netbeans shows "Waiting For Connection (netbeans-xdebug)" - php

Question

I need help to configure xdebug, for debugging projects from IDE netbeans.
These are the features of my components:
XAMPP 1.8.2
PHP: 5.4.16
netbeans: 7.3.1
Apache: 2.4.4 (Win32)
this is the final part of my php.ini file:
[XDebug]
zend_extension = "C:\xampp\php\ext\php_xdebug-2.2.3-5.4-vc9-nts.dll"
;xdebug.profiler_append = 0
;xdebug.profiler_enable = 1
;xdebug.profiler_enable_trigger = 0
xdebug.profiler_output_dir = "C:\xampp\tmp"
;xdebug.profiler_output_name = "cachegrind.out.%t-%s"
xdebug.remote_enable = 1
xdebug.remote_handler = "dbgp"
xdebug.remote_host = "127.0.0.1"
;xdebug.trace_output_dir = "C:\xampp\tmp"
when I run phpinfo(), there is no xdebug installed, and when I debug a project from netbeans, it says "Waiting For Connection (netbeans-xdebug)".
can someone help me to configure it?

Answer 1

Have you rectified the issue ? If not then please try this.
1.) php.ini file content
[xDebug]
zend_extension = "c:\xampp\php\ext\php_xdebug-2.2.3-5.4-vc9.dll"
xdebug.remote_autostart=on
xdebug.remote_enable=on
xdebug.remote_enable=1
xdebug.remote_handler="dbgp"
;xdebug.remote_host="localhost:81"
xdebug.remote_host=192.168.1.5
;xdebug.remote_connect_back=1
xdebug.remote_port=9000
xdebug.remote_mode=req
xdebug.idekey="netbeans-xdebug"
xdebug.remote_host=192.168.1.5 - This is the IPv4 address of my system, I changed to this because I couldn't debug with localhost and 127.0.0.1.
in NetBeans IDE, open Tools-> Options -> PHP -> Debugging. The values of debugger port and Session Id should match with the port and idekey specified in php.ini.
Now save php.ini, restart Apache and try to debug.
Thanks Johnson

Answer 2

When Netbeans starts a Debugging session, it starts two Listeners, one on 0.0.0.0:9000 (all IPv4 IPs the system has), and the other on the IPv6 interface.
If Netbeans and the Web Server are on the same system, ideally XDebug would be configured to send the data back to 127.0.0.1:9000, on which NetBeans would be listening on (and only per session)...
xdebug.remote_enable=1
xdebug.remote_handler=dbgp
xdebug.remote_host=127.0.0.1
xdebug.remote_port=9000
xdebug.remote_autostart=0
xdebug.remote_connect_back=0
If for whatever reason XDebug is not able to report back to 127.0.0.1, or Netbeans is not listening on 127.0.0.1, you can configure XDebug to send the data back to the $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] of the original request...
xdebug.remote_connect_back=1
This way you don't have to specify the exact IP (i.e., as in the above answer the LAN IP: 192.168.1.5). The downside here is that any source can connect.
If you have further trouble, this...
xdebug.remote_autostart=1
... will also start the debugging process for all requests, and not just for the ones with the proper session start query or cookie. The downside here is that all requests will initiate debug data collection and reporting back (making everything slower, and generating more data).
Though from what I've gathered, the majority of these "Waiting For Connection (netbeans-xdebug)" issues on Windows (with XAMPP, Wamp-Server, etc) are usually a result of Windows Firewall and McAfee (or other firewall and anti-virus software) blocking the connection...
Source: Netbeans "Waiting For Connection (netbeans-xdebug)" Issue

Answer 3

I am a .Net programmer and very new to PHP.
Recently I was trying to host an open source PHP application on my machine(Windows). After the Struggle for 5-6 days I will list the steps which worked for me.
I uninstalled every previous installations of XAMPP and NetBeans and proceeded with fresh installations.
This might not be the solution for everyone but it worked for me and I hope it helps someone.
install XAMPP
install netbeans for PHP.
Open IIS and stop it. It is running on port 80 by default.(I am running XAMPP on port 80 i.e. default, Running on other port might need additional configuration settings)
Open XAMPP control panel and start Apache. If port 80 is free no problem should arise.
Open localhost in browser in should display XAMPP home page.
open phpinfo() link on the left pane and copy all the contents on page.
Go to: http://xdebug.org/wizard.php and paste all the content in TextBox and click Analyze my phpinfo output. It will diplay you the Xdebug file suitable for your configuration.
Download the given Xdebug dll and copy it in C:\xampp\php\ext (Xampp being the default Xampp installation directory)
Goto XAMPP control panel, click on Config button in front of Apache and select php.in,
Find line similar or exacly like,
;zend_extension = "C:\xampp\php\ext\php_xdebug.dll"
(Semicolon means it is commented)
Remove the semicolon and replace the path with the path of dll you just copied like:
zend_extension = "C:\xampp\php\ext\php_xdebug-2.3.2-5.4-vc9.dll"
Similarly find lines
;xdebug.remote_enable = 0
;xdebug.remote_handler = "dbgp"
remove semicolons in front of both lines and make remote_enable = 1
xdebug.remote_enable = 1
xdebug.remote_handler = "dbgp"
Restart Apache server.
Copy your website code under C:/XAMPP/htdocs/(your_website)/
that means your index.php should be at C:/XAMPP/htdocs/(your_website)/index.php
Open Netbeans select New project -> PHP -> PHP project from existing source and select the folder you just copied in htdocs folder.
Set it to run on Local web server.
Set a breakpoint on first line of index.php and debug.
That's it.
Additional settings were suggested on various different posts but above mentioned steps worked perfectly for me.

