Debug your PHP in Docker with Intellij/PHPStorm and Xdebug

1. For your local dev, create a Dockerfile that is based on your production image and simply install xdebug into it. Exemple:

FROM php:5

RUN yes | pecl install xdebug \
    && echo "zend_extension=$(find /usr/local/lib/php/extensions/ -name xdebug.so)" > /usr/local/etc/php/conf.d/xdebug.ini \
    && echo "xdebug.remote_enable=on" >> /usr/local/etc/php/conf.d/xdebug.ini \
    && echo "xdebug.remote_autostart=off" >> /usr/local/etc/php/conf.d/xdebug.ini

2. Get you local IP address (ip -o -4 addr list ${MY_NETWORK_INTERFACE:-eth0} | awk '{print $4}' | cut -d/ -f1)
3. Start your container with the following environment variables: XDEBUG_CONFIG="remote_host={{YOUR_IP_ADDRESS}}"

• Simple docker run: docker run -e XDEBUG_CONFIG="remote_host={{YOUR_IP_ADDRESS}}" your-image

• With docker-compose:

  # docker-compose.yml
  foo:
    build: path/to/Dockerfile
    environment:
      XDEBUG_CONFIG: "remote_host={{YOUR_IP_ADDRESS}}"
      PHP_IDE_CONFIG: "serverName=my.local"

4. In Intellij/PHPStorm go to: Languages & Frameworks > PHP > Servers > and set the following settings:

• Name: name of your server, should be equal to value in PHP_IDE_CONFIG variable

Then you're all set and can start listening for PHP Debug connections from your IDE.

Happy debugging!