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F5 Distributed Cloud Tools for Visual Studio Code

Installation

You install the F5 Distributed Cloud Tools (vscode-xcsh) extension through the Visual Studio Code Marketplace or by manually installing a packaged .vsix release artifact.

System Requirements

Section titled “System Requirements”

Before installing the extension, ensure your environment meets the following prerequisites:

  • Visual Studio Code: Version 1.125.0 or later (or compatible runtime such as Cursor or VSCodium).
  • Operating System: Linux (x64/arm64), macOS (Apple Silicon/Intel), or Windows 10/11 (x64).
  • Network Access: Outbound HTTPS (port 443) connectivity to your F5 Distributed Cloud tenant endpoint (https://<tenant-name>.console.ves.volterra.io) and status endpoints (https://status.ves.volterra.io).
  • F5 Distributed Cloud Credentials: An active tenant user account with permissions to generate an API token or export a PKCS#12 (.p12) client certificate.

Install from the Marketplace

Section titled “Install from the Marketplace”

To install the extension directly from the Visual Studio Code Marketplace:

  1. Open Visual Studio Code.
  2. Open the Extensions view by pressing Ctrl+Shift+X (macOS: Cmd+Shift+X) or selecting View > Extensions.
  3. In the search box, enter F5 Distributed Cloud Tools.
  4. Locate the extension published by F5 and select Install.

Install from a VSIX Package

Section titled “Install from a VSIX Package”

If you operate in an air-gapped network or test prerelease builds, install the extension using a packaged .vsix file.

Using the Command Palette

Section titled “Using the Command Palette”
  1. Download the extension .vsix package from the official releases repository.
  2. In Visual Studio Code, open the Command Palette by pressing Ctrl+Shift+P (macOS: Cmd+Shift+P).
  3. Enter and select Extensions: Install from VSIX….
  4. Browse to the location of the downloaded .vsix file and select Open.

Using the Command-Line Interface

Section titled “Using the Command-Line Interface”

You can also install the .vsix package directly from your terminal:

Terminal window
code --install-extension vscode-xcsh-latest.vsix

Verify Installation

Section titled “Verify Installation”

Confirm that the extension activated successfully:

  1. Look for the F5 icon in the Visual Studio Code Activity Bar (left navigation strip).
  2. Select the F5 icon to open the F5 Distributed Cloud Tools view container.
  3. Verify that the Profiles, Cloud Status, and Explorer view panels appear.

Next Steps

Section titled “Next Steps”

Once installed, configure your tenant connection and authentication credentials by following the Profile Setup guide.