VSCode SSH Password Prompt Issue with Remote Server

Question

An issue has been encountered while trying to log into a remote server using VSCode. The connection was successful until yesterday, but today, despite entering the correct password, the process hangs at "Opening Remote Server..." followed by "Downloading VSCode Server..." and then prompts for the password again.

Steps taken to troubleshoot the issue include:

1. Connecting to the remote server via the terminal on the PC, which works fine.
2. Attempting to remove the .vscode-server directory on the server by connecting through the terminal, but this did not resolve the issue.
3. Confirming that virtual memory (kbytes, -v) is unlimited.
4. Reviewing the log, which is displayed below:

The process appears to be stuck at the bottom line.

1. Verifying the version of VSCode and confirming that it has not been updated recently.

Assistance is sought to resolve this login issue with the remote server. Thank you for any guidance.

Answer 1

Hi Andy Xuan,

Thank you for sharing the detailed steps you've taken so far. Based on your description, this issue may be related to a known bug affecting the Remote-SSH extension, particularly when the VSCode Server fails to install or initialize correctly2. Since you've already removed the .vscode-server directory and confirmed terminal access, we recommend the following next steps:

Ensure the remote machine has internet access, as the VSCode Server download may silently fail without it.

Try disabling the remote.SSH.useLocalServer setting in VSCode (settings.json) and reconnect.

Manually install the VSCode Server by running the generated SSH command outside of VSCode, as outlined in the Remote-SSH troubleshooting guide.

If the issue persists, please share the full Remote-SSH log via Remote-SSH: Show Log from the Command Palette. This will help us pinpoint where the process is stalling.

Best regards,

Quinnie Quoc.