1. Phpstorm Xdebug
2. Xdebug 3 Phpstorm Dockers
3. Phpstorm Setup Xdebug

PhpStorm has several preconfigured Docker containers, source: Github - JetBrains / phpstorm-docker-images; Docker hub - PhpStorm; They can be used as follows: Php 7.3 CLI and XDebug 2.7. Host.docker.internal is a special DNS name which resolves to the internal IP of the host. This allows Xdebug to communicate with the IDE. Open PHPStorm preferences and select Build, Execution, Deployment section. In the sub-menu, choose Docker and click the + icon to add new Docker integration and then close the configuration panel.

Download Xdebug

• Download the Xdebug extension compatible with your PHP version and install it as described in the installation guide.

  Xdebug 3 brings performance improvements, simplified configuration, and PHP 8 support. To learn more on upgrading to Xdebug 3, see the Upgrade guide.

  If you are using an AMP package, the Xdebug extension may be already installed. Refer to the instructions specific for your package.

Integrate Xdebug with the PHP interpreter

1. Open the active php.ini file in the editor:

   1. In the Settings/Preferences dialog Ctrl+Alt+S, click PHP.

   2. On the PHP page that opens, click next to the CLI Interpreter field.

   3. In the CLI Interpreters dialog that opens, the Configuration file read-only field shows the path to the active php.ini file. Click Open in Editor.

2. To disable the Zend Debugger and Zend Optimizer tools, which block Xdebug, remove or comment out the following lines in the php.ini file:

   zend_extension=<path_to_zend_debugger> zend_extension=<path_to_zend_optimizer>

3. To enable Xdebug, locate or create the [xdebug] section in the php.ini file and update it as follows:

   [xdebug] zend_extension='<path to xdebug extension>' xdebug.remote_enable=1 xdebug.remote_host=127.0.0.1 xdebug.remote_port='<the port (9000 by default) to which Xdebug connects>'

   [xdebug] zend_extension='<path to xdebug extension>' xdebug.mode=debug xdebug.client_host=127.0.0.1 xdebug.client_port='<the port (9003 by default) to which Xdebug connects>'

   In PHP 5.3 and later, you need to use only zend_extension, not zend_extension_ts, zend_extension_debug, or extension.

   To enable multi-user debugging via Xdebug proxies, locate the xdebug.idekey setting and assign it a value of your choice. This value will be used to register your IDE on Xdebug proxy servers.

4. Save and close the php.ini file.

5. Verify Xdebug installation by doing any of the following:

   • In the command line, run the following command:

     The output should list Xdebug among the installed extensions:

   • Create a php file containing the following code:

     <?php phpinfo();

     Open the file in the browser. The phpinfo output should contain the Xdebug section:

Configure Xdebug in PhpStorm

1. In the Settings/Preferences dialog Ctrl+Alt+S, select PHP.

2. Check the Xdebug installation associated with the selected PHP interpreter:

   1. On the PHP page, choose the relevant PHP installation from the CLI Interpreter list and click next to the field. The list shows all the PHP installations available in PhpStorm, see Configure local PHP interpreters and Configure remote PHP interpreters.

   2. The CLI Interpreters dialog that opens shows the following:

      • The version of the selected PHP installation.

      • The name and version of the debugging engine associated with the selected PHP installation (Xdebug or Zend Debugger). If no debugger is configured, PhpStorm shows the corresponding message:

   Alternatively, open the Installation Wizard, paste the output of the phpinfo(), and click Analyze my phpinfo() output. Learn more about checking the Xdebug installation in Validate the Configuration of a Debugging Engine.

3. Define the Xdebug behaviour. Click Debug under the PHP node. On the Debug page that opens, specify the following settings in the Xdebug area:

   • In the Debug port field, appoint the port through which the tool will communicate with PhpStorm.

     This must be the same port number as specified in the php.ini file:

     xdebug.remote_port='<the port (9000 by default) to which Xdebug connects>'

     xdebug.client_port='<the port (9003 by default) to which Xdebug connects>'

     By default, Xdebug 2 listens on port 9000. For Xdebug 3, the default port has changed from 9000 to 9003. You can specify several ports by separating them with a comma. By default, the Debug port value is set to 9001,9003 to have PhpStorm listen on both ports simultaneously.

   • To have PhpStorm accept any incoming connections from Xdebug engine through the port specified in the Debug port field, select the Can accept external connections checkbox.

