The latest articles on DEV Community by Subrata Das (@subrata). https://dev.to/subrata https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F627906%2Fc71b612a-1e13-47c3-be27-cbcfbf6d330c.jpg https://dev.to/subrata en Subrata Das Tue, 15 Apr 2025 02:54:40 +0000 https://dev.to/subrata/connect-to-unsupported-older-linux-servers-with-vs-code-remote-ssh-using-custom-glibc-libstdc-m63 https://dev.to/subrata/connect-to-unsupported-older-linux-servers-with-vs-code-remote-ssh-using-custom-glibc-libstdc-m63 <p>VS Code Remote-SSH is a game-changer for remote development. However, if you’ve tried a recent version of VS Code (1.99.x or later) to connect to an older Linux distro, you may encounter this error:</p> <p><code>[LinuxPrereqs]: The remote host may not meet VS Code Server's prerequisites for glibc and libstdc++ (The remote host does not meet the prerequisites for running VS Code Server)</code></p> <p>This error indicates that the system requires:</p> <ul> <li><code>glibc &gt;= 2.28</code></li> <li><code>libstdc++ &gt;= 3.4.25</code></li> </ul> <p>This issue is common with older CentOS, Debian, or Ubuntu LTS systems.</p> <p>Fortunately, a workaround using <code>brew</code>, <code>glibc</code>, and <code>patchelf</code> can enable Remote-SSH on unsupported Linux targets. This guide will walk you through the steps.</p> <h2> Solutions </h2> <ol> <li>Install <code>glibc</code> and <code>patchelf</code> using <code>brew</code> (<a href="https://brew.sh/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Homebrew</a>), or build from source, or use a prebuilt binary (if available). This guide uses <code>brew</code>. Also you can see <a href="https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/remote/faq#_can-i-run-vs-code-server-on-older-linux-distributions" rel="noopener noreferrer">this</a>.</li> <li>Use environment variables to point VS Code to the custom <code>glibc</code> and <code>patchelf</code>.</li> </ol> <h2> Install glibc and patchelf </h2> <p>By default, <code>glibc</code> gets installed by <code>brew</code>. Run the following commands:<br> </p> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight shell"><code>brew <span class="nt">--prefix</span> glibc <span class="c"># Output: /home/username/.homebrew/opt/glibc (example output)</span> </code></pre> </div> <p>Install <code>patchelf</code>:<br> </p> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight shell"><code>brew <span class="nb">install </span>patchelf which patchelf <span class="c"># Output: /home/username/.homebrew/bin/patchelf</span> </code></pre> </div> <h2> Set Remote Environment </h2> <p>Set the following environment variables:<br> </p> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight shell"><code><span class="nb">export </span><span class="nv">VSCODE_SERVER_CUSTOM_GLIBC_LINKER</span><span class="o">=</span>/home/username/.homebrew/opt/glibc/lib/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 <span class="nb">export </span><span class="nv">VSCODE_SERVER_CUSTOM_GLIBC_PATH</span><span class="o">=</span>/home/username/.homebrew/opt/glibc/lib <span class="nb">export </span><span class="nv">VSCODE_SERVER_PATCHELF_PATH</span><span class="o">=</span>/home/username/.homebrew/bin/patchelf </code></pre> </div> <p>If you use the <code>bash</code> shell, add the above lines to the remote <code>~/.bash_profile</code>. For the <code>zsh</code> shell, add them to <code>~/.zprofile</code>.</p> <p><strong>You can now proceed to connect with VS Code Remote-SSH, and it should work as expected. Let me know if you encounter any issues!</strong></p> vscode glibc ssh remotessh