Setup XDebug in Ubuntu

3-minute read
Tech • Development
php • xdebug • php-xdebug • ubuntu • linux

Xdebug’s basic functions include the display of stack traces on error conditions, maximum nesting level protection and time tracking.

Xdebug is a very powerful tool for finding out the errors and testing the implementation of logics using PHP. You can easily install Xdebug in your machine by following these instructions.

  • Always run sudo apt-get update before installing any application.

  • There are two sources for installation.

    • Ubuntu: This will provide you the application compiled during the building of the OS you are using. Thus, you may get older version of the application and might not get updates frequently.
    • PPA: You will get the latest version of the application and frequent updates on the application.

  • [Optional] Add PPA to your Softwares List. Skip to step #4 if you don’t want to use PPA for installation. But, I recommend to use PPA for frequent updates. Enter these commands in your terminal.

    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php
sudo apt-get update

  • Enter the following command in your terminal to install Xdebug.

    sudo apt-get install php-xdebug

  • After the installation, check the version of xdebug.

    php --version
PHP 7.0.7-2+donate.sury.org~xenial+1 (cli) ( NTS )
Copyright (c) 1997-2016 The PHP Group
Zend Engine v3.0.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2016 Zend Technologies
    with Zend OPcache v7.0.6-dev, Copyright (c) 1999-2016, by Zend Technologies
    with Xdebug v2.4.0, Copyright (c) 2002-2016, by Derick Rethans

    Also, you can find the xdebug configuration file using this command in terminal:

    php --ini | grep xdebug
/etc/php/7.0/cli/conf.d/20-xdebug.ini,

    The configuration settings of xdebug can be listed by:

    php -i | grep xdebug
/etc/php/7.0/cli/conf.d/20-xdebug.ini,
xdebug
xdebug support => enabled
xdebug.auto_trace => Off => Off
xdebug.cli_color => 0 => 0
xdebug.collect_assignments => Off => Off
xdebug.collect_includes => On => On
xdebug.collect_params => 0 => 0
xdebug.collect_return => Off => Off
xdebug.collect_vars => Off => Off
xdebug.coverage_enable => On => On
xdebug.default_enable => On => On
xdebug.dump.COOKIE => no value => no value
xdebug.dump.ENV => no value => no value
xdebug.dump.FILES => no value => no value
xdebug.dump.GET => no value => no value
xdebug.dump.POST => no value => no value
xdebug.dump.REQUEST => no value => no value
xdebug.dump.SERVER => no value => no value
xdebug.dump.SESSION => no value => no value
xdebug.dump_globals => On => On
xdebug.dump_once => On => On
xdebug.dump_undefined => Off => Off
xdebug.extended_info => On => On
xdebug.file_link_format => no value => no value
xdebug.force_display_errors => Off => Off
xdebug.force_error_reporting => 0 => 0
xdebug.halt_level => 0 => 0
xdebug.idekey => no value => no value
xdebug.max_nesting_level => 256 => 256
xdebug.max_stack_frames => -1 => -1
xdebug.overload_var_dump => On => On
xdebug.profiler_aggregate => Off => Off
xdebug.profiler_append => Off => Off
xdebug.profiler_enable => On => On
xdebug.profiler_enable_trigger => Off => Off
xdebug.profiler_enable_trigger_value => no value => no value
xdebug.profiler_output_dir => /tmp => /tmp
xdebug.profiler_output_name => cachegrind.out.%p => cachegrind.out.%p
xdebug.remote_addr_header => no value => no value
xdebug.remote_autostart => Off => Off
xdebug.remote_connect_back => Off => Off
xdebug.remote_cookie_expire_time => 3600 => 3600
xdebug.remote_enable => On => On
xdebug.remote_handler => dbgp => dbgp
xdebug.remote_host => localhost => localhost
xdebug.remote_log => no value => no value
xdebug.remote_mode => req => req
xdebug.remote_port => 9000 => 9000
xdebug.scream => Off => Off
xdebug.show_error_trace => Off => Off
xdebug.show_exception_trace => Off => Off
xdebug.show_local_vars => Off => Off
xdebug.show_mem_delta => Off => Off
xdebug.trace_enable_trigger => Off => Off
xdebug.trace_enable_trigger_value => no value => no value
xdebug.trace_format => 0 => 0
xdebug.trace_options => 0 => 0
xdebug.trace_output_dir => /tmp => /tmp
xdebug.trace_output_name => trace.%c => trace.%c
xdebug.var_display_max_children => 128 => 128
xdebug.var_display_max_data => 512 => 512
xdebug.var_display_max_depth => 3 => 3

    To change the configurations, just change the ini file presented in result of above command.

Enjoy debugging with Xdebug in Ubuntu.

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