VS2019 PHP Remote debugging breakpoints

AlexK

Hi, I am trying to setup Visual Studio 2019 to debug the PHP application on the remote computer. PHP 7.2 with xdebug3 is setup on the server side (ubuntu). PHP source code is mapped to the local drive in my Windows 10 machine with VS2019. VS project file is in the same folder. I believe the debugger is connecting, but it never stops at any of the breakpoints. I also tried debugging phpinfo.php file with one line and it does not break on it too. I looked through the forum and tried all suggestions. I am new to this and would appreciate any help.

Here is the output from phpinfo:

XDebug Version 3.0.4
Enabled Features
Development Aids ✘ disabled
Coverage ✘ disabled
GC Stats ✘ disabled
Profiler ✘ disabled
Step Debugger ✔ enabled
Tracing ✘ disabled
Debugger enabled
xdebug.cli_color 0
xdebug.client_discovery_header no value
xdebug.client_host 192.168.0.103
xdebug.client_port 9003
xdebug.cloud_id no value
xdebug.collect_assignments Off
xdebug.collect_return Off
xdebug.connect_timeout_ms 200
xdebug.discover_client_host Off
xdebug.dump.COOKIE no value
xdebug.dump.ENV no value
xdebug.dump.FILES no value
xdebug.dump.GET no value
xdebug.dump.POST no value
xdebug.dump.REQUEST no value
xdebug.dump.SERVER no value
xdebug.dump.SESSION no value
xdebug.dump_globals On
xdebug.dump_once On
xdebug.dump_undefined Off
xdebug.file_link_format no value
xdebug.filename_format no value
xdebug.force_display_errors Off
xdebug.force_error_reporting 0
xdebug.gc_stats_output_name gcstats.%p
xdebug.halt_level 0
xdebug.idekey no value
xdebug.log no value
xdebug.log_level 7
xdebug.max_nesting_level 256
xdebug.max_stack_frames -1
xdebug.mode debug
xdebug.output_dir /tmp
xdebug.profiler_append Off
xdebug.profiler_output_name cachegrind.out.%p
xdebug.scream Off
xdebug.show_error_trace Off
xdebug.show_exception_trace Off
xdebug.show_local_vars Off
xdebug.start_upon_error default
xdebug.start_with_request trigger
xdebug.trace_format 0
xdebug.trace_options 0
xdebug.trace_output_name trace.%c
xdebug.trigger_value no value
xdebug.var_display_max_children 128
xdebug.var_display_max_data 512
xdebug.var_display_max_depth 3

Options-Default PHP configuration in Visual Studio has:
PHP version: 7.2.34 (with built-in web server support)
Debugging: xdebug.client_port = 9003

(Note: No problems/issues reported on this page)

php.ini file on the Windows machine:
[XDEBUG-3.0.4-7.2-VC15-X86_64]
zend_extension="C:\Program Files\IIS Express\PHP\v7.2\ext\php_xdebug-3.0.4-7.2-vc15-x86_64.dll"
xdebug.mode=debug
xdebug.client_host = localhost
xdebug.client_port = 9003
xdebug.start_with_request = trigger

Project settings in VS2019:
Server: Custom
Runtime: PHP (unknown) (user installation)
Server URL: http://192.168.0.65
Xdebug port: 9003

I get this output in Visual Studio 2019 when I start debugging:

Auto-attach to process '[20652] PHP.Debugger.Systray.exe' on machine 'ALEX' succeeded.

Accepting connection from Xdebug.
Sending the socket to Visual Studio (port 50982)
Mapping dir 'T:\' to 'file:///var/www/html'
Auto-attach to process '[20160] php_remote.exe' on machine 'ALEX' succeeded.
The program '[20160] php_remote.exe' has exited with code -1 (0xffffffff).
Accepting connection from Xdebug.
Sending the socket to Visual Studio (port 50982)
Accepting connection from Xdebug.
Sending the socket to Visual Studio (port 50982)
Auto-attach to process '[17588] php_remote.exe' on machine 'ALEX' succeeded.
Auto-attach to process '[15136] php_remote.exe' on machine 'ALEX' succeeded.
The program '[17588] php_remote.exe' has exited with code -1 (0xffffffff).
The program '[15136] php_remote.exe' has exited with code -1 (0xffffffff).
Accepting connection from Xdebug.
Sending the socket to Visual Studio (port 50982)
Auto-attach to process '[3680] php_remote.exe' on machine 'ALEX' succeeded.
The program '[3680] php_remote.exe' has exited with code -1 (0xffffffff).
Accepting connection from Xdebug.
Sending the socket to Visual Studio (port 50982)
Accepting connection from Xdebug.
Sending the socket to Visual Studio (port 50982)
Auto-attach to process '[18052] php_remote.exe' on machine 'ALEX' succeeded.
Auto-attach to process '[15564] php_remote.exe' on machine 'ALEX' succeeded.
The program '[18052] php_remote.exe' has exited with code -1 (0xffffffff).
The program '[15564] php_remote.exe' has exited with code -1 (0xffffffff).

