WebStorm 2017.1 Help

Configure Node.js Remote Interpreter Dialog

The dialog box is available only when the Node.js Remote Interpreter plugin is enabled. The plugin is bundled with WebStorm and activated by default. If the plugin is not activated, enable it on the Plugins page of the Settings / Preferences Dialog as described in Enabling and Disabling Plugins.


The dialog box opens when you click the Add toolbar button /help/img/idea/2017.1/new.png in the Node.js Interpreters Dialog and choose Remote... from the drop-down menu. This menu item is available only when you open the Node.js Interpreters Dialog from the Run/Debug Configuration: Node JS.

Use this dialog box to configure access to Node.js installations on remote hosts or in development environments set up in Vagrant instances.

ItemDescription
SSH Credentials Choose this option to configure access to a Node.js interpreter on a remote host through SSH credentials. In the fields of the dialog box, specify the following:
  • Host: in this field, type the name of the host on which the interpreter is installed.
  • Port: in this field, type the port which the SSH server on the remote host listens to. The default port number is 22.
  • User name: in the field, type the user name under which you are registered on the SSH server.
  • Auth type: from this drop-down list, choose the authentication method.
    • To access the host through a password, choose Password from the Auth type drop-down list and type the password.
    • To access the host through a pair of SSH keys, choose Key pair, then specify the path to the file where your private key is stored or the passphrase if you have configured it during the generation of the key pair.

To use an interpreter configuration, you need path mappings that set correspondence between the project folders, the folders on the server to copy project files to, and the URL addresses to access the copied data on the server . WebStorm first attempts to retrieve path mappings itself by processing all the available application-level configurations. If WebStorm finds the configurations with the same host as the one specified above, in the Host field, the mappings from these configurations are merged automatically. If no configurations with this host are found, WebStorm displays an error message informing you that path mappings are note configured.

To fix the problem, open the Deployment page under the Build, Execution, Deployment node, select the server access configuration in question, switch to the Mappings tab, and map local folders to folders on the server as described in Creating a Remote Server Configuration, section Mapping Local Folders to Folders on the Server and the URL Addresses to Access Them.

Vagrant This option is available only when the Vagrant repository plugin is installed and enabled. The plugin is not bundled with WebStorm, but it can be installed from the JetBrains plugin repository as described in Installing, Updating and Uninstalling Repository Plugins and Enabling and Disabling Plugins.

Choose this option to configure access to a Node.js interpreter installed in a Vagrant instance using your Vagrant credentials. Technically, it is the folder where the VagrantFile configuration file for the desired environment is located. Based on this setting, WebStorm detects the Vagrant host and shows it as a link in the Vagrant Host URL read-only field.

To use an interpreter configuration, you need path mappings that set correspondence between the project folders, the folders on the server to copy project files to, and the URL addresses to access the copied data on the server . WebStorm evaluates path mappings from the VagrantFile configuration file.

Deployment Configuration This option is available only when the Remote Hosts Access plugin is enabled. The plugin is bundled with WebStorm and activated by default. If the plugin is not activated, enable it on the Plugins page of the Settings / Preferences Dialog as described in Enabling and Disabling Plugins.

Choose this option to configure access to a Node.js interpreter on a remote host using a server access configuration. This option is available only if you have at least one server access configuration of the type SFTP, see Creating a Remote Server Configuration.

From the Deployment Configuration drop-down list, choose the server access configuration of the type SFTP according to which you want WebStorm to connect to the target host. If the settings specified in the chosen configuration ensure successful connection, WebStorm displays the URL address of the target host as a link in the Deployment Host URL field.

To use an interpreter configuration, you need path mappings that set correspondence between the project folders, the folders on the server to copy project files to, and the URL addresses to access the copied data on the server . By default, WebStorm retrieves path mappings from the chosen server access (deployment) configuration. If the configuration does not contain path mappings, WebStorm displays the corresponding error message.

To fix the problem, open the Deployment page under the Build, Execution, Deployment node, select the relevant server access configuration, switch to the Mappings tab, and map the local folders to the folders on the server as described in Creating a Remote Server Configuration, section Mapping Local Folders to Folders on the Server and the URL Addresses to Access Them.

Docker This option is available only when the Node.js, Node.js Remote Interpreter, and Docker Integration plugins are enabled. The plugins are bundled with WebStorm and activated by default. If the plugins are not activated, enable them on the Plugins page of the Settings / Preferences Dialog as described in Enabling and Disabling Plugins.

Choose this option to configure access to a Node.js interpreter running in a Docker container.

  1. In the Server field, specify the Docker configuration to use, see Working with Docker: Process overview. Choose a configuration from the drop-down list or click /help/img/idea/2017.1/browseButton.png next to it and create a new configuration in the Docker dialog box that opens.
  2. In the Image name field, specify the base Docker image to use. Choose one of the previously downloaded or your custom images from the drop-down list or type the image name manually, for example, node:argon or mhart/alpine-node. When you later launch the run configuration, Docker will search for the specified image on your machine. If the search fails, the image will be downloaded from the image repository specified on the Docker Registry page.
  3. The Node.js interpreter path field shows the location of the default Node.js interpreter from the specified image.
  4. When you click OK, WebStorm closes the Configure Node.js Remote Interpreter Dialog and brings you to the Node.js Interpreters Dialog where the new interpreter configuration is added to the list. Click OK to return to the run configuration.
Node.js Interpreter Path In this field, specify the location of the Node.js executable file in accordance with the configuration of the selected remote development environment. By default WebStorm suggests the /usr/bin/node folder for remote hosts and Vagrant instances and node for Docker containers. To specify another folder, click the Browse button /help/img/idea/2017.1/browseButton.png and choose the relevant folder in the dialog box that opens. Note that the Node.js home directory must be open for edit.

When you click OK, WebStorm checks whether the Node.js executable is actually stored in the specified folder.

  • If no Node.js executable is found, WebStorm displays an error message asking you whether to continue searching or save the interpreter configuration anyway.
  • If the Node.js executable is found, you return to the Node.js Interpreters where the installation folder and the detected version of the Node.js interpreter are displayed.

See Also

Last modified: 17 July 2017