   • Select the Force break at first line when no path mapping specified checkbox to have the debugger stop as soon as it reaches and opens a file that is not mapped to any file in the project on the Servers page. The debugger stops at the first line of this file and Examine/update variables shows the following error message: Cannot find a local copy of the file on server <path to the file on the server> and a link Click to set up mappings. Click the link to open the Resolve Path Mappings Problem dialog and map the problem file to its local copy.

     When this checkbox cleared, the debugger does not stop upon reaching and opening an unmapped file, the file is just processed, and no error messages are displayed.

   • Select the Force break at first line when a script is outside the project checkbox to have the debugger stop at the first line as soon as it reaches and opens a file outside the current project. With this checkbox cleared, the debugger continues upon opening a file outside the current project.

4. In the External connections area, specify how you want PhpStorm to treat connections received from hosts and through ports that are not registered as deployment server configurations.

   • Ignore external connections through unregistered server configurations: Select this checkbox to have PhpStorm ignore connections received from hosts and through ports that are not registered as deployment server configurations. When this checkbox is selected, PhpStorm does not attempt to create a deployment server configuration automatically.

   • Break at first line in PHP scripts: Select this checkbox to have the debugger stop as soon as connection between it and PhpStorm is established (instead of running automatically until the first breakpoint is reached). Alternatively turn on the Run | Break at first line in PHP scripts option from the main menu.

   • Max. simultaneous connections Use this spin box to limit the number of external connections that can be processed simultaneously.

By default, PhpStorm only listens for incoming IPv4 connections. To enable IPv6 support, you need to make adjustments in PhpStorm JVM options:

1. Select Help | Edit Custom VM Options from the main menu.

2. In the .vmoptions file that opens, delete the -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true line.

3. Restart PhpStorm.

Configure Xdebug for using in the On-Demand mode

PhpStorm supports the On-Demand mode, where you can disable Xdebug for your global PHP installation and have it enabled automatically on demand only when you are debugging your command-line scripts or when you need code coverage reports. This lets your command line scripts (including Composer and unit tests) run much faster.

1. Disable Xdebug for command-line scripts:

   1. In the Settings/Preferences dialog Ctrl+Alt+S, go to PHP.

   2. From the PHP executable list, choose the relevant PHP interpreter and click next to it. In the CLI Interpreters dialog that opens, click the Open in Editor link next to the Configuration file: <path to php.ini> file. Close all the dialogs and switch to the tab where the php.ini file is opened.

   3. In the php.ini file, find the [xdebug] section and comment the following line in it by adding ; in preposition:

      ;[xdebug] ;zend_extension = '<path to xdebug extension>'

   4. Open the CLI Interpreters dialog and click next to the PHP executable field. PhpStorm informs you that debugger is not installed:

2. To enable PhpStorm to activate Xdebug when it is necessary, specify the path to it in the Debugger extension field, in the Additional area. Type the path manually or click and select the location in the dialog that opens.

Configure Xdebug for using in the Just-In-Time mode

PhpStorm supports the use of Xdebug in the Just-In-Time (JIT) mode so it is not attached to your code all the time but connects to PhpStorm only when an error occurs or an exception is thrown. Depending on the Xdebug version used, this operation mode is toggled through the following settings:

• Xdebug 2 uses the xdebug .remote_mode setting, which has to be set to jit.

• Xdebug 3 uses the xdebug.start_upon_error setting, which has to be set to yes.

The mode is available both for debugging command-line scripts and for web server debugging.

Depending on whether you are going to debug command-line scripts or use a Web server, use one of the scenarios below.

Command-line scripts

For debugging command-line scripts, specify the custom -dxdebug.remote_mode=jit (for Xdebug 2) or -dxdebug.start_upon_error=yes (for Xdebug 3) directive as an additional configuration option:

1. In the Settings/Preferences dialog Ctrl+Alt+S, navigate to PHP.

2. From the PHP executable list, choose the relevant PHP interpreter and click next to it.

3. In the CLI Interpreters dialog that opens, click next to the Configuration options field in the Additional area.

4. In the Configuration Options dialog that opens, click to add a new entry.

   • For Xdebug 2, type xdebug.remote_mode in the Configuration directive field and jit in the Value field.

   • For Xdebug 3, type xdebug.start_upon_error in the Configuration directive field and yes in the Value field.

   When you click OK, you return to the CLI Interpreters dialog where the Configuration options field shows -dxdebug.remote_mode=jit (for Xdebug 2) or -dxdebug.start_upon_error=yes (for Xdebug 3).

Web server debugging

1. From the main menu, choose Run | Web Server Debug Validation.

2. In the Validate Remote Environment that opens, choose the Web server to validate the debugger on.

   • Choose Local Web Server or Shared Folder to check a debugger associated with a local Web server.

