Xdebug settings for debugging using remote hosts and how to debug cli php scripts

xdebug_settings.ini

zend_extension = /usr/lib/php5/20121212/xdebug.so

[xdebug]
; This is the default, but just to be sure...

xdebug.remote_port = 9000

; Make sure vmhost is set in /etc/hosts as the ip address of your host machine
; from your virtual machine (set in virtual box as the host-only adapter ip)

xdebug.remote_host = vmhost

; Let xdebug know someone is listening on the configured port and host
; and should try to connect

xdebug.remote_enable = 1

; With remote_autostart disabled you can activate with the -d option

;xdebug.remote_autostart = 1

; Enabling logging will help with debugging debugging problems

;xdebug.remote_log = /tmp/xdebug_log


; Also make sure you specify the name of the server you are using in PHPStorm 
; by setting the PHP_IDE_CONFIG environment variable (so PHPStorm knows what path mappings to use for debugging)
; so all together call your script like this:

; PHP_IDE_CONFIG='serverName=<server_name_in_phpstorm>' php -d xdebug.remote_autostart=1 php_script.php