How to create launch.json file and start debugging PHP in VSCode?

Question

I installed PHP debug extension in VSCode, installed Xdebugger also by analyzing phpinfo() file. Now I am unable to debug the file (forward arrows are not coming for debugging).

How to write launch.json file and start debugging?

settings.json

{
    "launch": {
        "configurations": [
            {
                "name": "Launch currently open script with Xdebug 2 (Legacy)",
                "type": "php",
                "request": "launch",
                "program": "${file}",
                "cwd": "${fileDirname}",
                "port": 0,
                "runtimeArgs": [
                    "-dxdebug.remote_enable=yes",
                    "-dxdebug.remote_autostart=yes"
                ],
                "env": {
                    "XDEBUG_CONFIG": "remote_port=${port}"
                }
            },
            {
                "name": "Listen for Xdebug",
                "type": "php",
                "request": "launch",
                "port": 9003
            }
        ]
    }
}

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 22 '21 at 12:27

There are many information missing from this question. Firstly you should make sure that php-xdebug module has been correctly installed, it's indeed safe to bet that if xdebug module appears in phpinfo() it's correctly installed but it's not always the case. I used to face the same problem where the module appeared there but there was an error when I was checking my php version (php -v). You should also make sure that the json configuration file you provided is configured based on your xdebug.ini file. For example if your xdebug.ini file looks like this:

[xdebug]
zend_extension=/usr/lib/php/20190902/xdebug.so
xdebug.mode = debug
xdebug.start_with_request = yes
xdebug.client_port = 9000

Then your json configuration file should look like this:

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "Listen for XDebug",
            "type": "php",
            "request": "launch",
            "port": 9000,
        },
        {
            "name": "Launch currently open script",
            "type": "php",
            "request": "launch",
            "program": "${file}",
            "cwd": "${fileDirname}",
            "port": 9000
        }
    ]
}

I strongly suggest you to install xdebug from it's wizard where you can simply paste your phpinfo() and get the correct installation process.

How to create launch.json file and start debugging PHP in VSCode?

1 Answers1