     • Path to Create Validation Script: In this field, specify the absolute path to the folder under the server document root where the validation script will be created. For Web servers of the type Inplace, the folder is under the project root.

       The folder must be accessible through http.

     • URL to Validation Script: In this field, type the URL address of the folder where the validation script will be created. If the project root is mapped to a folder accessible through http, you can specify the project root or any other folder under it.

   • Choose Remote Web Server to check a debugger associated with a remote server.

     • Path to Create Validation Script: In this field, specify the absolute path to the folder under the server document root where the validation script will be created. The folder must be accessible through http.

     • Deployment Server: In this field, specify the server access configuration of the type Local Server or Remote Server to access the target environment. For details, see Configure synchronization with a Web server.

       Choose a configuration from the list or click Browse in the Deployment dialog.

3. Click Validate to have PhpStorm create a validation script, deploy it to the target remote environment, and run it there.

4. Open the php.ini file which is reported as loaded and associated with Xdebug.

5. In the php.ini file, find the [xdebug] section.

   Change the value of the xdebug.remote_mode from the default req to jit.

   Change the value of the xdebug.start_upon_error from the default default to yes.

See also Just-In-Time debugging and PHP Exception Breakpoints with PhpStorm and Xdebug

Configure Xdebug running in a Docker container

To configure Xdebug running in a Docker container, provide the Xdebug-specific parameters in the Dockerfile, for example:

In this example, we're modifying /usr/local/etc/php/conf.d/docker-php-ext-xdebug.ini providing the remote_enable and remote_host Xdebug parameters.

Note that the xdebug.remote_host value should be replaced with the IP address of the machine where PhpStorm is running, which is accessible from the Docker container. If you are using Docker for Windows or Docker for Mac, you can set xdebug.remote_host to host.docker.internal, which automatically resolves to the internal address of the host, letting you easily connect to it from the container.

In this example, we're modifying /usr/local/etc/php/conf.d/docker-php-ext-xdebug.ini providing the mode and client_host Xdebug parameters.

Note that the xdebug.client_host value should be replaced with the IP address of the machine where PhpStorm is running, which is accessible from the Docker container. If you are using Docker for Windows or Docker for Mac, you can set xdebug.client_host to host.docker.internal, which automatically resolves to the internal address of the host, letting you easily connect to it from the container.

Configure Xdebug running on a Vagrant instance

To configure Xdebug running on a Vagrant instance, connect to the Vagrant machine and provide the Xdebug-specific parameters in the php.ini file:

Note that the xdebug.remote_host value is 10.0.2.2. This is the gateway used in the default Vagrant setup, which allows connecting from the instance to host where PhpStorm is running.

Note that the xdebug.client_host value is 10.0.2.2. This is the gateway used in the default Vagrant setup, which allows connecting from the instance to host where PhpStorm is running.

Redirection Notice

Docker is an open platform for building, shipping and running distributed applications. It gives programmers, development teams and operations engineers the common toolbox they need to take advantage of the distributed and networked nature of modern applications.

This tutorial describes Docker support in PhpStorm, which includes debugging PHP web applications (running in the Docker container), inspecting, managing containers and viewing running processes.You can also search through logs, start and stop containers, and perform basic container management.

• Prerequisites
• PhpStorm & Docker Integration Configuration
• Working with Docker in PhpStorm

Docker installation

First of all, you'll need to install Docker and related tools so that you can take advantage of the Docker integration in PhpStorm. Please refer to the Docker documentation to get more information about the installation process:

• Installing Docker engine on Windows;
• Installing Docker engine on Mac OS X;
• Installing Docker engine on Linux (Ubuntu, other distributions-related instructions are available as well);
• You can also install Docker on various cloud platforms (e.g. read tutorials on installing Docker on Amazon EC2, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure).

Docker plugin is bundled in PhpStorm since 2016.3.

Prerequisites for Mac for PhpStorm 2016.3 and below.

1. Use the standard MacOSX terminal to execute asocat TCP-LISTEN:2375,reuseaddr,fork,bind=localhost UNIX-CONNECT:/var/run/docker.sockcommand to allow older versions of PhpStorm to connect to Docker;

   1. install socat as described at http://macappstore.org/socat/
   2. run socat TCP-LISTEN:2375,reuseaddr,fork,bind=localhost UNIX-CONNECT:/var/run/docker.sock
   3. enter tcp://localhost:2375 as an API URL in IDE
   4. (note: you may use any other port instead of 2375)

   
   Note: Since PhpStorm 2017.1 you can connect via Unix socket directly.
   

