Configuring Xdebug for PHP development/Windows

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Configuring XDebug is split into two parts: Server-side and Client-side.

Server-side (Extension in PHP)[edit]

Installation[edit]

First check if this extension is already installed. Create a new file with the content <?php phpinfo(); ?>, save it in your web folder (e.g. C:\xampp\htdocs\phpinfo.php) and call it using your browser (https://localhost/phpinfo.php). The command phpinfo will show you the information about installed plugins and their configuration. If you see a headline called XDebug, it is already downloaded and enabled.

To get the extension for a Windows system, you have to download the DLL file from https://xdebug.org/download that fits your PHP version, move it into the ext folder of your PHP installation. If the file php_xdebug.dll exists, leave it there. It's most likely the right version, just that it's not enabled.

Enable XDebug[edit]

On Windows systems you most likely just have one php.ini file for all configuration whereas on several Linux distributions you have a directory called conf.d in addition. If you have installed XDebug on a Linux-based system, you'll probably find a file xdebug.ini. Use this file instead if you have it.

Enable the plugin by adding (or uncommenting) the following line in your config file:

; Example for XAMPP
zend_extension = "\xampp\php\ext\php_xdebug.dll"

; Example on Mac OS X for XAMPP
zend_extension="/Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/lib/php/php-5.3.1/extensions/no-debug-non-zts-20090626/xdebug.so"

Make sure you use zend_extension instead of extension which requires the full path to the extension-file.

Configuration[edit]

Also read this introduction for configuration details: https://xdebug.org/docs/step_debug

Here is an example configuration:

; location of my configuration-file
zend_extension=/usr/lib/php5/20090626/xdebug.so

; Enables colors if you use XDebug on the console
xdebug.cli_color=1

; Enable profiler by a trigger (f.e. cookie or GET-param)
xdebug.profiler_enable_trigger=1
xdebug.profiler_output_dir=/var/www/log/

; Debugger will try to connect back to the machine sending the HTTP-Request
xdebug.remote_connect_back=1

; Enables the debugger
xdebug.remote_enable=1

Client-side (Configure Your IDE)[edit]

If your IDE is not listed on https://xdebug.org/docs/step_debug#clients, you'll probably find a tutorial in the manual of your IDE. Feel free to add helpful tutorials here.