Connect to a web server
Choose a deployment configuration based on where you want to access files:
In-place server configuration.
In an in-place server configuration, you open a project folder from an existing local web server's document root directly in WebStorm. The configuration maps project files to URLs, and the server uses those files directly. Unlike with a local server configuration, you do not upload, download, or synchronize files between the WebStorm project and a separate folder in the server file structure.
Local server configuration.
A local server serves files from a local or mounted folder at a local URL. In a local server configuration, you develop your application in a WebStorm project, then upload the project files to the server’s document root, the folder from which the server serves files.
Remote server configuration.
In a remote server configuration, the server runs on another computer (a remote host). To access files on the remote server, use FTP/SFTP/FTPS/WebDAV protocols.
Before you start
File transfer uses the bundled FTP/SFTP/WebDAV Connectivity plugin. If deployment actions are missing, open and enable the plugin.
Make sure the web server is configured and running. For more information, refer to the web server official documentation.
Create separate configurations for different destinations. Each configuration has its own connection settings and mappings between project folders and destination folders.
If you need to deploy code to multiple servers, you can create a server group and avoid deploying to each server individually.
Server access configuration
A deployment configuration stores the connection settings and folder mappings used to access files. It does not install or start server software.
A server access configuration defines the following:
The server type (in-place, local, or remote).
The remote host for FTP, FTPS, SFTP, or WebDAV connections. In-place and local or mounted folder configurations use paths accessible from the computer where WebStorm runs.
The server access configuration root: the highest folder in the server hierarchy that can be accessed through the server configuration.
The URL address to access the server configuration root.
The protocol to transfer the data through and the connection parameters.
The correspondence between local folders (that is, the folders under the project root), destination folders on the server (either local or remote), and URL addresses to access the data on the server. This correspondence is called mapping.
For example, your project is stored under C:/Projects/My_Project/ and contains a folder C:/Projects/My_Project/My_Folder, while a local server has the document root under C:/xampp/htdocs. You upload the entire project tree to C:/xampp/htdocs/My_Project. In the WebStorm terms, the C:/Projects/My_Project/My_Folder folder is referred to as local and the C:/xampp/htdocs/My_Project/My_Folder folder is referred to as remote.
Create separate configurations for different destinations. Each configuration has its own connection settings and mappings between project folders and destination folders.
If you need to deploy code to multiple servers, you can create a server group and avoid deploying to each server individually.
Default server access configuration
You can set a server configuration as default to have WebStorm silently apply it in the following cases:
Manual upload and download of files without choosing the target host.
Comparing local files and folders with their remote versions.
In the Settings dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S) , go to , select the required server access configuration in the central pane, and click
on the toolbar.Alternatively, click the Default Deployment Server widget in the WebStorm status bar and select the desired server or server group from the popup menu.
To configure the upload to the default server, go to .
Visibility of server access configuration
Once configured, a server access configuration can be used in all existing WebStorm projects. You can restrict the use of a configuration to the current project.
In the Settings dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S) , go to , and select the required server access configuration in the central pane.
Use the Visible only for this project checkbox to enable reuse of this server access configuration in other projects.
Select the checkbox to restrict the use of the configuration to the current project. Such configuration cannot be reused outside the current project. It does not appear in the list of available configurations in other projects.
Project-specific configurations are stored in the .idea directory. Review these files before sharing them through version control. Server configurations available to all projects are stored in the IDE settings.
In the list of server access configurations in the left-hand pane, the configurations visible only in the current project are marked with the
icon. When the checkbox is cleared, the configuration is visible in all WebStorm projects. Its settings can be reused across several projects.