Run/debug configurations

Last modified: 27 May 2021

Configure: Run | Edit Configurations

RubyMine uses run/debug configurations to run, debug, deploy, and test your code. Each configuration is a named set of run/debug startup properties.

You can customize these properties according to your requirements, for example:

  • For the Rails run/debug configuration, you can specify a server type (such as Puma or Passenger), IP address and port, environment (development by default), and so on.

  • For the Ruby run/debug configuration, you can define command-line arguments, pass the required environment variables, and so on.

  • For RSpec, you can choose a folder containing the required tests and provide custom runner options.

Let's see on how to work with run/debug configurations in general - from creating a temporary configuration to sharing configurations through VCS.

Run/debug configurations can be created as:

  • Temporary– created every time you run a Ruby script, Rails server, test, or another command without configuration.
    The maximum number of temporary configurations is 5. The older ones are automatically deleted when new ones are added.

  • Permanent– created explicitly from a template or by saving a temporary configuration. Permanent configurations remain as part of your project until you remove them.

So whenever you run/debug or test your code, RubyMine either uses an existing permanent run/debug configuration or creates a new temporary one.

Permanent configurations have opaque icons while the icons of temporary configurations are semi-transparent.

Create permanent run/debug configurations

RubyMine provides the following ways to create a permanent run/debug configuration:

Save a temporary configuration as permanent

  • Select a temporary configuration in the run/debug configuration switcher and then click Save Configuration.

    Edit run configurations

  • Alternatively, select a temporary configuration in the Run/debug configurations dialog and click Save on the toolbar.

RubyMine provides run/debug configuration templates for different languages, tools, and frameworks. The list of available templates varies depending on the installed/bundled plugins.

Create a run/debug configuration from a template

  1. Open the Run/Debug Configuration dialog in one of the following ways:

    • Select Run | Edit Configurations from the main menu.

    • With the Navigation bar visible (View | Appearance | Navigation Bar), choose Edit Configurations from the run/debug configuration selector.

      Edit run configurations

    • Press Alt+Shift+F10, then press 0 or select the configuration from the popup and press F4.

  2. In the Run/Debug Configuration dialog, click Icons general add on the toolbar or press Alt+Insert. The list shows the run/debug configuration templates.

    New run/debug configuration

  3. For a new run/debug configuration, specify the following settings:

    Run/Debug Configurations: Rails

    • Name: specifies the configuration name.

    • Allow parallel run: If this option is enabled, you can launch a run configuration multiple times in parallel instead of rerunning it. Each runner will start in its own tab of the Run or Debug tool window.

    • Store as project file: Enable this option to save your configuration as a project file and share it with team members through VCS.

    • Configure settings specific for the selected configuration type (for example, Ruby, Rails, or RSpec).

    • Before Launch: In this area, you can specify tasks that must be performed before running a configuration.

    • Show this page: Enable this option to show the run/debug configuration settings prior to actually starting it.

    • Activate tool window: Use this option to specify whether or not the Run/Debug tool window opens when you start the run/debug configuration.

  4. Apply the changes and close the dialog.

Share run/debug configurations

If you are working in a team, you might want to share your run/debug configurations so that your teammates could run the application using the same configuration or enable them to remotely attach to the process you are running.

For these purposes, RubyMine provides a mechanism to store your run/debug configurations as project files and share them through VCS. The same mechanism can also be used when you want to send your configuration as a file to someone else. This saves a lot of time as run/debug configurations sometimes get sophisticated, and keeping them in sync manually would be tedious and error-prone.

note

Legacy .ipr -based projects do not support individual run/debug configurations. With legacy projects, you can only share all configurations at once by adding the .ipr file to the VCS.

note

Turning on the Store as project file option does not submit anything to the VCS for you. For run/debug configurations to make their way to a shared repository, you have to check them in like other versioned files.

To learn how to use version control systems in RubyMine, refer to the Version control section.

Run/debug configuration templates

Each type of run/debug configuration is a template that you can edit, so the next time you create a new configuration of that type, its parameters already have the desired values.

note

Changing the default values of a template does not affect already existing run/debug configurations.

Configure the default values for a template

  1. From the main menu, select Run | Edit Configurations. Alternatively, press Alt+Shift+F10, then 0.

  2. In the left-hand pane of the run/debug configuration dialog, click Edit configuration templates.

    Edit configuration templates

  3. In the Run/Debug Configuration Templates dialog that opens, select a configuration type.

    run/debug templates

  4. Specify the desired default parameters and click OK to save the template.

Compound run/debug configurations

Suppose you would like to launch multiple run/debug configurations simultaneously. For example, you may want to run several configurations of different types or a sequence of several test configurations. You can configure this behavior with a compound run/debug configuration.

When you run or debug your code using a compound configuration, you actually launch a sequence of configurations in the order they are listed.

Create a compound run/debug configuration

  1. From the main menu, select Run | Edit Configurations. Alternatively, press Alt+Shift+F10, then 0.

  2. In the Run/Debug Configurations dialog, click the Add button or press Alt+Insert, then select Compound.

  3. Specify the run/debug configuration name in the Name field. This name will be shown in the list of the available run/debug configurations.

  4. Select Store as project file to make this run/debug configuration available to other team members.

  5. To include a new run/debug configuration into the compound configuration, click Add the Add button and select the desired one from the list.

  6. Apply the changes.

Run/debug configuration folders

When there are many run/debug configurations of the same type, you can group them in folders so they become easier to distinguish visually.

Once grouped, the run/debug configurations appear in the list under the corresponding folders.

folders for run configurations

Create a folder for run/debug configurations

  1. From the main menu, select Run | Edit Configurations. Alternatively, press Alt+Shift+F10, then 0.

  2. In the Run/Debug Configurations dialog, select a configuration type and click the New Folder icon on the toolbar. A new empty folder for the selected type is created.

  3. Specify the folder name in the text field to the right or accept the default name.

  4. Select the desired run/debug configurations and move them under the target folder.

  5. Apply the changes. If a folder is empty, it will not be saved.

When you no longer need a folder, you can delete it Delete. The run/debug configurations grouped under this folder will be moved under the root of the corresponding run/debug configuration type.

Before launch tasks

When you are creating or editing a configuration, you can specify tasks that must be performed before running a configuration using the Before Launch. For example, you can run the db:prepare Rake task before running a test configuration.

To add a task, click the Add button and select the desired task.

List of tasks