[Bug]: PHP Parse Error in Laravel Extension on DDEV Environment with WSL2

[krudi]

Extension Version

0.1.12

PHP Binary

Docker

Operating System

Windows

What happened?

When I activate the Laravel Extension in VS Code while using a DDEV-based Docker environment on WSL2, I get a PHP Parse Error stating there's an Unclosed ( in the command-line code executed by the extension. Even though the Laravel project is running correctly in the environment, the extension doesn’t initialize. Do I need to set up any special configuration for this setup to make it work?

I wanted to mention that I have an alias for the PHP command, which executes everything in the PHP container. The alias is as follows:

path=$(printf '%s\n' "${PWD##*/}")
command="ddev php "$@""
$command

Mimimal Code Sample

024-12-18 20:46:19.835 [error] Error:

PHP Parse error:  Unclosed '(' in Command line code on line 1
�[31mFailed to run php -r error_reporting(E_ERROR | E_PARSE); define('LARAVEL_START', microtime(true)); require_once '/home/user/project/vendor/autoload.php'; $app = require_once '/home/user/project/bootstrap/app.php'; class VsCodeLaravel extends \Illuminate\Support\ServiceProvider { public function register() { } public function boot() { if (method_exists($this->app['log'], 'setHandlers')) { $this->app['log']->setHandlers([new \Monolog\Handler\ProcessHandler()]); } } } $app->register(new VsCodeLaravel($app)); $kernel = $app->make(Illuminate\Contracts\Console\Kernel::class); $kernel->bootstrap(); echo '__VSCODE_LARAVEL_START_OUTPUT__'; echo json_encode([ [ 'key' => 'base_path', 'path' => base_path(), ], [ 'key' => 'resource_path', 'path' => resource_path(), ], [ 'key' => 'config_path', 'path' => config_path(), ], [ 'key' => 'app_path', 'path' => app_path(), ], [ 'key' => 'database_path', 'path' => database_path(), ], [ 'key' => 'lang_path', 'path' => lang_path(), ], [ 'key' => 'public_path', 'path' => public_path(), ], [ 'key' => 'storage_path', 'path' => storage_path(), ], ]); ; echo '__VSCODE_LARAVEL_END_OUTPUT__'; exit(0);: exit status 255�[0m

[joetannenbaum]

We just released v0.1.13 that should have better Windows support, can you verify that this is still an issue after upgrading?

[krudi]

We just released v0.1.13 that should have better Windows support, can you verify that this is still an issue after upgrading?

Now I'm getting a slightly different error:

Error:
 Middlewares

Could not open input file: {code}
�[31mFailed to run php {code} /home/user/project/vendor/_laravel_ide/discover-cc27311d80e3a317bc2fdb63b0e45636.php: exit status 1�[0m

php "{code}" /home/user/project/vendor/_laravel_ide/discover-cc27311d80e3a317bc2fdb63b0e45636.php

[mysticseagull]

I am also receiving a similar error. any fixes for these would be great!

Error:

Could not open input file: /home/[REDACTED]/basil-website/vendor/_laravel_ide/discover-ccd6cc1aa7eff2077ce4a32717f83d56.php

php /home/[REDACTED]/basil-website/vendor/_laravel_ide/discover-ccd6cc1aa7eff2077ce4a32717f83d56.php

[joetannenbaum]

Are there spaces in your path? If so, we can close this issue in favor of #19

[krudi]

Are there spaces in your path? If so, we can close this issue in favor of #19

No, my current project path is /home/user/phpext and there are no spaces in the path.

[joetannenbaum]

Wanted to check back in and see if this is still happening with v0.1.16, let me know if there is any improvement. Also, I noticed that you have {code} in your custom PHP command, feel free to remove that and see if it works.

[krudi]

I have now dug deeper into the problem and noticed that the command:

php /var/www/html/vendor/_laravel_ide/discover-e6ed03e84a7e56c2b0f65d30270ea14c.php

works correctly, and I get the following output:

__VSCODE_LARAVEL_START_OUTPUT__{‘page_paths’:[]}__VSCODE_LARAVEL_END_OUTPUT__%

However, when I run the same command with an absolute path that leads directly to the file outside the Docker container, such as:

php /home/user/project/vendor/_laravel_ide/discover-e6ed03e84a7e56c2b0f65d30270ea14c.php

I get the following error:

Failed to execute command php /home/user/project/vendor/_laravel_ide/discover-e6ed03e84a7e56c2b0f65d30270ea14c.php: exit status 1

This is because the path /home/user/project/ refers to the local file system, and when running PHP outside the Docker container, it cannot access the file located inside the containerized environment (/var/www/html/).

