These are instructions for installing Xdebug from a Git checkout. Please refer to https://xdebug.org/support.php for support.

You need to compile Xdebug separately from the rest of PHP. You need to have access to the scripts phpize and php-config. If your system does not have phpize and php-config, you will need to compile and install PHP from a source tarball first, or install a php-dev package if your distribution provides one. These scripts are by-products of the PHP compilation and installation processes and are needed to compile external extensions. It is important that the source version matches the installed version as there are slight, but important, differences between PHP versions.

You can clone the Xdebug source directory with:

git clone https://github.com/xdebug/xdebug.git

Then move into this new directory:

cd xdebug

Although it is recommended to run the latest version from the master branch, older versions are available through tags. For example to checkout the 2.5.5 release, you can switch to it with git checkout XDEBUG_2_5_5.

If PHP is installed in a normal, and uncomplicated way, with default locations and configuration, all you will need to do is to run the following script:

./rebuild.sh

This will run phpize, ./configure, make clean, make and make install.

The long winded way of installation is:

1. Run phpize: phpize (or /path/to/phpize if phpize is not in your path).
2. ./configure --enable-xdebug (or: ../configure --enable-xdebug --with-php-config=/path/to/php-config if php-config is not in your path)
3. Run: make clean
4. Run: make
5. Run: make install

6. Add the following line to php.ini (which you can find by running php --ini, or look at phpinfo() output): zend_extension="xdebug.so".

   Please note, that sometimes the php.ini file is different for the command line and for your web server. Make sure you pick the right one.

7. Unless you exclusively use the command line with PHP, restart your webserver.

8. Write a PHP page that calls phpinfo();. Load it in a browser and look for the info on the Xdebug module. If you see it, you have been successful! Alternatively, you can run php -v on the command line to see that Xdebug is loaded:

   $ php -v
   PHP 7.2.0RC6 (cli) (built: Nov 23 2017 10:30:56) ( NTS DEBUG )
   Copyright (c) 1997-2017 The PHP Group
   Zend Engine v3.2.0-dev, Copyright (c) 1998-2017 Zend Technologies
       with Xdebug v2.6.0-dev, Copyright (c) 2002-2017, by Derick Rethans

For questions regarding compile issues, please write to the xdebug-general email list which you can find at https://xdebug.org/support.php#list

You can also find support on IRC: freenode/#xdebug. You can do that with your favourite client, or by using their webchat.

If you think that you encountered a bug, please file a detailed bug report at https://bugs.xdebug.org. You are required to create an account, this is so that you can be contacted for additional information and to keep out spam.

Derick Rethans — [email protected]