MiloslavBeno

Hi Alex,

Thank you for such detailed information about this. It actually looks fine. And you are right, from the output pane data I can see that the debugger is connecting.

I only suspect path mapping, is this correct 'T:\' => 'file:///var/www/html' ?

One more thing we could try is to check xdebug log, maybe something will be there. Please add this to the remote machine's php.ini:

Xdebug 2:
xdebug.remote_log="path_to_log/xdebug.log"

Xdebug 3:
xdebug.log="path_to_log/xdebug.log"
Could you please send me the log once it has some data?

Thank you!

AlexK

Hi Miloslav,

Thank you for looking into it. The mapping is correct, T:\ on Windows 10 to 'file:///var/www/html' on the server.

I captured the output from xdebug. I tried to debug phpinfo.php first. After that, my application.
I am having troubles attaching the log file to this message, instead here is the link to it:
https://files.cemview.com/index.php/s/xnokaPeow5BNtEG

Also, below is the fragment from this log.

[1222] Log opened at 2021-08-23 15:55:55.265278
[1222] [Step Debug] INFO: Connecting to configured address/port: 192.168.0.103:9003.
[1222] [Step Debug] INFO: Connected to debugging client: 192.168.0.103:9003 (through xdebug.client_host/xdebug.client_port). :-)
[1222] [Step Debug] -> <init xmlns="urn:debugger_protocol_v1" xmlns:xdebug="https://xdebug.org/dbgp/xdebug" fileuri="file:///var/www/html/phpinfo.php" language="PHP" xdebug:language_version="7.2.24-0ubuntu0.18.04.8" protocol_version="1.0" appid="1222" idekey="D69FE4EA"><engine version="3.0.4"><![CDATA[Xdebug]]></engine><author><![CDATA[Derick Rethans]]></author><url><![CDATA[https://xdebug.org]]></url><copyright><![CDATA[Copyright (c) 2002-2021 by Derick Rethans]]></copyright></init>

[1222] [Step Debug] <- breakpoint_set -i x0-10002 -t exception -x "Unknown error"
[1222] [Step Debug] -> <response xmlns="urn:debugger_protocol_v1" xmlns:xdebug="https://xdebug.org/dbgp/xdebug" command="breakpoint_set" transaction_id="x0-10002" id="12220001"></response>

[1222] [Step Debug] <- breakpoint_set -i x1-10000 -t exception -x "Fatal error"
[1222] [Step Debug] -> <response xmlns="urn:debugger_protocol_v1" xmlns:xdebug="https://xdebug.org/dbgp/xdebug" command="breakpoint_set" transaction_id="x1-10000" id="12220002"></response>

[1222] [Step Debug] <- breakpoint_set -i x2-10001 -t exception -x "Parse error"
[1222] [Step Debug] -> <response xmlns="urn:debugger_protocol_v1" xmlns:xdebug="https://xdebug.org/dbgp/xdebug" command="breakpoint_set" transaction_id="x2-10001" id="12220003"></response>

[1222] [Step Debug] <- feature_get -i 3 -n max_children
[1222] [Step Debug] -> <response xmlns="urn:debugger_protocol_v1" xmlns:xdebug="https://xdebug.org/dbgp/xdebug" command="feature_get" transaction_id="3" feature_name="max_children" supported="1"><![CDATA[32]]></response>

[1222] [Step Debug] <- breakpoint_set -i 4-0 -s enabled -t line -f file:///var/www/html/application/models/Proposals_model.php -n 654
[1222] [Step Debug] -> <response xmlns="urn:debugger_protocol_v1" xmlns:xdebug="https://xdebug.org/dbgp/xdebug" command="breakpoint_set" transaction_id="4-0" state="enabled" id="12220004"></response>

[1222] [Step Debug] <- breakpoint_set -i 5-1 -s enabled -t line -f file:///var/www/html/application/models/Proposals_model.php -n 16
[1222] [Step Debug] -> <response xmlns="urn:debugger_protocol_v1" xmlns:xdebug="https://xdebug.org/dbgp/xdebug" command="breakpoint_set" transaction_id="5-1" state="enabled" id="12220005"></response>

