Connecting to remote linux server with VSCode through WSL - File location issue? - visual-studio-code

Question

When attempting to use VS Code / WSL to remote into a linux server hosted as a Digital Ocean droplet, we're getting this error:
[17:38:24.258] Log Level: 2
[17:38:24.260] remote-ssh#0.63.0
[17:38:24.260] win32 x64
[17:38:24.262] SSH Resolver called for "ssh-remote+100.100.10.100", attempt 1
[17:38:24.263] "remote.SSH.useLocalServer": false
[17:38:24.263] "remote.SSH.showLoginTerminal": false
[17:38:24.263] "remote.SSH.remotePlatform": {"$remote_server_name":"linux"}
[17:38:24.264] "remote.SSH.sshPath": undefined
[17:38:24.264] "remote.SSH.sshConfigurationFile": undefined
[17:38:24.264] "remote.SSH.useFlock": true
[17:38:24.265] "remote.SSH.lockfilesInTmp": false
[17:38:24.265] "remote.SSH.localServerDownload": auto
[17:38:24.265] "remote.SSH.remoteServerListenOnSocket": false
[17:38:24.265] "remote.SSH.showLoginTerminal": false
[17:38:24.266] SSH Resolver called for host: 100.100.10.100
[17:38:24.266] Setting up SSH remote "100.100.10.100"
[17:38:24.278] Using commit id "ea3859d4ba2f3e577a159bc91e3074c5d8c0523" and quality "stable" for server
[17:38:24.285] Install and start server if needed
[17:38:25.556] Checking ssh with "ssh -V"
[17:38:25.713] > OpenSSH_for_Windows_7.7p1, LibreSSL 2.6.5
[17:38:25.726] Running script with connection command: ssh -T -D 53538 "100.100.10.100" bash
[17:38:25.735] Terminal shell path: C:\WINDOWS\System32\cmd.exe
[17:38:26.931] > no such identity: /home/user/.ssh/id_rsa: No such file or directory
> ]0;C:\WINDOWS\System32\cmd.exe
[17:38:26.933] Got some output, clearing connection timeout
[17:38:26.940] > root#100.100.10.100: Permission denied (publickey).
> The process tried to write to a nonexistent pipe.
As far as I can see, the issue lies with
[17:38:26.931] > no such identity: /home/user/.ssh/id_rsa: No such file or directory
However
ssh -vv root#100.100.10.100 -i /home/user/.ssh/id_rsa
Successfully connects in the debug and server is accessed
debug1: Authentication succeeded (publickey).
So this must be some issue with specifying the location of id_rsa in the config file for VS Code.
Host 100.100.10.100
HostName 100.100.10.100
User root
ForwardAgent yes
IdentityFile /home/autosermo/.ssh/id_rsa
We have tried everything we can think of for the value of IdentityFile (...~/.ssh/id_rsa etc) but cannot nail it down.
What are the other possible locations / what path should be provided to IdentityFile here?
Thank you

Answer 1

WSL is a bit of a red-herring here. When you are using the "Remote - SSH" extension in VSCode, you aren't going through WSL at all. As you can see from this line in the output ...
[17:38:25.713] > OpenSSH_for_Windows_7.7p1, LibreSSL 2.6.5
... It's using OpenSSH for Windows.
The location for your private key in OpenSSH should be %userprofile%/.ssh (so something like C:\Users\username\.ssh). Try placing it there. Also try executing your ssh command from PowerShell or cmd rather than WSL, since that's the one being used by VSCode.