (Verbose)
Overwrite (Save): y

Configure your git client to work with a git provider

Git clients need to authenticate themselves against any non-public repository for any server-remote action.

With ssh, you have a very convenient way to not authenticate at every pull, push, etc.

1. make sure you have in your .zshrc file under plugins “ssh-agent” and “git” configured

go to your shell prompt an execute: “ssh-keygen”
“Enter” once to keep the default path for your ssh-key
Insert a secure password (twice)
Execute “cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub”
Copy output into your clipboard
Go to your git provider/profile
Add the ssh key into your profile
Execute “git config — global user.email “forename.lastname@acme.com”
Execute “git config — global user.name “Forename Lastname”
done

The “ssh-agent” will ask you only once to present the password, untill you restart your PC.

Make use of the shortcuts already in the system, such as “gaa” (git add all), you can screen-print all shortcuts via “alias”, or use the VSCode extension 

Attention: you need to remember this password, so keep it safe!