How to debug a node process running in VM with VS Code

vscode-debug-node-in-vm.md

1. Launch the node process in the VM with --debug-brk flag. This will break the execution of the node process in the start. node --debug-brk <app.js> <args>. Node.js versions >= 6.3 support new inspector protocol: node --inspect <app.js> <args>

2. Create a launch config in VS Code with a mapping from the VM file system to the local file system

{
  "name": "Attach node",
  "type": "node",
  "request": "attach",
  "address": "localhost",
  "port": 5858,
  "localRoot": "<cwd path in local file system>",
  "remoteRoot": "<cwd path in VM file system>"
}

Or with new inspector protocol:

{
  "name": "Attach node",
  "type": "node",
  "request": "attach",
  "address": "localhost",
  "port": 9229,
  "protocol": "inspector",
  "localRoot": "<cwd path in local file system>",
  "remoteRoot": "<cwd path in VM file system>"
}

3. Attach to the running node process using the launch config