Install, configure and run JetBrains IDEs with Projector Server on Linux or in WSL.
To use projector-installer you need machine with Linux (or WSL) and with Python 3.6 or higher. Before install projector-installer make sure that you have python3 and pip3 in your system. In Debian-based distributive you can install them using the command:
sudo apt install python3 python3-pip
Also make sure that you have installed the following packets:
- libxext6
- libxi6
- libxrender1
- libxtst6
- libfreetype6
In Debian-based distributive you can install them using the command:
sudo apt install libxext6 libxrender1 libxtst6 libfreetype6 libxi6
pip3 install projector-installer
pip3 install projector_installer-VERSION-py3-none-any.whl
git clone https://github.com/JetBrains/projector-installer.git
cd projector-installer
pip3 install -r requirements.txt
python3 setup.py bundle
pip3 install .
python3 -m venv venv
source ./venv/bin/activate
pip3 install projector-installer
After that the command projector
is available.
NOTE: In fresh Linux installations the directory ~/.local/bin
can be missed in the PATH
variable. If the projector
command
is not available after installation, try to restart the terminal.
First time you run projector, it automatically starts the installation. Just run projector and follow the instructions. The script will run the installed IDE with projector-server and display URL to access it. Open this URL in your browser and use IDE as usual.
To run IDE again use projector run
To install a new IDE run projector install
General help: projector --help
:
Command or command group help: projector command --help
:
projector run --help
projector config --help
Subcommand help: projector group subcommand --help
to get help.
projector config add --help
To simplify usage most useful commands have shortcuts. In simple cases (when you have the only IDE installed, or you do not run several IDE instances simultaneously) it is enough to use a couple of shortcut commands, such as install and run.
-
find - find available IDEs (a shortcut for 'ide find')
-
install - install IDE (a shortcut for 'ide install')
-
run - run IDE (a shortcut for 'config run')
Script has two groups of commands:
-
IDE management commands intended to manage Projector-compatible IDEs. All such commands are prefixed with 'ide' keyword, for example:
projector ide find
finds all Projector-compatible IDEs.
or:
projector ide find goland
finds all Projector-compatible IDEs which have 'goland' in their names.
- config commands, intended to run and manage configurations, for example:
projector config run goland
runs the configuration with name 'goland'
projector ide find
- display all Projector-compatible IDEs
projector ide find pattern
- display Projector-compatible IDEs whose names match the given pattern
projector ide list
- display all installed IDEs
projector ide list pattern
- display Projector-compatible IDEs whose names match the given pattern
projector ide install
- select and install IDE interactively
projector ide install ide_name
- install the specified IDE
projector ide uninstall
- uninstall IDE interactively
projector ide uninstall ide_name
- uninstall the specified IDE
projector config run
- run default or interactively selected configuration with Projector
projector config run configuration
- run the specified configuration
projector config list
- list all existing configurations
projector config add
- add a new configuration
projector config edit
- change an existing configuration
projector config edit configuration
- change the specified configuration
projector config remove
- select configuration and remove it
projector config remove config_name
- remove a configuration
projector config rename from_config_name to_config_name
- rename an existing configuration
projector config show
- show configuration details
projector config update-markdown-plugin
- updates projector markdown plugin in existing configuration
with bundled version. Can be useful after update projector-installer package.
projector config rebuild
- regenerates all files, related to run config.
Can be useful after manual run config file edit, or incompatible changes in installer.
Projector installer script has the following configuration options:
--config-directory=path_to_dir - specifies path to configuration directory. Default - ~/.projector
--cache-directory=path_to_dir - specifies path to download cache directory.
pip3 install wheel
rm -r projector_installer/bundled dist build # Remove old build files
python3 setup.py bundle bdist_wheel
rm -r projector_installer/bundled dist build # Remove old build files
python3 setup.py bundle sdist bdist_wheel # Build required files
python3 -m twine upload --repository testpypi --verbose dist/* # Upload to https://test.pypi.org/project/projector-installer/
python3 -m twine upload dist/* # Upload to https://pypi.org/project/projector-installer/
During installation Projector asks the user if they want to use a secure connection. If the user chooses "yes", installer configures Projector to use HTTPS for accessing a built-in HTTP server and WSS to communicate with the Projector server. Using a secure connection may be a good idea because some JavaScript features are not available in insecure environments, for example, Asynchronous Clipboard API. So using Projector with insecure protocols may limit its functionality.
However, using a secure connection requires telling the browser that it should trust the certificate. One of the ways to do it is to do it forcefully. Open the page, see the warning about unknown certificate, find a button like "trust it anyway", and click it. After it, you will probably get a message like "can't connect to wss://host:port". Please change wss to https, open it in a new tab, and click the "trust" button too. After performing these two actions, the browser should remember this connection and you won't have to perform these actions again. Just open the initial web page and use all functionality of Projector.
- Where does projector-installer keep downloaded IDE and run configurations?
All the necessary stuff is kept in the configuration directory. Usually
configuration directory is ~/.projector. But the user can specify
another location for it, using option --config-directory, for example:
projector --config-directory=config run
Projector installer can't support automatic Android Studio installation due to
legal issues. However installer can help you to configure existing Android Studio
installation to use with Projector. To make new run config for Android Studio
use projector config add
command.
NOTE: Please take into account, that Projector uses JVM, bundled with IDE and supports Java 11 only. Most of Android Studio IDE shipped with Java 1.8, so they are incompatible with Projector. However, starting from version 4.2 (still in EAP), Google ships Java 11 with Android Studio. So Android Studio ver. 4.2 and later can be run with projector.
Example:
$projector config add
Enter a new configuration name: AndroidStudio
Do you want to choose a Projector-installed IDE? [y/n]: n
Enter the path to IDE: /path/to/your/android-studio
Enter a desired Projector port (press ENTER for default) [10005]:
Use secure connection (this option requires installing a projector's certificate to browser)? [y/n]: y
projector
command is unavailable after installation.
In some Linux distributions the directory ~/.local/bin
can be missed in the PATH
variable. If the projector
command
is not available after installation, try run source ~/.profile
.
If it does not help, try add the following line at the end of your ~/.profile:
export PATH=${PATH}:~/.local/bin
and run source ~/.profile
.
- On WSL can't access URL, displayed in projector console from Windows browser.
Please refer to section Resolving WSL issues.
- projector exits immediately after
projector run
Make sure, that you installed all packages, mentioned in Prerequisites section.
WSL is new technology and sometimes there are problems with network interfaces forwarding from Linux to Windows system. (Example: microsoft/WSL#4636)
If you have issues with accessing Projector running in WSL from browser, try do the following:
-
Do not use several WSL machines in the same time. Connectivity issues happens rarely if only one WSL machine is running. You can check state of existing WSL machies using
wsl -l -v
command. -
Try command
Get-Service LxssManager | Restart-Service
in PowerShell console -
Restart your WSL environment:
wsl --shutdown
and start your linux console again.
WARNING! The wsl --shutdown
command will close all Linux consoles.
Save your work before stopping WSL!
-
Using docker service with WSL2 backend can cause connectivity issues. Try to disable it and restart WSL terminal.
-
Use HTTP address other than localhost. Usually WSL have problems forwarding localhost interface only. Try to use listening address other than localhost. You can assign HTTP listening address during initial installation or using
projector config edit
command.
WARNING! Using external address for projector HTTP server can be dangerous, use this method with caution.