codecli

codecli is a command-line interface tool for creating and managing secure code-server IDE private users using SystemD and Docker services.

• Quick create code-server workspace in root
• Create and manage SystemD workspaces
• Create and manage Docker containers
• Limit RAM and CPU usage for workspaces
• Manage user accounts and passwords
• Schedule workspace stops and deletions
• Backup workspaces to cloud storage
• Monitor port usage and container status
• Set optional memory, CPU, and ext4 user-quota limits for Docker workspaces
• Select a custom Docker image with -i

Make sure you have root access before doing this installation.

curl -fsSL https://jayanode.com/api/mirror/codecli/build?raw=true | sudo bash

The installer (build.sh → scripts/install.sh) installs the base packages, at, rclone, Docker, the codeusers and codeusersmemlimit host users with their compose files, and then /usr/local/bin/codecli. It is safe to re-run: it does not overwrite an existing /etc/docker/daemon.json, host users, or rclone.

codecli must be run as root (except help and version). The general syntax is:

codecli [command] [argument] [argument]

To see all available commands:

codecli help

To quickly create a code-server workspace in root:

codecli quickcreate

Options may be passed as flags (-u, -p, -o, -l, -c, -i, -q, -t, ...); anything missing is asked interactively. Unknown flags and unexpected arguments are rejected with a non-zero exit status.

Example (Docker workspace with limits):

codecli create dockerlimit -u alice -p 'S3cret!pass' -o 20001 -l 1024m -c 0.5 -q 10G -i linuxserver/code-server:latest
codecli manage docker stop -u alice -t 2
codecli manage docker start -u alice -t 2
codecli manage docker delete -u alice -t 2

-t 1 selects the plain Docker root (/home/codeusers) and -t 2 the limited root (/home/codeusersmemlimit).

• Each Docker workspace stores its compose settings (port, password, image, limits) in a private file /home/codeusers[memlimit]/.env.d/<user>.env (mode 0600, directory 0700). Older workspaces keep working through the legacy shared .env; run codecli manage docker password -u <user> once to migrate one.
• Passwords are stored single-quoted so characters such as $ and # reach the container unchanged. A Docker workspace password may not contain a single quote or a line break.
• Passwords are never echoed. Note that passing -p on the command line is visible to other local users through ps; omit it to be prompted instead.
• Usernames must match [A-Za-z0-9][A-Za-z0-9_-]* (max 64 characters).
• -c takes a CPU count (for example 0.5) for Docker workspaces and a percentage (for example 50%) or CPU count for SystemD workspaces.
• The daily update notice is only shown for interactive terminals.

• Ubuntu 22.04, 24.04 and 26.04 (the all-in installer).
• Docker workspaces use the LinuxServer Code-Server image by default; custom images are supported.

codecli supports backing up workspaces to various cloud storage providers using Rclone.

To set up a backup, use the codecli backup command and follow the prompts.

Additional folders or files can be included in every archive with the repeatable -a option. Paths are resolved from each Docker root directory (/home/codeusers or /home/codeusersmemlimit) and may use {folder} and {user} placeholders:

codecli backup -n drive -h 2 -f backups -s 1 -a 'additional/{user}/data'

Re-running the command for the same remote replaces its cron entry, and overlapping runs are prevented with a lock.

Storage limits require an ext4 filesystem mounted with usrquota (or usrjquota) and a host user with the same name as the workspace. Use -q 10G, -q 500M, or -q 0 (unlimited) when creating a Docker workspace; when the quota cannot be applied a warning is printed and creation continues.

To update codecli to the latest version, run:

codecli update

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

If you have any problem in using codecli, please open a new issue.