Docker on Linux: Xdebug for Sublime Text 3

Docker on Linux allows Xdebug to automatically connect back to the host system without the need of an explicit IP address.

Table of Contents

local

Prerequisites

Ensure you know how to customize php.ini values for the Devilbox and have a rough understanding about common Xdebug options.

* php_ini * configure_php_xdebug_options

Assumption

For the sake of this example, we will assume the following settings and file system paths:

Directory	Path
Devilbox git directory	`/home/cytopia/repo/devilbox`
`env_httpd_datadir`	`./data/www`
Resulting local project path	`/home/cytopia/repo/devilbox/data/www`
Selected PHP version	`5.6`

The Resulting local project path is the path where all projects are stored locally on your host operating system. No matter what this path is, the equivalent remote path (inside the Docker container) is always /shared/httpd.

Important

Remember this, when it comes to path mapping in your IDE/editor configuration.

Configuration

Install Xdebug Client for Sublime

Use Sublime's Package Control to search for and install Xdebug Client.

Configure Sublime

Navigate to Tools -> Xdebug -> Settings - User in the menu

This will open the configuration file in Sublime

{
    "path_mapping": {
        "/shared/httpd" : "/home/cytopia/repo/devilbox/data/www"
    },
    "url": "",
    "ide_key": "sublime.xdebug",
    "host": "0.0.0.0",
    "port": 9000
}

Important

Recall the path settings from the Assumption section and adjust if your configuration differs!

Configure php.ini

Note

The following example show how to configure PHP Xdebug for PHP 5.6:

Create an xdebug.ini file (must end by .ini):

# Navigate to the Devilbox git directory
host> cd path/to/devilbox

# Navigate to PHP 5.6 ini configuration directory
host> cd cfg/php-ini-5.6/

# Create and open debug.ini file
host> vi xdebug.ini

Copy/paste all of the following lines into the above created xdebug.ini file:

; Defaults
xdebug.default_enable=1
xdebug.remote_enable=1
xdebug.remote_port=9000

; The Linux way
xdebug.remote_connect_back=1

; idekey value is specific to Sublime
xdebug.idekey=sublime.xdebug

; Optional: Set to true to always auto-start xdebug
xdebug.remote_autostart=false

Note

Host os and editor specific settings are highlighted in yellow and are worth googling to get a better understanding of the tools you use and to be more efficient at troubleshooting.

Restart the Devilbox

Restarting the Devilbox is important in order for it to read the new PHP settings. Note that the following example only starts up PHP, HTTPD and Bind.

# Navigate to the Devilbox git directory
host> cd path/to/devilbox

# Stop, remove stopped container and start
host> docker-compose stop
host> docker-compose rm
host> docker-compose up php httpd bind

start_the_devilbox_stop_and_restart (Why do docker-compose rm?)

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