diff --git a/cmd/excimer.go b/cmd/excimer.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b356a87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/excimer.go
@@ -0,0 +1,226 @@
+package cmd
+
+import (
+	"github.com/gookit/color"
+	"github.com/jonhadfield/findexec"
+	"github.com/sandstorm/drydock/util"
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+	"log"
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"os/signal"
+)
+
+// phpExcimerInstallScript is running in the debugImage
+//   - we mount the inner container to /container (should be based on some base "official" Docker PHP image)
+//   - reload the config
+func phpExcimerInstallScript(pid string) string {
+	// fall back to xdebug 3.1.6 for PHP 7.4 if xdebug 3.2 (the newest version) did not work
+	return mountSlashContainer + `
+cat << EOF | chroot /container
+	export HTTP_PROXY=""
+	export HTTPS_PROXY=""
+	pecl install excimer
+EOF
+
+if [ ! -d /container$PHP_INI_DIR ]; then
+    echo "!!!! PHP_INI_DIR not set."
+    echo "!!!! please set it as env in docker compose."
+    exit 1
+fi;
+
+cat << EOF > /container$PHP_INI_DIR/conf.d/excimer.ini
+auto_prepend_file=/app/tracing/auto_prepend_file.php
+
+extension=excimer.so
+
+EOF
+
+mkdir -p /container/app/tracing
+mkdir -p /container/app/tracing/_traces
+chmod -R 777 /container/app/tracing
+
+cat << 'EOF' > /container/app/tracing/auto_prepend_file.php
+<?php
+
+// !!!!!!!!!!!!! DO NOT DELETE THIS FILE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
+// This file is included via auto_prepend_file in php.ini - and it is used for
+// profiling.
+// !!!!!!!!!!!!! DO NOT DELETE THIS FILE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
+
+function startExcimer() {
+    static $excimer;
+    if (!class_exists(\ExcimerProfiler::class)) {
+        // excimer.so profiling extension not loaded.
+        return;
+    }
+
+    $excimer = new ExcimerProfiler();
+    $excimer->setPeriod( 0.001 ); // 1ms
+    $excimer->setEventType( EXCIMER_REAL ); // OR: EXCIMER_CPU, but does not work on FreeBSD.
+    $excimer->start();
+    register_shutdown_function( function () use ( $excimer ) {
+        $excimer->stop();
+        $data = $excimer->getLog()->formatCollapsed();
+        file_put_contents('/app/tracing/_traces/' . getmypid(), $data, FILE_APPEND);
+    } );
+}
+
+// HINT: to start PHP continuous profiling, comment-in the following line.
+startExcimer();
+
+EOF
+
+echo "restarting php-fpm"
+pkill -USR2 php-fpm
+`
+}
+
+func phpXExcimerDeactivateScript() string {
+	return mountSlashContainer + `
+rm /container$PHP_INI_DIR/conf.d/excimer.ini
+pkill -USR2 php-fpm
+`
+}
+
+func buildExcimerCommand() *cobra.Command {
+	var debugImage string = "nicolaka/netshoot"
+
+	var command = &cobra.Command{
+		Use:   "excimer [flags] SERVICE-or-CONTAINER",
+		Short: "Install Excimer Sampling Continuous Profiler in the given container",
+		Long: color.Sprintf(`Usage:	drydock excimer [flags] SERVICE-OR-CONTAINER
+
+Run excimer Continuous Profiler in the given PHP Container, and reloads
+the PHP Process such that the debugger is enabled.
+
+<op=underscore;>Options:</>
+      --debug-image          What debugger docker image to use for executing nsenter (and optionally the NFS webdav server).
+                             By default, nicolaka/netshoot is used
+
+<op=underscore;>Examples</>
+
+<op=bold;>Run excimer in a running PHP container</>
+	drydock excimer <op=italic;>myContainer</>
+
+<op=bold;>Run excimer in a running docker-compose service</>
+	drydock excimer <op=italic;>my-docker-compose-service</>
+
+<op=underscore;>Background:</>
+
+    This command installs the excimer PHP extension into an existing Docker container, even if the container is locked
+    down to a non-root user. Additionally, we reload the PHP process by using kill -USR2.
+
+    This command is using <op=italic;>nsenter</> wrapped in a privileged docker container to install the PHP extension
+    inside a running container as root.
+
+`),
+		Args: cobra.ExactArgs(1),
+
+		Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+			//isOpen := isXdebugPortOpenInIde("127.0.0.1", "9003")
+
+			color.Println("")
+			color.Println("")
+			color.Println("<green>=====================================</>")
+			color.Println("<green>Installing excimer into the container</>")
+			color.Println("<green>and reloading PHP</>")
+			color.Println("<green>=====================================</>")
+			color.Println("")
+
+			dockerContainerIdentifier, err := util.TryGetDockerContainerNameFromDockerCompose(args[0])
+
+			if err != nil {
+				// could not identify the docker container identifier; e.g. no docker-compose used.
