Remotely debugging my node app that is hosted on AWS - node.js

Question

I would like to connect to my node server running in debug mode on AWS (node --debug app.js) from my development machine, and be able to debug my app remotely.
Two questions:
Can I do this with node-inspector? I wish I could, but node-inspector fails to install on my AWS instance.
Any alternatives that will allow me to do this?

Answer 1

And with the help of tepez's answer, the following worked for me (Node Inspector v0.12.2):
On my machine:
ssh -L 8080:127.0.0.1:8080 <username>#<host> -N
On the remote server:
node-debug --cli <appname>
And enter the following address in the browser:
127.0.0.1:8080/?ws=127.0.0.1:8080&port=5858

Answer 2

Forward remote debugger port with ssh from your dev machine
ssh -L 5858:127.0.0.1:5858 ubuntu#some.ec2.host.com
And now you can start node-inspector as if the debugger is running locally.

Answer 3

Allow me to present an alternative using node --inspect. I had the same need, although in a Windows environment, I believe this should work for you.
Remote machine (tested with Node 6.10.2, Windows Server 2012)
node --inspect=0.0.0.0:9229 <appname>.js
Local Machine (tested with Win 10, Chrome 60.0.3112.90)
In Chrome DevTools - Click the vertical ellipsis menu in top right:
Go to: More Tools -> Remote Devices
Under Network targets Click Add address
Enter <remote-ip>:9229
Once you enter address and remote target is connected you'll see Node.JS Icon on Top Left of DevTools
Click NodeJS Logo to launch DevTools Node Debugger
Screenshots of Steps 1,3,4 below.

Answer 4

One more option to use 0.0.0.0 to listen to request from outside:
node-debug --web-host=0.0.0.0 --cli app.js
and visit this address to debug:
http://<the-domain>:8080/?port=5858
it would be better if HTTP/2 is available since there are lots of small files.

Answer 5

You can use node --inspect too in your remote machine.
Start your node with node --inspect myapp.js
Then locally ssh -L 9229:127.0.0.1:9229 myuser#myserver -N
Search for an string like this at the log head and copy it
chrome-devtools://devtools/remote/serve_file/#60cd6e859b9ff284980/inspector.html?experiments=true&v8only=true&ws=127.0.0.1:9229/bef2ae68
Paste it in your chrome browser
Enjoy :)
If you are using pm2 just add this on your ecosystem.js
"apps": [{
"name": "myapp",
"script": "index.js",
"node_args": ["--inspect"],
...

Answer 6

Also you can specify --web-host argument.
node-inspector --web-host host.amazonaws.com

Answer 7

This is what worked for me:
Start node-inspector on server.
Start debugee on remote server with --debug flag.
Note the port that the debugger listens on, i.e. Debugger listening on port DEBUG_PORT message.
Create an ssh tunnel for port 8080, not the DEBUG_PORT as Andrey Sidorov's answer suggests.
Open SERVER_API:8080/debug?ws=127.0.0.1:8080&port=DEBUG_PORT in browser an voilà.
Node Inspector v0.10.1