VSCode in WSL: how to sudo a root file so I can edit it

Question

WSL v.1 -- VSCode v1.40.1 (using 'Remote - WSL' extension 40.3)

How to open a root-owned file for edit using sudo and VSCode? (without running as root)

If I open a root file without sudo, I can't edit it (expected): $ code /etc/profile.d/custom-profile.sh $

But, if I try to sudo code the file, I get:

$ sudo code /etc/profile.d/custom-profile.sh
[sudo] password for xxxx:
sudo: code: command not found

Binarify's answer below shows that I can switch the default user to root, but I definitely don't want to be running as root, so I'm still looking for another solution.

Answer 1

You can own the file you want to edit, then give it back the ownership afterwards

sudo chown myuser /path/to/file
code /path/to/file
sudo chown root /path/to/file