diff --git a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
index 8895d2070e..f54442a04d 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
+++ b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
@@ -53,6 +53,10 @@ RUN apt install --yes \
         libxrandr-dev \
         wget
 
+# vcpkg
+RUN apt install --yes \
+        curl zip unzip tar
+
 # work arround as there is no debug version available
 RUN cp /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libcpptest.so /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libcpptestd.so
 
@@ -76,3 +80,9 @@ RUN groupadd --gid $USER_GID $USERNAME \
     && chmod 0440 /etc/sudoers.d/$USERNAME
 
 USER $USERNAME
+
+ENV VCPKG_ROOT="/home/$USERNAME/vcpkg"
+ENV PATH="$PATH:$VCPKG_ROOT"
+
+RUN git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg.git $VCPKG_ROOT
+RUN $VCPKG_ROOT/bootstrap-vcpkg.sh --disableMetrics
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-nel.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-nel.yml
index 93cac9d46e..b50539eb94 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-nel.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-nel.yml
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ on:
     branches: [ "core4", "feature/*" ]
     paths:
       - .github/workflows/ci-nel.yml
-      - cmake/CMakePresets.nel.json
       - nel/**
       - CMakeLists.txt
       - CMakePresets.txt
@@ -14,7 +13,6 @@ on:
     branches: [ "core4" ]
     paths:
       - .github/workflows/ci-nel.yml
-      - cmake/CMakePresets.nel.json
       - nel/**
       - CMakeLists.txt
       - CMakePresets.txt
diff --git a/CMakePresets.json b/CMakePresets.json
index c4f4b73d4c..5e4008de9b 100644
--- a/CMakePresets.json
+++ b/CMakePresets.json
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   "version": 6,
   "include": [
     "cmake/CMakePresets.base.json",
-    "cmake/CMakePresets.nel.json",
+    "nel/CMakePresets.json",
     "cmake/CMakePresets.nelns.json",
     "snowballs2/CMakePresets.json"
   ]
diff --git a/cmake/CMakePresets.base.json b/cmake/CMakePresets.base.json
index 842de80162..a9b4b932c4 100644
--- a/cmake/CMakePresets.base.json
+++ b/cmake/CMakePresets.base.json
@@ -30,6 +30,12 @@
         "WITH_LIBGSF": true
       }
     },
+    {
+      "name": "vcpkg",
+      "cacheVariables": {
+        "CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE": "$env{VCPKG_ROOT}/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake"
+      }
+    },
     {
       "inherits": [
         "default"
diff --git a/cmake/CMakePresets.nel.json b/nel/CMakePresets.json
similarity index 93%
rename from cmake/CMakePresets.nel.json
rename to nel/CMakePresets.json
index 3fb8471d26..e740b91a83 100644
--- a/cmake/CMakePresets.nel.json
+++ b/nel/CMakePresets.json
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 {
   "version": 6,
   "include": [
-    "CMakePresets.base.json",
-    "CMakePresets.os.json"
+    "../cmake/CMakePresets.base.json",
+    "../cmake/CMakePresets.os.json"
   ],
   "configurePresets": [
     {
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
     {
       "inherits": [
         "linux",
+        "vcpkg",
         "nel"
       ],
       "name": "linux-nel"
diff --git a/vcpkg-configuration.json b/vcpkg-configuration.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a23641e907
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vcpkg-configuration.json
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+{
+  "default-registry": {
+    "kind": "git",
+    "baseline": "47bf3d1ac192b3fa0feb6e6ac9c845de179eebe9",
+    "repository": "https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg"
+  },
+  "registries": [
+    {
+      "kind": "artifact",
+      "location": "https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg-ce-catalog/archive/refs/heads/main.zip",
+      "name": "microsoft"
+    }
+  ]
+}
diff --git a/vcpkg.json b/vcpkg.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..49bed92f23
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vcpkg.json
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+{
+  "dependencies": [
+    "gtest",
+    "openssl"
+  ]
+}