Configuring PhpStorm to work with Docker

1. Open Settings / Preferences | Build, Execution, Deployment | Docker and create Docker configuration with a + button.
   

2. You should provide the configuration name (Docker in our case), API URL (tcp://localhost:2375for Windows and for Mac OS X if using PhpStorm older than 2017.1, unix:///var/run/docker.sock for Mac OS X and Linux).
   

3. Apply the configuration and close the Settings / Preferences dialog.
4. Create a new Docker DeploymentRun/Debug Configuration invoking the dialog from the Run | Edit configurations... menu:
   Then, create a Docker Deployment configuration with a + button:
   

5. Provide all the necessary parameters on the Deployment tab. In our case we've provided Run/Debug Configuration Name (Start Docker in our case), selected the server (Docker), selected the Deployment method to be Dockerfile, provided Image tag (mysite) and Container name (Docker_Xdebug):
   

6. Provide all the necessary parameters and configurations on the Container tab. At this point we are interested in exposing port 80 of the container to be available from our local machine, so we should configure a port binding for that (Container port: 80, Protocol: tcp, Host IP: empty, Host port: 8080):
   In addition, we can configure links, volume bindings, environment variables, and much more.

7. Apply the Run/Debug Configuration and close the dialog.

At this step it's important to note that that there are many ways to create/configure Docker containers and VM images, and we'd recommend to always refer to the Docker documentation on the official web site.

For the purposes of this tutorial we're using Dockerfile and Apache configuration file. We've also created an index.php file with phpinfo(); to be deployed to the Docker container. We're making some significant configuration in those Dockerfile and Apache configuration file, so you're recommended to have a look at them. You can download entire project used in this demo or separate config files (apache-config.conf, Dockerfile) which then need to be placed in the project root folder.

Running the Docker from PhpStorm

As all the tools are installed, and the integration is configured, the recently created Start Docker Run/Debug Configuration can be launched:

The Application Servers tool window will be opened updating you on the provisioning status and current state of all your Docker containers:

As soon as the process is completed, and our Docker_Xdebug container status turns green, we can check how it works in the browser. You should be able to open it by the URL http://localhost:8080/. If you can't see the index.php execution results in the browser (containing phpinfo(); in our case), please check that you have specified the correct port bindings on the previous steps.

In our example, everything is running fine on the port we've expected the web app to be:

Managing Docker containers and other Docker-related actions in PhpStorm

From the Application Servers tool window, it’s easy to inspect containers and view running processes. You can also search through logs, start and stop containers, and perform basic container management like creating and deleting containers. Each deployment in Docker is assigned a unique container ID - these are initially temporary containers, although they can be committed and saved for further distribution. On the Docker Hub registry, there are many such images available for you to try.

Images in Docker are read-only - once committed, any changes to a container’s state will become part of a new image. When you have a stable build on one instance of Docker (on your development machine, staging server, or a cloud), reproducing the exact same build is as simple as (1) committing the Docker container, (2) pushing it to a registry (public or private), then (3) pulling the same image to another instance of Docker, running - wherever.

Debugging the PHP web application running in the Docker container

Assuming that you already run the Docker container now (and everything worked well on the previous steps), you should now able to open your PHP web application in the browser by http://host:port URL (http://localhost:8080/ in our case). The major difficulty in getting Xdebug (or Zend Debugger) working with PhpStorm and Docker integration is the correct configuration of the Docker container.

In our case we're using a Dockerfile (we've already shown this config earlier and provided links to download it) to configure the container, including Xdebug-specific parameters, such as:

In the example above we're modifying /etc/php/7.0/apache2/php.ini providing a path to Xdebug extension, and some other Xdebug parameters (remote_enable and remote_host). Please note that xdebug.remote_host value should be replaced with your local machine IP address which is visible from the Docker container (where PhpStorm is running, 192.168.2.117 in our case).

Phpstorm Xdebug

Configuration for Zend Debugger is similar, please see a full tutorial on installing Xdebug and installing Zend Debugger (there's much more information on required parameters and options).

Xdebug 3 Phpstorm Dockers

Don't forget to re-run Start Docker Run/Debug Configuration so that all the changes are applied.

Phpstorm Setup Xdebug

As soon as all the configs are in place, the debugging process can be triggered following this tutorial from step 2 (start Listening for PHP Debug Connections, set a breakpoint in the source code, start a debug session in the browser, reload the current page, debug) to get the debugger up and running in a few moments: