Debugging PHP Remotely on AWS EC2 with PhpStorm and Xdebug

This note describes how to debug PHP remotely using PhpStorm and Xdebug.

Takahiro Iwasa

2017-07-16

2 min read

This note describes how to debug PHP remotely using PhpStorm and Xdebug.

Server Configuration

Add the necessary Xdebug settings to the php.ini file:

1
[xdebug]
2
zend_extension="/opt/remi/php71/root/usr/lib64/php/modules/xdebug.so"
3
xdebug.remote_enable = 1
4
xdebug.remote_connect_back = 1
5
xdebug.remote_host = "127.0.0.1"
6
xdebug.idekey = "IDE_KEY"
7
xdebug.remote_autostart=true

Restart Apache by running:

sudo service httpd restart

PhpStorm Configuration

Open Run > Edit Configurations... in PhpStorm, then select PHP Remote Debug.

Click Servers and add a target server with the following configuration:

• Name: Remote host private IP
• Host: Remote host public IP
• Debugger: Xdebug
• Use path mappings: ON
• Absolute path: /var/www/html/<YOUR_WEB_APP_ROOT>

Set the IDE key you defined in the xdebug.idekey field of php.ini.

Port Forwarding

If you are using a network router, configure port mapping to allow incoming connections to port 9000 and forward them to your localhost.

Debugging

To start debugging:

1. Place a breakpoint at the desired position in your PHP code.
2. Enable Listen for PHP Debug Connections mode in PhpStorm.
3. Access your remote server.

When the breakpoint is triggered, PhpStorm will pause execution, allowing you to inspect and debug the code.

About the author

Takahiro Iwasa

LinkedIn

GitHub

Software Developer

This blog shares technical notes from hands-on projects—architecture, implementation, and AWS service integrations.