+				dockerContainerIdentifier = args[0]
+			} else {
+				color.Printf("<green>docker compose service </><fg=green;op=bold;>%s</><fg=green> found, entering it.</>\n", args[0])
+				color.Println("")
+			}
+
+			pid, err := util.GetRootPidForDockerContainer(dockerContainerIdentifier)
+
+			if err != nil || pid == "0" {
+				// container not running
+				color.Printf("<red>FATAL: Container </><fg=red;op=bold;>%s</><fg=red> not running.</>\n", dockerContainerIdentifier)
+				color.Println("")
+				os.Exit(1)
+			}
+
+			fullContainerName, err := util.GetFullContainerName(dockerContainerIdentifier)
+			if err != nil {
+				color.Printf("<red>FATAL: Could not extract container name for container </><fg=red;op=bold;>%s</><fg=red> - THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN. Please file a bug report.</>\n", dockerContainerIdentifier)
+				color.Println("")
+				os.Exit(1)
+			}
+
+			dockerExecutablePathAndFilename := findexec.Find("docker", "")
+
+			// we need to get the ENV of the original container to find the PHP_INI_DIR (needed such that "docker-php-ext-enable" will work: https://github.com/docker-library/php/blob/67c242cb1529c70a3969a373ab333c53001c95b8/8.2-rc/bullseye/cli/docker-php-ext-enable)
+			extraDockerRunArgs, err := util.GetEnvCliCallsForDockerRunFromContainerMetadata(fullContainerName)
+			if err != nil {
+				log.Printf("FATAL: Could not extract env variables for container '%s': %s - THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN. Please file a bug report.\n", dockerContainerIdentifier, err)
+				os.Exit(1)
+			}
+
+			// Install excimer
+			dockerRunCommand := dockerRunNsenterCommand(fullContainerName, debugImage, pid, extraDockerRunArgs)
+			dockerRunCommand = append(dockerRunCommand, "--net") // to download files now, we need to mount the network filesystem.
+			dockerRunCommand = append(dockerRunCommand, "/bin/bash")
+			dockerRunCommand = append(dockerRunCommand, "-c")
+			dockerRunCommand = append(dockerRunCommand, phpExcimerInstallScript(pid))
+
+			dockerRunC := exec.Command(dockerExecutablePathAndFilename, dockerRunCommand[1:]...)
+			dockerRunC.Env = os.Environ()
+			dockerRunC.Stdout = os.Stdout
+			dockerRunC.Stderr = os.Stderr
+			dockerRunC.Run()
+
+			c := make(chan os.Signal, 1)
+			signal.Notify(c, os.Interrupt)
+
+			printExcimerUsage(fullContainerName)
+			// wait for ctrl-c
+			<-c
+			color.Println("<fg=yellow>Ctrl-C pressed. Aborting...</>")
+
+			color.Println("<green>=====================================</>")
+			color.Printf("<green>Disabling Excimer</>\n")
+			color.Println("<green>=====================================</>")
+			color.Println("")
+			// Removing XDebug
+			// Install XDEBUG and prepare for NFS Server
+			dockerRunCommand = dockerRunNsenterCommand(fullContainerName, debugImage, pid, extraDockerRunArgs)
+			dockerRunCommand = append(dockerRunCommand, "/bin/bash")
+			dockerRunCommand = append(dockerRunCommand, "-c")
+			dockerRunCommand = append(dockerRunCommand, phpXExcimerDeactivateScript())
+
+			dockerRunC = exec.Command(dockerExecutablePathAndFilename, dockerRunCommand[1:]...)
+			dockerRunC.Env = os.Environ()
+			dockerRunC.Stdout = os.Stdout
+			dockerRunC.Stderr = os.Stderr
+			dockerRunC.Run()
+
+			color.Println("<green>=====================================</>")
+			color.Printf("<green>All done!</>\n")
+			color.Println("<green>=====================================</>")
+			color.Println("")
+
+		},
+	}
+
+	command.Flags().StringVarP(&debugImage, "debug-image", "", "nicolaka/netshoot", "What debugger docker image to use for executing nsenter. By default, gists/nfs-server is used")
+
+	return command
+}
+
+func printExcimerUsage(fullContainerName string) {
+	color.Println("")
+	color.Println("")
+	color.Println("<fg=green>=====================================</>")
+	color.Printf("<fg=green;op=bold>Excimer fully set up for %s</>\n", fullContainerName)
+	color.Println("")
+	color.Println("<fg=green>=====================================</>")
+	color.Println("")
+	color.Println("<fg=yellow>To stop debugging, </><fg=yellow;op=bold>press Ctrl-C</>")
+}
diff --git a/cmd/root.go b/cmd/root.go
index 428f367..4df0fd5 100644
--- a/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root.go
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ func Execute(version, commit string) {
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(buildVsCodeCommand())
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(buildSpxCommand())
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(buildXdebugCommand())
+	rootCmd.AddCommand(buildExcimerCommand())
 	if err := rootCmd.Execute(); err != nil {
 		fmt.Println(err)
 		os.Exit(1)