Answer 4

I want to mention something here about xdebug.remote_host
xdebug.remote_host="127.0.0.1"
Is Not valid. It may work in some cases, but the quotes can also cause issues. Most people don't have issues when using IP addresses in quotes, but this sets a bad precedent. It makes people think that if you want to use a hostname or URL you need to put it in quotes. This is incorrect, urls in quotes will not work.
If you want to debug using a url, you can do this by just putting the url after the equals like this:
xdebug.remote_host=subdomain.mydomain.com
I also want to mention that if you have a port number, don't add it. This doesn't work:
xdebug.remote_host=subdomain.mydomain.com:9000
This is what you want to do:
xdebug.remote_host=subdomain.mydomain.com
xdebug.remote_port=9000
If you do this, I also caution you make sure remote_connect_back is disabled. Like this:
xdebug.remote_connect_back=0
or you can ommit it entirely, like this:
;xdebug.remote_connect_back=1
If remote_connect_back is enabled, it will try and pull your IP address from the incoming connection and ignore the remote_host and port setting.
Xdebug uses plain old TCP to make connections. This is not HTTP. This means tools like Fiddler will not show any packets or information on debugging. If you need to debug, and see if the server is making a call to your IDE there are a few ways you can go about checking.
Wireshark will allow you to see TCP traffic. Also if you are on Windows, Microsoft Message Analyzer can also monitor TCP.
But, if all you are trying to do is remove your IDE is a possible cause of remote debugging problems, I suggest instead you start a local TCP server.
This is a great free java program to start a TCP server: http://sockettest.sourceforge.net/
In the IP Address section, just list 127.0.0.1 or leave it at 0.0.0.0. Then list the port number, which is usually defaulted to 9000 for xdebug.
Once the TCP server is running, open your remote webpage with an xdebug_break(); function call in it. This will tell xdebug on the remote server to start debugging on whatever server and port you listed in your php.ini.
Watch the socket server and see if you get a connection. The first data sent should look something like this:
<init appid="APPID"
idekey="IDE_KEY"
session="DBGP_COOKIE"
thread="THREAD_ID"
parent="PARENT_APPID"
language="LANGUAGE_NAME"
protocol_version="1.0"
fileuri="file://path/to/file">
If you have made it this far, remote debugging is working! Just stop the server and setup your IDE to listen on that port!
If you are like most of us, your developer machine is behind a router with NAT. This means that everyone in your office has the same public IP address. This is a problem because when xdebug contact that IP address to start debugging, it hits the router, and not your computer. The router can be configured to pass certain port numbers to individual computers, but you may not want to do that as that port will be open until you change your router settings back.
Another option is to use SSH. There is a great example of how to do this here: http://stuporglue.org/setting-up-xdebug-with-netbeans-on-windows-with-a-remote-apache-server/#attachment_1305
My preferred option is to use Ngrok. Ngrok is a great tool for redirecting http, https and TCP traffic. In order to use the TCP redirect function you need to sign up for a free account.
Once you have signed up for an account, and added your API key to your computer run this command on the computer that your IDE is on:
ngrok tcp 9000
This will open a tcp (not http) tunnel from the ngrok server to whatever machine you ran the command on. I am using port 9000, you can change this port if your IDE is configured for a different Xdebug port.
This is what you should see:
You will need to see what the url is for the TCP tunnel that was opened. In this example it is:
0.tcp.ngrok.io:14904
For this session, the Xdebug setting on your server should be this:
xdebug.remote_host=0.tcp.ngrok.io
xdebug.remote_port=14904
The URL and port will change each time ngrok is launched. If you want to have the same url and port, you have to upgrade to a paid account. Make sure to restart apache after you make changes to your php.ini.