[hemilioaraujo]

I have now dug deeper into the problem and noticed that the command:

php /var/www/html/vendor/_laravel_ide/discover-e6ed03e84a7e56c2b0f65d30270ea14c.php

works correctly, and I get the following output:

__VSCODE_LARAVEL_START_OUTPUT__{‘page_paths’:[]}__VSCODE_LARAVEL_END_OUTPUT__%

However, when I run the same command with an absolute path that leads directly to the file outside the Docker container, such as:

php /home/user/project/vendor/_laravel_ide/discover-e6ed03e84a7e56c2b0f65d30270ea14c.php

I get the following error:

Failed to execute command php /home/user/project/vendor/_laravel_ide/discover-e6ed03e84a7e56c2b0f65d30270ea14c.php: exit status 1

This is because the path /home/user/project/ refers to the local file system, and when running PHP outside the Docker container, it cannot access the file located inside the containerized environment (/var/www/html/).

Same situation here.
I set "Laravel.phpCommand": "docker exec -w /var/www/html -u 1000:1000 workout-plan-laravel.test-1 php"
I'm using windows, wsl and docker.

[krudi]

I have now dug deeper into the problem and noticed that the command:

php /var/www/html/vendor/_laravel_ide/discover-e6ed03e84a7e56c2b0f65d30270ea14c.php

works correctly, and I get the following output:
__VSCODE_LARAVEL_START_OUTPUT__{‘page_paths’:[]}__VSCODE_LARAVEL_END_OUTPUT__%
However, when I run the same command with an absolute path that leads directly to the file outside the Docker container, such as:
php /home/user/project/vendor/_laravel_ide/discover-e6ed03e84a7e56c2b0f65d30270ea14c.php
I get the following error:
Failed to execute command php /home/user/project/vendor/_laravel_ide/discover-e6ed03e84a7e56c2b0f65d30270ea14c.php: exit status 1
This is because the path /home/user/project/ refers to the local file system, and when running PHP outside the Docker container, it cannot access the file located inside the containerized environment (/var/www/html/).

Same situation here. I set "Laravel.phpCommand": "docker exec -w /var/www/html -u 1000:1000 workout-plan-laravel.test-1 php" I'm using windows, wsl and docker.

Thank you for your reply. The setting with phpCommand that you mentioned does seem to be working for me as well. However, I’ve run into another issue where the Laravel extension still cannot find the artisan file. Is this maybe related to user/file permissions?

My current config

"Laravel.basePath": "/var/www/html",
"Laravel.phpCommand": "docker exec -w /var/www/html -u 1002:1002 ddev-project-web php"

Logs:

2025-01-23 12:20:47.168 [info] Activating Laravel Extension...
2025-01-23 12:20:47.168 [info] Not activating Laravel Extension because no artisan file found
2025-01-23 12:20:47.168 [info] Not activating Laravel Extension because "shouldActivate" returned false

File inside the Docker Container:

user@docker-container:/var/www/html$ ls -la artisan
-rwxr-xr-x 1 user user 350 Nov 24 18:09 artisan

[TonsiTT]

Have a ddev installation on win 11 with docker inside wsl (no docker desktop on windows) and getting same errors.
On default installation, I get errors

 Could not open input file: /home/username/project_name/vendor/_laravel_ide/discover-1b81dad6ceb4b12f1398b0e8d88063fe.php

2025-02-20 18:44:47.736 [info] Checking local PHP installation: php -r 'echo PHP_BINARY;'
2025-02-20 18:44:47.736 [info] Falling back to system PHP installation
2025-02-20 18:44:47.737 [error] Error:

Setting base path as "Laravel.basePath": "/var/www/html", gives these errors instead

2025-01-23 12:20:47.168 [info] Activating Laravel Extension...
2025-01-23 12:20:47.168 [info] Not activating Laravel Extension because no artisan file found
2025-01-23 12:20:47.168 [info] Not activating Laravel Extension because "shouldActivate" returned false

[rfay]

DDEV maintainer here... It's hard to get VS Code to use the php inside the container for execution.

The two good ways to do this that I know of are:

1. Use the "remote explorer" extension, so that you're working right inside the DDEV web container.
2. Use a fake php, for example, a /usr/local/bin/php with contents

#!/bin/bash
ddev php "$@"

And configure VS code to use php.executablePath=/usr/local/bin/php

[chosten]

I'm using DDEV with the same configuration (win 11, docker inside wsl), I have never changed those settings and everything seems to be working correctly.
Am I missing something ? Or maybe it's because I also have PHP installed inside wsl and the extension is using that one ? Is there a side effect I didn't notice ?

[rfay]

maybe it's because I also have PHP installed inside wsl and the extension is using that one ? Is there a side effect I didn't notice

Yes, you are probably using the php inside WSL, which may have other side-effects, especially if a different version or other different behavior.