IDE backend isn't downloaded correctly when building dev containers – Support | JetBrains

Problem

When building the dev container from the devcontainer.json file, the process is interrupted after the dev container is successfully built on the backend downloading step. Also, one of the following (or similar) errors is reported in the IDE logs (idea.log file in the IDE logs directory):

2024-06-17 17:28:00,887 [1152976]   WARN - #c.j.g.s.GoHighLevelHostAccessor - An error occurred while execution command: 'sh -c "/bin/sh -lc echo\ REMOTE_EXEC_OUTPUT_MARKER_\ \&\&\ wget\ -O\ /.jbdevcontainer/.cache/JetBrains/RemoteDev/dist/09e909e62966d_pycharm-professional-2024.1.3.tar.gz\ https://download.jetbrains.com/python/pycharm-professional-2024.1.3.tar.gz"'
Exit code: 1
Stderr: 'wget: bad address 'download.jetbrains.com''
Stdout: ''

2026-04-17 12:10:26,931 [ 114491]   WARN - #c.j.g.s.GoHighLevelHostAccessor - An error occurred while execution command: 'sh -c "/bin/sh -lc echo\ REMOTE_EXEC_OUTPUT_MARKER_\ \&\&\ wget\ -O\ /tmp/devcontainer-backends/825ae75cc4eda_idea-2026.1/.tar.gz\ https\\\://download.jetbrains.com/idea/idea-2026.1.tar.gz"'
Exit code: 1
...
ssl_client: SSL_connect
wget: error getting response: Connection reset by peer'

2026-04-17 12:10:27,701 [ 115261]   WARN - #c.j.g.s.GoHighLevelHostAccessor - An error occurred while execution command: 'sh -c "/bin/sh -lc echo\ REMOTE_EXEC_OUTPUT_MARKER_\ \&\&\ curl\ -fSL\ --output\ /tmp/devcontainer-backends/825ae75cc4eda_idea-2026.1/.tar.gz\ https\\\://download.jetbrains.com/idea/idea-2026.1.tar.gz"'
Exit code: 60
...
curl: (60) SSL certificate problem: unable to get local issuer certificate
More details here: https://curl.se/docs/sslcerts.html
curl failed to verify the legitimacy of the server and therefore could not
establish a secure connection to it. To learn more about this situation and
how to fix it, please visit the web page mentioned above.'

Cause

The IDE backend, which should be installed inside the dev container, couldn't be downloaded correctly; most likely, due to the network issues. Possible causes include:

unstable Internet connection (the download process takes more than 10 minutes);
jetbrains.com subdomains unreachable due to the network (mis)configuration;
usage of proxy that substitutes SSL certificates.

Solution

The IDE backend could be downloaded manually, and the path to it specified in the process of building the dev container. Please perform the following steps:

download the IDE backend:
- open the Download page on our site (for example, by this link for IntelliJ IDEA);
- select the Linux operation system (only Linux-based images are supported now for dev containers);
- download the archive for the architecture corresponding to the host where your Docker Engine is running;

open the Search Everywhere (double-Shift) in the IDE or Gateway;
type registry and select the Registry... option;
in the opened window, search for the devcontainers.use.separate.project.panel key:

enable this option and save changes;
restart the IDE.

After setting up the registry key, perform the following actions:

start building the dev container;
when the Choose IDE and Project window is opened, press the Installation options... link and select the Upload installer file action:

the IDE version field will be changed to the Select archive file; please specify the path to the IDE backend archive downloaded before;
after that, continue the dev container build process.

Important!

To avoid problems on consequent connections to the dev container, please disable the Choose the backend version automatically/Always use the latest backend option in Settings | Advanced Settings.