Using Erlang observer/appmon remotely

observer.md

Using OTP's observer (appmon replacement) remotely

$ ssh remote-host "epmd -names"
epmd: up and running on port 4369 with data:
name some_node at port 58769

Note the running on port for epmd itself and the port of the node you're interested in debugging. Reconnect to the remote host with these ports forwarded:

$ ssh -L 4369:localhost:4369 -L 58769:localhost:58769 remote-host

On your machine, start a hidden Erlang node running the observer app:

$ erl -name [email protected] -setcookie if-server-has-one -hidden -run observer

N.B.: If the server is using -sname, you need to use -sname as well, because Erlang™. You'll also need to change your system's hostname to match the target host, for the same reason.

In observer, go to Nodes - Connect Node and type [email protected].

You can also get a remote shell:

$ erl -name [email protected] -setcookie if-server-has-one -remsh [email protected]

@silviucpp I am not using -R option myself because using -R option requires sshd_config option GatewayPorts yes. This is something I did not want to immediately introduce into the production servers of my company.