IDE Support for DevKinsta

I’m using PHPStorm on Windows 10 and I cannot access the Docker file system with that IDE. It seems that even though the Docker container is listed under Drives on the Windows Explorer, PHPStorm is not able to access it.

I wonder if there is any IDE with full support for DevKinsta.
As I see it, the main problem is, that Docker is relying on WSL2.

So any tips on how to resolve this or any tips on which IDE is better suited for DevKinsta? It should also be possible to use xDebug.

Hi @DavidM! Welcome to the Kinsta community!

I understand that you want to use an IDE for development and access files directly on the Docker containers themselves. I have looked into options, and one option would be to use VS Code with the “Remote - Containers” extension installed. You can find an article online that might help get you started here: https://www.howtogeek.com/devops/how-to-edit-code-in-docker-containers-with-visual-studio-code/

Please note, however, that it’s typically not recommended to make direct modifications to the files on the running Docker containers. It’s recommended that you make changes external of the Docker containers. The site files should be located in the site path shown in the site info page in DevKinsta.

Additionally, if you pull changes from a staging environment in MyKinsta, changes made within the container may be overwritten.

Please let us know if you have any further questions or need anything clarified!

Best regards!

Thanks, Andrew.

Ok, got it. So I won’t make direct changes to the Docker container.

The site files should be located in the site path shown in the site info page in DevKinsta.

I think that’s the main problem under Windows. You have to use WSL2 and with that, you can’t access files directly via PHPStorm, because it somehow refuses to work with virutalized drives.

Hi @DavidM!

Thanks for your reply! We have investigated further into a way to mount the WSL files within Windows to make it possible to edit them. We have found it appears you can navigate to “\\wsl.localhost\” in file explorer, and then right click on the docker-desktop-data folder which will present an option in the drop down menu to map this directory as a network drive.

Once it has been mapped as a network drive it should allow you to access the files normally within Windows.

You may also navigate to “\\wsl.localhost\docker-desktop-data\data\docker\volumes\DevKinsta\public\YourSitesName (Replace with your actual site’s name)” first to see if the site files are accessible from there.

Please let us know if you need help with any of these steps! And also please do let us know if this works for you.

Best regards

Thanks for your awesome support, Andrew. I got it working now and I’m able to access all data via PHPStorm.

Do you have any hint on how to connect xDebug from DevKinsta to PHPStorm?

Hello :wave:

You can try a solution proposed here:

I am constantly amazed at the number of WordPress-related businesses that just don’t follow through to make themselves an all-in-one solution.

It’s like Cloudways - sure they do WordPress hosting, and it is simple and it has great support…but you aren’t going to connect to it for remote development and they have no local development like DevKinsta.

DevKinsta has a beautiful free package to set up a local WordPress site using Docker. But, you aren’t going to easily connect to it to do any real development.

WordPress.com has the same issue itself. It has everything but a built-in IDE.

Which begs the question…why doesn’t WordPress have a built-in IDE? that would solve so many issues when developing sites that are more than just simple blog sites or that need functionality not found in an available plug-in.