Remote Node.js Debug using webstorm

instructions.md

Debugging node running on a remote server

The following shows you how to start node with the debug flag and use an SSH tunnel to access the right port.

Things you need:

• ssh access to the server
• ability to restart node app with --debug flag.

Debugging using Webstorm

1. Stop the app

2. Restart with --debug

   forever -w -c 'node --debug' server.js
   

3. When it starts you should see something like debugger listening on 5858

4. Setup webstorm

   1. Run > Debug... > Edit Configurations... > Add new configuration > Node.js Remote Debug
   2. Host : 127.0.0.1 - Port : 5858

5. Open SSH Tunnel to gain access to servers port 5858.

   # open an ssh tunnel, send it to the bg, and wait 10 seconds for connections
   # once all connections are closed after 10 seconds then close the tunnel
   ssh -i sshkeyfilename -f -o ExitOnForwardFailure=yes -L 5858:127.0.0.1:5858 ec2-user@162.142.22.92 sleep 10

   Replace sshkeyfilename with you ssh key file you use to connect to your remote server. Also, replace ec2-user@162.142.22.92 with your server.

6. Make sure you checkout the same code on your local machine as on the remote server.

7. Run the debugger in Webstorm (drop down in upper right next to the Bug icon - or the bug icon once you've run it once)

Last Steps

Once you are done with debugging, do not forget to restart the without --debug flag