Answer 5

I just spent hours reading so many answers on this page and others like it, and nobody mentioned what ended up being the solution for me:
Make Sure Your Chosen Port Settings Match in All 3 Locations
My problem was that there are THREE places that the chosen port needs to match. Two of mine said 9001 and one said 9000. I changed them all to 9000.
That was the problem and why Netbeans would only say “Waiting For Connection (netbeans-xdebug)”.
The 3 port setting locations are:
php.ini (xdebug.remote_port=9000)
project properties > Run Configuration > Advanced
Netbeans > Tools > Options > PHP > Debugging

Answer 6

Check also the "windows" firewall settings.
For me it doesn't worked because my LAN network was declared as "Public network".
After i switched it to "Work network" it worked fine.

Answer 7

Try this setting if you have latest version of Xdebug the old version syntax has been changed
https://xdebug.org/docs/upgrade_guide
xdebug.mode=debug
xdebug.start_with_request = Yes
;xdebug.mode=profile
;xdebug.start_with_request=trigger
xdebug.client_host = "localhost"
xdebug.client_port = 9003
xdebug.remote_handler = "dbgp"
xdebug.log = "C:\xampp\tmp\xdebug\xdebug.log"
xdebug.trace_output_dir = "C:\xampp\tmp"

Answer 8

In my case the Apache log showed a PHP warning about not having set date.timezone. Xdebug/netbeans began working as soon as I set it in php.ini and restarted apache.
date.timezone = America/Los_Angeles
This is PHP 5.5.

Answer 9

I'm on Windows with xampp and changed the [XDebug] section of my php.ini (at the bottom) to the following to get it working:
zend_extension = "C:\xampp\php\ext\php_xdebug.dll"
xdebug.remote_enable=on
xdebug.remote_handler=dbgp
xdebug.remote_host=localhost
xdebug.remote_port=9000
Sourced from the Netbeans wiki here: http://wiki.netbeans.org/HowToConfigureXDebug
If you have Apache running, remember to restart it after configuring XDebug and saving php.ini.

Answer 10

Adding this did work for me:
xdebug.idekey=netbeans-xdebug

Answer 11

I my case if I add following in php ini it did not work
zend_extension_ts="C:\PHP\PHP560\ext\php_xdebug-2.4.0rc4-5.6-vc11.dll"
But If I add
zend_extension="C:\PHP\PHP560\ext\php_xdebug-2.4.0rc4-5.6-vc11.dll"
It is working fine.

Answer 12

Having correctly set up the php.ini file, netbeans, port forwarding on the router, I was still getting the wretched "waiting for connection (netbeans-xdebug). I eventually noticed on the netbeans page "Do not forget to set output_buffering = Off in your php.ini file".
So I checked the /etc/php/7.x/apache2/php.ini file and sure enough it's value was 4096. So I reset output_buffering=Off and lo it worked !!!
Hope this helps someone, as the message implies it is a connection error rather than a configuration error.

Answer 13

check this out: Launch XDebug in Netbeans on an external request
another way is to open a new window:
try to go on Project > run configuration > advance
and switch to default, check if it opens another window in the browser

Answer 14

A try could be to start php -i in command window. When redirecting the output an error was
For me it was the FINAL solution because I had a wrong version of Xdebug downloaded
For me it should have been : php_xdebug-2.1.2-5.3-vc6.dll
But I had: php_xdebug-2.2.4-5.3-vc9.dll. So an error occurred from php -i
E:\Programme\php>php -i > myOutputFromPhp
yields following ERROR
Cannot load Xdebug - it was built with configuration API220090626,TS,VC9, whereas
running engine is API220090626,TS,VC6

Answer 15

I had the same problem.
why?
First I installed WAMP, thank Netbeans and they work together as a charm.
Later I installed XAMPP and Localhost sites were run smoothly but NetBeans could never connect to XAMPP (netbeans-xdebug).
At the same time NetBeans were working good with Wamp.
My solution was to go back to Wamp. It is better than nothing.
My PC:
Win-7-32, NetBeans-8.0.2,
wampserver2.5-Apache-2.4.9-Mysql-5.6.17-php5.5.12-32b
xampp-win32-5.6.8-0-VC11

Answer 16

For Ubuntu users:
sudo su
apt-get install php5-dev php-pear
pecl install xdebug
find / -name 'xdebug.so' 2> /dev/null
it will return something like: /usr/lib/php5/20121212/xdebug.so
vi /etc/php5/apache2/php.ini
add this line: zend_extension="/usr/lib/php5/20121212/xdebug.so"
service apache2 restart
restart IDE

