I'm trying to configure the PhpED debugger for remote debugging on a Linux server. This is my first real experience with both PhpED and Linux, and there are too many unfamiliar parts to the puzzle; I'm looking for a little hand holding!

The local configuration is: PhpED 5.2 on Windows 7. The remote configuration is: Linux 2.6.18 with Apache 2.2.3 and PHP 5.2.17. I have root access to the Linux system through a shell, but no GUI.

I tried to run PhpED's Project Settings Wizard and got this:

.php file extension is assocaited with PHP5
dbglistener is listening on: local address: all, port: 7869
local version of dbg-wizard script is up to date, version 2.3.2303
uploaded dbg-wizard.php to [SFTP:sftp1] /dbg
Error: (-104) failed to connect to web server

please check your firewall settings and make sure that PhpED.exe is allowed to connect to web server, web server is allowed to be connected and is running

Taking those items in order, the inbound firewall settings on Windows include the following lines (in order, but not consecutively):

Name... Group... Profile... Enabled... Action
Listener for php debugger DBG... Public... Yes... Block
Listener for php debugger DBG... Public... Yes... Block
NuSphere PhpED Dbg Listener... Private... Yes... Allow
NuSphere PhpED Dbg Listener... Private... Yes... Allow

It seems to be saying that the debugger is blocked... twice... and also that it is allowed... twice. I don't know what to make of that.

The outbound firewall settings on Windows do not appear to mention PhpED or dbg at all.

I tried to get information about the Linux firewall, but I couldn't find anything that made sense, so I don't know what's happening there.

I know that the web server is running, and is accessible from a browser on my computer.

I know that PhpED is able to upload files to the document space via FTP.

And that's all I know so far. What should I try?

If you're new to this "puzzle", why you're talking about phped v5.2 which is a very old version. Where did you get it btw?

Error: (-104) failed to connect to web server
means you blocked phped from accessing the network.

It's not clear what you mean by "you blocked PHPed from accessing the network." Taking the statement literally, it's incorrect. Interpreting it as "something blocked PHPed from accessing the network," I need somewhat more information to do anything useful. Are you referring to some sort of setting in PHPed itself? Or is this a firewall thing? If it's the firewall, how can I tell what port is causing the problem?

PHPed 5.2 is my employer's official development platform. I was given to understand that we have a site license for it. I am new to this puzzle because I am a new employee.

I can ask the Powers that Be why we are using this version, but I suspect that the question will be perceived as "noise" and won't be answered.

PhpED 5.2 is maybe around 3 years old? I'd highly recommend upgrading as it is vastly improved since then.

Your Windows firewall rules are referring to incoming debugger connections on public (blocked) and private (allowed). Windows segragates its rules for different profiles (categories) such as domain, home/private and public. Then each network connection can be assigned to a different profile. A local cabled connection might often be domain or home/private, and a hotspot wireless connection might be public. Different firewall rules can work with different profiles.

If your local network connection has the Private profile assigned to it then in theory the firewall is letting incoming debugger connections (on port 7869) through.

It is possible you have duplicate rules as that is a common issue, although in itself doesn't normally cause problems. The control panel firewall settings don't show too much, but if you go into Administrative Tools > Windows Firewall with Advanced Security then you can see the full settings for those rules.

Bear in mind that the Linux should also have a firewall installed. My first guess would be that is what is blocking you. Instructions for that will vary according to the Linux distribution and what sort of access you have to the server. Iptables is a common Linux firewall.

If you are unsure about firewall settings causing issues, you could probably turn it off for a few seconds whilst doing a quick test.

@plugnplay - at that point wizard tried to connect web server - the one that user tried to configure the project to work with. Debugger wasn't involved at all. So it's blocked at TCP/80 port and this port is ENABLED by default upon installation of PhpED. So it's user (he himself or somebody who on this machine before or software they did install and forgot to configure) blocked phped from accessing the network. Also... it's possible that web was shutdown. Software can't distinguish these two situations.

I should have read the message more carefully. I just went with the flow on his firewall queries.

Would that error also show if he had the wrong URL in Project Properties Root URL?

right