[1222] [Step Debug] <- breakpoint_set -i 6-2 -s enabled -t line -f file:///var/www/html/phpinfo.php -n 4
[1222] [Step Debug] -> <response xmlns="urn:debugger_protocol_v1" xmlns:xdebug="https://xdebug.org/dbgp/xdebug" command="breakpoint_set" transaction_id="6-2" state="enabled" id="12220006"></response>

[1222] [Step Debug] <- step_into -i 7
[1222] [Step Debug] -> <response xmlns="urn:debugger_protocol_v1" xmlns:xdebug="https://xdebug.org/dbgp/xdebug" command="step_into" transaction_id="7" status="stopping" reason="ok"></response>

[1222] Log closed at 2021-08-23 15:55:55.737019

[1706] Log opened at 2021-08-23 15:57:26.407769
[1706] [Step Debug] INFO: Connecting to configured address/port: 192.168.0.103:9003.
[1706] [Step Debug] INFO: Connected to debugging client: 192.168.0.103:9003 (through xdebug.client_host/xdebug.client_port). :-)
[1706] [Step Debug] -> <init xmlns="urn:debugger_protocol_v1" xmlns:xdebug="https://xdebug.org/dbgp/xdebug" fileuri="file:///var/www/html/index.php" language="PHP" xdebug:language_version="7.2.24-0ubuntu0.18.04.8" protocol_version="1.0" appid="1706" idekey="D69FE4EA"><engine version="3.0.4"><![CDATA[Xdebug]]></engine><author><![CDATA[Derick Rethans]]></author><url><![CDATA[https://xdebug.org]]></url><copyright><![CDATA[Copyright (c) 2002-2021 by Derick Rethans]]></copyright></init>

[1706] [Step Debug] <- breakpoint_set -i x0-10002 -t exception -x "Unknown error"
[1706] [Step Debug] -> <response xmlns="urn:debugger_protocol_v1" xmlns:xdebug="https://xdebug.org/dbgp/xdebug" command="breakpoint_set" transaction_id="x0-10002" id="17060001"></response>

[1706] [Step Debug] <- breakpoint_set -i x1-10000 -t exception -x "Fatal error"
[1706] [Step Debug] -> <response xmlns="urn:debugger_protocol_v1" xmlns:xdebug="https://xdebug.org/dbgp/xdebug" command="breakpoint_set" transaction_id="x1-10000" id="17060002"></response>

[1706] [Step Debug] <- breakpoint_set -i x2-10001 -t exception -x "Parse error"
[1706] [Step Debug] -> <response xmlns="urn:debugger_protocol_v1" xmlns:xdebug="https://xdebug.org/dbgp/xdebug" command="breakpoint_set" transaction_id="x2-10001" id="17060003"></response>

[1706] [Step Debug] <- feature_get -i 3 -n max_children
[1706] [Step Debug] -> <response xmlns="urn:debugger_protocol_v1" xmlns:xdebug="https://xdebug.org/dbgp/xdebug" command="feature_get" transaction_id="3" feature_name="max_children" supported="1"><![CDATA[32]]></response>

[1706] [Step Debug] <- breakpoint_set -i 4-0 -s enabled -t line -f file:///var/www/html/application/views/admin/tables/end_users_activity.php -n 23
[1706] [Step Debug] -> <response xmlns="urn:debugger_protocol_v1" xmlns:xdebug="https://xdebug.org/dbgp/xdebug" command="breakpoint_set" transaction_id="4-0" state="enabled" id="17060004"></response>

[1706] [Step Debug] <- breakpoint_set -i 5-1 -s enabled -t line -f file:///var/www/html/application/views/admin/clients/end_users_activity.php -n 91
[1706] [Step Debug] -> <response xmlns="urn:debugger_protocol_v1" xmlns:xdebug="https://xdebug.org/dbgp/xdebug" command="breakpoint_set" transaction_id="5-1" state="enabled" id="17060005"></response>

[1706] [Step Debug] <- breakpoint_set -i 6-2 -s enabled -t line -f file:///var/www/html/application/models/Proposals_model.php -n 654
[1706] [Step Debug] -> <response xmlns="urn:debugger_protocol_v1" xmlns:xdebug="https://xdebug.org/dbgp/xdebug" command="breakpoint_set" transaction_id="6-2" state="enabled" id="17060006"></response>

