Category: Tools of the Trade

How to Reset Visual Studio Code on Windows

After configuring Visual Studio Code to death I though I’d get a clean start. Turns out, that isn’t as straight forward as I’d hoped. After some Googling and poking around. Here’s a list of things I did. Note, “~/” represents your Window’s user account home folder. I also renamed folders instead of deleting them just in case I wanted to check some of my old extensions or settings. That step is up to you.

Here we go:

  • Close Visual Studio Code
  • In your user account director, rename ~/.vscode to something else (this is where are extensions are stored)
  • Open up ~/AppData/Roaming and rename “Code” to something else (this is where your settings are stored)
  • Reopen Visual Studio Code

The result is Visual Studio Code is completely reset. It also made me appreciate all my customizations looking at a vanilla install.

Configuring PHPStorm to run PHPUnit Tests with Homestead

I use PHPStorm to run my local server with the Homestead virtual machine on Vagrant. In the past all my testing was command line but I thought, “Wouldn’t it be great to use PHPStorm’s testing features?” So, after much Googling and failing here’s a video on how to run tests on a remove server, even Homestead, using PHPStorm’s tools.

The steps:

  • Configure Server in “Deployment” settings
  • Setup your project’s CLI Interpreter to use this Server
  • Setup PHPUnit in PHPStorm to run tests through the CLI configuration and use your phpunit.xml file for config.

Install Ubuntu on Surface Pro 3?

Prepare to spend  hours and, if you get it done, you’ll end up with an unofficial kernel to get all of Surface Pro’s hardware working. The issue is the UEFI boot system. You’ll need to disable Secure Boot, install Ubuntu and then prepare to work on boot issues for a few hours. Install, reinstall, and, if you finally get it running, you’ll need a second system and a spare USB to install updates as Wifi, Bluetooth, Typecover, Camera and just about every bit of hardware that makes a Surface Pro 3 a Surface product will not be functioning.

Unfortunately, it isn’t worth it. Save all the grief and install Fedora Workstation. You’ll still need to disable Secure Boot but, after that is out of the way, you’ll have zero issues and just about everything will work straight away.

If you’re in the market for a Linux system and are eyeing the Surface line with the idea of swapping the OS, don’t do it. If it is a new Surface you’ll void your warranty by replacing the OS and mucking around with Secure Boot. You can find cheaper hardware that will run Linux without any issues elsewhere. If you want high end, head on over to Dell and checkout their desktops and laptops created specifically for developers. They’ll ship with Ubuntu.

Happy Linuxing!