diff --git a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..87831484b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+FROM ubuntu:20.04
+
+RUN apt-get -y update && DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get -y install \
+    build-essential \
+    fontconfig \
+    fuse \
+    git \
+    kmod \
+    libdbus-1-3 \
+    libegl-dev \
+    libfuse2 \
+    libgmp-dev \
+    libglu1-mesa-dev \
+    libmpfr-dev \
+    libpulse-mainloop-glib0 \
+    libtbb-dev \
+    libxcb-icccm4-dev \
+    libxcb-image0-dev \
+    libxcb-keysyms1-dev \
+    libxcb-render-util0-dev \
+    libxcb-shape0 \
+    libxcb-xinerama0-dev \
+    libxerces-c-dev \
+    libxkbcommon-x11-dev \
+    ninja-build \
+    patchelf \
+    python3 \
+    python3-pip
+
+RUN pip3 install aqtinstall
+
+ARG QT=5.15.2
+ARG QT_HOST=linux
+ARG QT_TARGET=desktop
+RUN aqt install-qt -O /opt/qt ${QT_HOST} ${QT_TARGET} ${QT} 
+
+ENV PATH=/opt/qt/${QT}/gcc_64/bin:$PATH
+ENV LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/qt/${QT}/gcc_64/lib/
+ENV QT_PLUGIN_PATH=/opt/qt/${QT}/gcc_64/plugins/
+ENV QML_IMPORT_PATH=/opt/qt/${QT}/gcc_64/qml/
+ENV QML2_IMPORT_PATH=/opt/qt/${QT}/gcc_64/qml/
+
+# install latest cmake
+RUN apt purge --auto-remove cmake && \
+    apt-get -y install wget && \
+    wget -qO- "https://cmake.org/files/v3.19/cmake-3.19.2-Linux-x86_64.tar.gz" \
+    | tar --strip-components=1 -xz -C /usr/local && \
+    apt-get -y remove wget && \
+    apt-get -y autoremove && \
+    apt-get -y clean && \
+    rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..59c33143f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+{
+    "name": "MeshLab",
+    "dockerComposeFile": "docker-compose.yml",
+    "service": "devcontainer",
+    "workspaceFolder": "/workspaces/meshlab",
+
+    // vscode extensions
+    "customizations": {
+        "vscode": {
+            "extensions": [
+                "ms-vscode.cpptools",
+                "ms-vscode.cpptools-extension-pack",
+                "ms-vscode.cmake-tools"
+            ]
+        }
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.devcontainer/docker-compose.yml b/.devcontainer/docker-compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5a2004d69
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/docker-compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+services:
+  devcontainer:
+    build:
+      context: .
+      dockerfile: Dockerfile
+    stdin_open: true # docker run -i
+    tty: true        # docker run -t
+    volumes:
+      - ..:/workspaces/meshlab
+      # Next flags are necessary to deploy meshlab and create the AppImage
+      # fuse is needed. If you don't plan to create the AppImage, you can remove the 
+      # following lines
+      - /lib/modules:/lib/modules
+    # flag --device /dev/fuse
+    devices:
+      - /dev/fuse
+    # flag --cap-add SYS_ADMIN
+    cap_add:
+      - SYS_ADMIN
+    # flag --security-opt apparmor:unconfined
+    security_opt:
+      - apparmor:unconfined
diff --git a/scripts/Linux/make_it.sh b/scripts/Linux/make_it.sh
index 51a3121f3..4f8bd8aa6 100644
--- a/scripts/Linux/make_it.sh
+++ b/scripts/Linux/make_it.sh
@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@
 
 SCRIPTS_PATH="$(dirname "$(realpath "$0")")"
 SOURCE_PATH=$SCRIPTS_PATH/../..
-BUILD_PATH=$SOURCE_PATH/../build
-INSTALL_PATH=$SOURCE_PATH/../install
-PACKAGE_PATH=$SOURCE_PATH/../packages
+BUILD_PATH=$SOURCE_PATH/build
+INSTALL_PATH=$SOURCE_PATH/install
+PACKAGE_PATH=$SOURCE_PATH/packages
 
 DOUBLE_PRECISION_OPTION=""
 NIGHTLY_OPTION=""