[1706] [Step Debug] <- breakpoint_set -i 7-3 -s enabled -t line -f file:///var/www/html/application/models/Proposals_model.php -n 16
[1706] [Step Debug] -> <response xmlns="urn:debugger_protocol_v1" xmlns:xdebug="https://xdebug.org/dbgp/xdebug" command="breakpoint_set" transaction_id="7-3" state="enabled" id="17060007"></response>

[1706] [Step Debug] <- breakpoint_set -i 8-4 -s enabled -t line -f file:///var/www/html/phpinfo.php -n 4
[1706] [Step Debug] -> <response xmlns="urn:debugger_protocol_v1" xmlns:xdebug="https://xdebug.org/dbgp/xdebug" command="breakpoint_set" transaction_id="8-4" state="enabled" id="17060008"></response>

[1706] [Step Debug] <- step_into -i 9
[1706] [Step Debug] -> <response xmlns="urn:debugger_protocol_v1" xmlns:xdebug="https://xdebug.org/dbgp/xdebug" command="step_into" transaction_id="9" status="stopping" reason="ok"></response>

[1706] Log closed at 2021-08-23 15:57:27.988368

MiloslavBeno

Hello,

Thanks for the logs. At least now we know where to look for.

From the log, it's clear the breakpoints are set correctly, but Xdebug is not breaking. Instead, it runs the script and terminates without breaking on any of them.

The last thing that comes to mind is that breakpoint is on a location that doesn't actually run, e.g. there are certain locations where breakpoint will not break ( https://docs.devsense.com/en/vs/debugging/breakpoints#known-issues ) or the script itself didn't run.

Could you please try to start the debugging with F10, instead of F5. That should break on the first "breakable" location. Let's see if it does.

Thank you!

MiloslavBeno

It occurred to me one more thing. F10 will probably not work either, because this seems as something is with the Xdebug.

Could you please check (or send to me) the php.ini file. Make sure there isn't extension=xdebug.so line anywhere. Xdebug has to be enabled as zend_extension, not just extension, so proper line in php.ini would be: zend_extension=PATH/xdebug.so

Thanks

AlexK

Hi Miloslav,

I tried your suggestions with no success.
There was the line extension=xdebug.so in php.ini.

I captured xdebug.log one more time after clean reboot of the ubuntu PC following all modifications. Breakpoint is in phpinfo.php. File contains only a couple of lines, I understand the location is definitely breakable.

Contents of phpinfo.php:
<?php // Show all information, defaults to INFO_ALL xdebug_break(); echo 'Passed breakpoint'; phpinfo(); ?>

Debugger does not break on any of these lines. In the browser I see the text 'Passed breakpoint' printed before the normal output from phpinfo(); My breakpoint is set on phpinfo(); line.

One more thing to add, I am on the first week of trial of PHP tools for VS2019. It is not the full license.

Here is what you asked to see:
https://files.cemview.com/index.php/s/NRGeyKRF7T6AbCt

Thanks again for looking into this for me and for your prompt replies.
Alex

MiloslavBeno

Hi Alex,

Thank you for more information. The trial has everything enabled, so it shouldn't be the cause of the issue.

At least now I can see in the log that Xdebug is breaking. Clearly changing the extension to zend_extension has helped.

Now, why it doesn't break in IDE, it's a different issue now.

I think at this point, the best course of action will be an online session if you would like to?

Thank you

AlexK

Yes, online session would be great.
We could use the following meeting (in a few minutes). If you prefer another meeting or a different time, please let me know. Thank you so much.

Wed, Aug 25, 2021 1:30 PM - 2:00 PM (EDT)
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/310416117
Canada: +1 (647) 497-9373
United States: +1 (571) 317-3116
Access Code: 310-416-117

More phone numbers:
(For supported devices, tap a one-touch number below to join instantly.)

One-touch: tel:+15713173116,,310416117#

New to GoToMeeting? Get the app now and be ready when your first meeting starts: https://global.gotomeeting.com/install/310416117

AlexK

Sorry, it is probably end of the day for you. Another time whenever you are available...

MiloslavBeno

No problem, Alex. We can do the meeting now if you want ;-)

Or any other time that suits you.

AlexK

I am back from lunch. Starting the meeting. If you are free, please join. I'll watch if you join for half an hour or so. Same meeting:
https://global.gotomeeting.com/install/310416117

MiloslavBeno

I guess I've missed you. Let's just schedule a call for tomorrow. Please let me know a time that would be good for you at miloslav at devsense.com

MiloslavBeno

This is fixed internally and will be released in the next update.

Thank you very much for your cooperation.