IntelliJ IDEA 2021.2 Help

Servers

The page is available only when the PHP plugin is installed and enabled. The PHP plugin is not bundled with IntelliJ IDEA, but it can be installed on the Settings/Preferences | Plugins page, tab Marketplace, as described in Installing plugins from JetBrains repository.

On this page, configure HTTP access for debugging engines to interact with local and remote Web servers and set correspondence between files on the server and their local copies in the IntelliJ IDEA project. The settings from debug server configurations are used when debugging with run/debug configurations of the type PHP Web Page or PHP Remote Debug and during Zero-Configuration Debugging sessions.

Toolbar and common options

Use the toolbar buttons to manage the list of configurations.

Item

Tooltip and shortcut

Description

the Add button

Add

Insert

Click this button to define a new configuration.

the Remove button

Delete

Delete

Click this button to remove the selected configuration from the list.

the Import button

Import

Click this button to open the Import from Deployment Configuration Dialog dialog. In this dialog, choose a configuration to access the application on the server and use the host and port settings from it.

The dialog also shows the path mappings retrieved from the deployment configuration. You need to transform relative paths on the server into absolute paths:

  • For an FTP, SFTP, or FTPS server access configuration, specify the absolute path to the server deployment root. This path will be added as a prefix to the path from the Root path field on the Deployment: Connection Tab.

    If you are not sure about this absolute path, you can open the Remote Host tool window, choose the required deployment configuration, position the caret at the root folder, and choose Copy Path from the context menu, see Access files on web servers for details. Alternatively, contact your hosting provider.

  • For a server access configuration of the type Local or Mounted Folder, specify the absolute path to the document root of the server or to the mounted folder. This path should be the one specified in the Folder field on the Deployment: Connection Tab.

  • For Inplace Server configurations, no mappings are required because the local and remote paths are the same.

See Configure synchronization with a Web server for details.

Configuration Details

In this area, specify the connection parameters and mappings to be used during debugging sessions. Note that the Validate Remote Environment button has been removed from this page, this functionality is now available through Run | Web Server Debug Validation on the main menu.

Item

Description

Name

In this field, type the name of the server debug configuration.

Host

In this field, type the name of the host where the target application is deployed.

Port

In this field, type the port to connect to the specified host through. If you are using localhost on your machine, this setting should correspond with the port specified in the configuration file of the local Web server where the application will be executed or debugged.

Debugger

From this list, select the debugging engine to use. The available options are:

  • Xdebug

  • Zend Debugger

Use path mappings

  • Select this checkbox, if you are working on a remote Web server, that is, when the Web server is on a physically remote host, or the Web server is installed on your machine but your project is outside the Web server document root. If you are using symlinks, select this checkbox as well.

    Map the absolute paths to the files and folders on the server with absolute paths to your project files in the local file system using the Absolute path on the server and File/Directory fields respectively.

    • File/Directory This read-only field displays the files and folders of the current project. Select a file or a folder to be used as the local copy.

    • In this field, specify the absolute path to the file or folder on the target server to which the selected local file or folder corresponds. Type the path manually or select it from the list.

  • Clear this checkbox if you are working right on your Web server so your project root is under the server document root. In this case the absolute paths to the files on the Web server and the absolute paths to the corresponding files in your project are the same.

If you do not specify any path mappings and start debugging an application that is not under the server document root, IntelliJ IDEA displays an error message:

Debug mappings not configured error message.png

The Click to set up path mappings link brings up the Resolve Path Mappings Problem dialog, where you can define the path mappings:

Fixing debug mappings configuration.png

When you click OK and leave the dialog, the Use path mappings checkbox on the Servers page gets selected automatically.

Shared

Select this checkbox to share the debug server configuration across a team. The host/port settings and the path mappings are stored in the .idea/php.xml file is available to all team members through a version control system. Note that mappings are shared only for directories inside the project.

Last modified: 02 August 2022