Add "run as sudo" to launch.json for VSC Java project

[FDelporte]

I'm working on the Pi4J project (https://v2.pi4j.com/) to control GPIOs with a Java application. Pi4J uses a native library to communicate with the GPIOs. For some protocols (like I2C) the library needs to be called with "sudo". I know this is a bad idea and should be avoided, and we are looking for an alternative solution, but in the mean-time I found out you can't run or debug a Java application in VSC as sudo.

You could launch VSC itself as sudo, but this gives the following warning, so that's probably even a worse idea ;-)

$ sudo code
You are trying to start Visual Studio Code as a super user which isn't recommended. If this was intended, please specify an alternate user data directory using the `--user-data-dir` argument.

Environment

• Operating System: Raspberry Pi OS (Linux, Debian)
• JDK version: OpenJDK 11.0.9.1
• Visual Studio Code version: 1.53.2
• Java extension version: Java Extension Pack 0.12.1
• Java Debugger extension version: 0.31.0

Steps To Reproduce

1. Create a launch.json file, e.g.

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "type": "java",
            "name": "Launch CrowPiApp",
            "request": "launch",
            "mainClass": "com.pi4j.example/com.pi4j.example.CrowPiApp",
            "projectName": "pi4j-example-crowpi",
            "args": "-a -p"
        }
    ]
}

2. It should be possible to add extra setting "sudo": true

Current Result

sudo setting not available

Expected Result

sudo true/false can be defined

Additional Informations

The example project is https://github.com/Pi4J/pi4j-example-crowpi

[theremoon-j]

three years past, is it available?

[github-actions[bot]]

Hi @FDelporte, I'm an AI Support assistant here to help with your issue. While the team reviews your request, I wanted to provide some possible tips and documentation that might help you in the meantime.

There is no built-in sudo flag in launch.json, but here are two workable approaches:

• Avoid needing sudo at all by giving your user access to GPIO/I²C devices: – Add your user to the gpio and i2c groups: bash sudo usermod -a -G gpio,i2c $USER reboot – On Raspberry Pi OS the /dev/gpiomem and /dev/i2c-* nodes will then allow non‐root access.

• Use a wrapper task + attach-style debugging:

1. In .vscode/tasks.json, define a shell task that starts your app under sudo with JDWP enabled:

   {
     "version": "2.0.0",
     "tasks": [
       {
         "label": "run-with-sudo-debug",
         "type": "shell",
         "command": "sudo java -agentlib:jdwp=transport=dt_socket,server=y,suspend=y,address=*:5005 -cp target/classes com.pi4j.example.CrowPiApp -a -p",
         "problemMatcher": []
       }
     ]
   }
   

2. In .vscode/launch.json, add an attach configuration:

   {
     "version": "0.2.0",
     "configurations": [
       {
         "type": "java",
         "name": "Attach to sudo app",
         "request": "attach",
         "hostName": "localhost",
         "port": 5005
       }
     ]
   }
   

3. Run the task (Terminal > Run Task > run-with-sudo-debug), then launch the “Attach to sudo app” debug.

Other references with low confidence

Click to expand

• Java Debugging docs – explains attach debugging in VS Code: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/java/java-debugging#_attach-to-a-running-application

The team will respond to your issue shortly. I hope these suggestions are helpful in the meantime. If this comment helped you, please give it a 👍. If the suggestion was not helpful or incorrect, please give it a 👎. Your feedback helps us improve!