PHP debugging in XAMPP

Question

Is any debugger is installed by default in XAMPP/WAMP server or We have manually download and configure the debugger? Also do recommend the best PHP debugger.

Answer 1

If you want to use Netbeans and Xampp with debugging, simply open c:\xampp\php\php.ini and add these rows. It worked for me like a charm.

xdebug.remote_handler="dbgp"
xdebug.remote_enable=on
xdebug.remote_port =9000
xdebug.remote_enable = 1
xdebug.profiler_enable = off
xdebug.profiler_trigger = off
xdebug.profiler_output_name = "cachegrind.out.%t-%s"
xdebug.profiler_output_dir = "C:\xampp\tmp"

Or check this out: Check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbJOP0YcSjs

Answer 2

• No debugger is installed by default in xampp
• Yes, you've to manually configure it
• Use Xdebug debugger

These steps worked for me. I'll describe my setup below

My setup: Win 10 Pro, XAMPP 7.3.33, IntelliJ IDEA

Summary

Summary - Installation

1. Download xdebug DLL
2. put some lines in php.ini
3. Restart Apache

Summary - Usage

1. Put a breakpoint in your code
2. Start listening to debug connections on IntelliJ IDEA
3. The debugger will pause at the line when that particular line gets invoked by the server

Details

All the details below have been taken from https://gist.github.com/odan/1abe76d373a9cbb15bed . All credit goes to them

Installing Xdebug for XAMPP with PHP 7.x

• New: XAMPP - XDebug Setup for PHP 8

Requirements

• XAMPP for Windows: https://www.apachefriends.org/download.html
• Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015, 2017 and 2019

Setup

If the file C:\xampp\php\ext\php_xdebug.dll already exists, you can skip the download.

• Download Xdebug for the specific PHP version:

  • PHP 7.4 (64-Bit): https://xdebug.org/files/php_xdebug-2.9.7-7.4-vc15-x86_64.dll
  • PHP 7.4 (32-Bit): https://xdebug.org/files/php_xdebug-2.9.7-7.4-vc15.dll
  • PHP 7.3 (64-Bit): https://xdebug.org/files/php_xdebug-2.9.7-7.3-vc15-x86_64.dll
  • PHP 7.3 (32-Bit): https://xdebug.org/files/php_xdebug-2.9.7-7.3-vc15.dll
  • PHP 7.2 (32-Bit): https://xdebug.org/files/php_xdebug-2.9.7-7.2-vc15.dll
  • PHP 7.1 (32-Bit): https://xdebug.org/files/php_xdebug-2.9.7-7.1-vc14.dll
  • PHP 7.0 (32-Bit): https://xdebug.org/files/php_xdebug-2.6.1-7.0-vc14.dll

• Move the downloaded dll file to: C:\xampp\php\ext

• Open the file C:\xampp\php\php.ini with Notepad++

• Disable output buffering: output_buffering = Off

• Scroll down to the [XDebug] section (or create it) and copy/paste these lines:

[XDebug]
zend_extension = "c:\xampp\php\ext\php_xdebug.dll"
;zend_extension = "c:\xampp\php\ext\php_xdebug-2.9.7-7.4-vc15-x86_64.dll"
xdebug.remote_autostart = 1
xdebug.profiler_append = 0
xdebug.profiler_enable = 0
xdebug.profiler_enable_trigger = 0
xdebug.profiler_output_dir = "c:\xampp\tmp"
;xdebug.profiler_output_name = "cachegrind.out.%t-%s"
xdebug.remote_enable = 1
xdebug.remote_handler = "dbgp"
xdebug.remote_host = "127.0.0.1"
xdebug.remote_log = "c:\xampp\tmp\xdebug.txt"
xdebug.remote_port = 9000
xdebug.trace_output_dir = "c:\xampp\tmp"
;36000 = 10h
xdebug.remote_cookie_expire_time = 36000

• Restart Apache

• Click the Github ? Star button :-)

PhpStorm

• Use the PhpStorm bookmarklets generator to activate Xdebug from the browser side.
• Enable the Xdebug option: "Can accept external connections". See screenshot

Netbeans

• Change the Netbeans debugging options: https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/781074/39868196-c98f15a0-5458-11e8-8143-d8c44079e099.jpg
• Change the following key in php.ini: xdebug.idekey="netbeans-xdebug"

Visual Studio Code

• Installing XDebug on anything for VSCode in 5 minutes
• Install the PHP Debug Adapter for Visual Studio Code.
• Debug PHP In VSCode With XDebug

Adobe Brackets

• Install the PHP Debugger for Brackets.

Sublime Text 2 and 3

• Install the Xdebug Client Package

Start debugger from the console

Enter cmd:

set XDEBUG_CONFIG="idekey=xdebug"
php test.php

Postman

Add XDEBUG_SESSION_START=PHPSTORM as query parameter to the url, e.g.

• http://localhost?XDEBUG_SESSION_START=PHPSTORM

Follow me on Twitter | Blog