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   1  ## Using GitHub Codespaces with phpBB
   2  
   3  phpBB includes support for [Codespaces](https://docs.github.com/en/codespaces), GitHub's cloud-based software development environment. This allows developers and contributors to run and modify phpBB on a consistent environment through a GitHub account without the need to set up a local web server.
   4  
   5  Codespaces is completely web-based and does not require any code to be downloaded locally.
   6  
   7  Features include:
   8  
   9  * Automatic phpBB installation
  10  * Access to [VS Code](https://docs.github.com/en/codespaces/the-githubdev-web-based-editor) through the web browser 
  11  * [Xdebug](https://github.com/xdebug/vscode-php-debug) pre-configured to step through the phpBB code and add breakpoints
  12  * Full LAMP stack with database access
  13  * Commit, push and test code entirely online
  14  
  15  ## How it works
  16  
  17  ### To run phpBB in Codespaces
  18  
  19  * On the GitHub.com website, fork the `phpbb/phpbb` repository.
  20  * Under the `Code` button, click the `Codespaces` tab and then the `+` button to create a new Codespace.
  21  * It may take several minutes to configure and install phpBB on the newly created virtual machine. Once it is ready, a web-based VS Code instance will appear.
  22  * Under the `Ports` tab, click on the local address under port 80 to open the private website for the new phpBB installation.
  23      * By default, the login details for the new phpBB installation are `admin` / `adminadmin`
  24      * Port 9003 is also open to allow Xdebug connections.
  25  
  26  ### To use the command line
  27  
  28  * Click on the `Terminal` tab at the bottom of VS Code and make sure the `bash` window is selected in the right sidebar.
  29  * The `workspaces/phpbb` directory contains the code from the workspace.
  30  * Run `mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -u phpbb -p` to log into the MySQL database. The password is `phpbb` and the database name is `phpbb`.
  31      * Tip: type `use phpbb;` after logging in to MySQL to switch to the correct database, then queries can be run for the phpBB tables.
  32  
  33  ### To debug code
  34  
  35  * Click the `Run and Debug` tab on the left sidebar in VS Code, then click the green play button next to the `Debug phpBB` option.
  36      * Tip: to confirm that Xdebug is working correctly, run `lsof -i :9003` on the command line. It should show that the port is listening for connections.
  37  * In any of the files in the `phpBB/` directory, add a breakpoint by clicking just to the left of a line number in VS Code. Then, access the private website created on port 80 (found under the VS Code `Ports` tab) through the web browser and navigate to the page with a breakpoint. VS Code will automatically pause execution where the breakpoint is hit, and under the `Run and Debug` tab a variable list will be shown.
  38  
  39  ### To commit and push code
  40  
  41  * To save a change made using VS Code on Codespaces, click the `Source Control` tab on the left sidebar in VS Code.
  42  * To stage changes or discard changes, right click the file(s) and select the appropriate option.
  43  * Type a commit message and select the `Commit and Push` option.
  44  
  45  **Remember to stop a Codespace once you are finished with it.** GitHub provides all users with a limited number of free core hours per month. A Codespace can be stopped (or deleted) from the main repository page on GitHub.com.
  46  
  47  ## Technical information
  48  
  49  All of the Codespaces configuration can be found in the `.devcontainer/` directory. The `devcontainer.json` holds the general environment information and `Dockerfile` contains the commands to set up the LAMP stack which enables phpBB to run.
  50  
  51  `setup.sh` is used to install phpBB from the command line, using pre-determined details from `phpbb-config.yml`.
  52  
  53  Codespaces can run without the configuration inside the `.vscode/` directory, however by including this no manual intervention is required to set the Xdebug IDE code to `VSCode` (inside `settings.json`) and  `Debug phpBB` information, such as the path mapping from the Apache webroot to the `phpbb/phpBB` directory (inside `launch.json`).
  54  
  55  This configuration information can be safely modified to change the development environment, followed by `Ctrl+Shift+P` in VS Code and selection of the `Full Rebuild Container` option.