How to use Byebug with a remote process (e.g., pow)

Question

How do I connect to a remote debugging instance of Byebug (for use with Pow, etc)?

Answer 1

I had to piece together information from several different sources to accomplish the above, so I thought I'd include a consolidated guide here for convenience:

• https://github.com/deivid-rodriguez/byebug/pull/29,
• https://github.com/deivid-rodriguez/byebug/pull/36,
• https://github.com/deivid-rodriguez/byebug/issues/31
• http://mines.mouldwarp.com/2012/04/pow-guard-and-rdebug-staying-in-web-app.html

Here are the steps:

1. In config/environments/development.rb, add:

   require 'byebug'
   
   #set in your .powconfig
   if ENV['RUBY_DEBUG_PORT']
     Byebug.start_server 'localhost', ENV['RUBY_DEBUG_PORT'].to_i
   else
     Byebug.start_server 'localhost'
   end
   

2. Restart Pow and visit yourapp.dev

3. Run the following:

   [bundle exec] byebug -R localhost:
   

You should see a successful connection to the remote instance.