Answer 17

I spent a lot of time trying to get the optimal set up and thing this deserves its own reply, even though #Johnson T A's one it's almost correct.
He says
xdebug.remote_host=192.168.1.5 - This is the IPv4 address of my system, I changed to this because I couldn't debug with localhost and 127.0.0.1.
Well, not everybody can use a private address, or it may be dynamic, or other things. Also, in my case I was suffering from very long wait times before debugging actually started - 30 s or so every time. That was unpractical.
I'm sure everyone having these problems are at least on Windows 7 or so. The problem is related to a mix between name resolution and xdebug. To overcome them make sure that:
Port 9000 is not in use. If that's the case, change it to a unused one, both in php.ini and in netbeans.
Make sure that xdebug.remote_enableis on.
If you want to be able to debug using both localhost and 127.0.0.1 addresses, open \Windows\System32\drivers\etc and make sure that there you have the following lines:
127.0.0.1 localhost
::1 localhost
Make sure that the first line doesnt have a # before it and the second one does have it.
My working php.ini section (I don't need profiler so I disabled it):
[XDebug]
zend_extension = "C:\xampp\php\ext\php_xdebug.dll"
xdebug.profiler_append = 0
xdebug.profiler_enable = 0
xdebug.remote_enable = on
xdebug.remote_handler = "dbgp"
xdebug.remote_host = "localhost"
xdebug.remote_port = 9001
xdebug.trace_output_dir = "C:\xampp\tmp"
xdebug.remote_log = "C:\xampp\tmp\xdebug\xdebug.log"
xdebug.idekey = "netbeans-xdebug"
xdebug.remote_autostart = on
xdebug.remote_connect_back = on
Stop netbeans debugger. Restart Apache.
I bet you won't suffer from long waiting times anymore nor strange behaviour with debugger.
Explanation:
Althought in etc/hosts they say "localhost name resolution is handled within DNS itself", for whatever reason it doesn't work well with xdebug if you don't have it explicitely stated in that file. Explicitly putting it seems to do no harm overall, and solves this problem with xdebug. But also you need to explicitly disable the sIPv6 short notation for localhost (::1) in order for all this to work. Don't know the internal reasons but triead all the combinations and this one works for me like a charm.

Answer 18

I had this issue for one project, but not for others. So xdebug was correctly configured, the project settings were ok, but it still did not work.
So I just deleted the nbproject subdirectory, containing the project settings, and created a new project with the existing source. This solved the issue for me.

Answer 19

Select a specific browser for debugging:
Right Click on project -> select Properties
Select categories: Browser then selected a specific browser for debugging

Answer 20

If your xdebug is not working correctly, check your server log:
$ sudo less /var/log/httpd/error_log
To check connections, use this command:
$ sudo netstat -an
After starting debug on netbeans, if you use the netstat command, you can see the port of xdebug (probably it's 80):
tcp6 0 0 192.168.33.10:80 192.168.33.2:49901 ESTABLISHED
The port of netbeans is 9000:
tcp 0 0 192.168.33.10:52024 192.168.33.2:9000 ESTABLISHED
You can change the xdebug's port from here (From the top menu, Tools -> Options -> PHP):
If the connection is not established, it is highly possible that your connection is blocked by your anti-virus program or firewall. You can check it in your anti-virus program or firewall and remove the block as it is a safe connection.

Answer 21

After you make changes to your php.ini or xdebug.ini files, regardless of how you're running your web server, make sure to restart that web server (for example: service httpd restart on CentOS) or Apache will not pick up the changes you've made to that .ini file.
The xdebug package on CentOS is "phpXXu-pecl-xdebug".
Defaults on most recent Xdebugs are usually fine. It's only strictly necessary to get these two values right, somewhere in an Apache .ini file:
xdebug.remote_enable=on
xdebug.remote_host=[DNS entry that resolves to the IP4 of your debugger]

Answer 22

I had the same problem and tried to solve it for hours. I finally found out that the chrome extension ipflood which changes the headers to make it look like you are using a proxy, was the cause.
It works perfectly fine after I disabled it!

Answer 23

Also, consider whether the NTS or the TS version of xdebug is suitable for your case.
Check the Apache log for hints

Answer 24

For Windows users this is what worked for me:
Obtain your phpinfo() output and copy it here: https://xdebug.org/wizard
It will tell you what is the exact dll you have to download.
Copy that dll into C:\xampp\php\ext, and rename it to php_xdebug.dll
Pay attention at the version of xdebug you have installed. That was the key for me! My version of xdebug was version 3 so I had to...
Update php.ini file to have the following (for xdebug v3):
[XDebug]
zend_extension = xdebug
xdebug.mode=debug
xdebug.client_host=localhost
xdebug.client_port=9000
xdebug.idekey="netbeans-xdebug"
Restart Apache Webserver and Netbeans.