JetBrains provides access to Remote Development Beta. The tool works by locally running a thin client and connecting to the IDE backend which gives a fully functional user interface. It can be handled by JetBrains Rider or JetBrains Gateway. It is also required to have a server with working SSH. The workflow of the tool is smooth as editing is done locally and the JetBrains client synchronises changes with the backend.
JetBrains Rider 2022.2 has access to a Beta version of Remote Development. This feature was already previously introduced for other JetBrains IDEs built on the IntelliJ platform. JetBrains Remote Development can host source code, toolchain and IDE backend on any remote server that supports SSH. A thin client based on the IntelliJ platform, allows users to leverage the same Rider development workflows as locally.
Remote Development connects to an existing server via SSH. The IDE is installed as a backend service where it loads a project without displaying a user interface. A thin client runs locally and connects to this IDE backend and provides a fully functional user interface. This gives the impression that the IDE is running locally, even though all processing is done on a remote server.
To use Remote Development, it is necessary to install the latest version of JetBrains Rider - version 2022.3 or later. An alternative option is JetBrains Gateway, which has identical features but only installs a thin client. JetBrains Gateway is a solution if only remote development is planned.
Another essential is a remote server with a working SSH server. JetBrains recommends starting with a remote server with at least 2 cores, at least 4 GB of RAM and at least 5 GB of disk space, but it all depends on the solution and development workflows. For now, the remote server must be Linux, but there are plans for Mac and Windows support.
In the JetBrains Rider launch window, there is a Remote Development section on the right. It has two options: SSH and JetBrains Space. JetBrains promises more explicit providers from partners such as Google, Amazon, GitHub, GitPod and Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) in the future. On the next Connect to SSH screen, it is possible to select existing connections or, for the first time, create a new SSH connection by specifying the username, host, port and local private key to add to the remote server for authentication to SSH-based services such as Git.
Working with Remote Development is smooth because the editing experience is local and the JetBrains client synchronises changes with the backend. All processing takes place on the backend machine. This includes indexing of solution files or disk access. In addition, developers can also observe remote metrics using the Backend Status Details widget at the top of the Rider instance. This widget shows resource usage on the server for CPU, memory and disk.