How can I debug .NET MVC project with VS Code

Question

I have Visual Studio 2019 installed but I prefer to use VS Code. After hours of research, I'm confused as to what I can debug and what I cannot.

I have the C# extension installed.

I created a launch.json and tasks.json.

 {
     "version": "0.2.0",
     "configurations": [
          {
              "name": ".NET Core Launch (web)",
              "type": "clr",
              "request": "launch",
              "preLaunchTask": "build",
              "program": "{path-to-my-project}.dll",
              "args": [],
              "cwd": "{myNameSpace}",
              "stopAtEntry": false,
              "serverReadyAction": {
                  "action": "openExternally",
                  "pattern": "\\bNow listening on:\\s+(https?://\\S+)"
              },
              "env": {
                  "ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT": "Development"
              },
              "sourceFileMap": {
                  "/Views": "${workspaceFolder}/Views"
              },
              "logging": {
                  "moduleLoad": false
              }
          },
          {
              "name": ".NET Core Attach",
              "type": "clr",
              "request": "attach",
              "processId": "${command:pickProcess}"
          }
      ]
  }

Are these instructions only for console applications?

https://github.com/OmniSharp/omnisharp-vscode/wiki/Desktop-.NET-Framework

I also found this:

How can we debug ASP.NET MVC web application in Visual Studio Code?

But it seems like the configuration.program needs to point to an EXE. Whereas my application generates a DLL.

How can I debug a .NET MVC (non-core) web application with VS Code?

Solution

I followed ruslan.gilmutdinov answer below and it's working! It wasn't as complicated as I thought it would be.

check here

Ruslan Gilmutdinov
– Ruslan Gilmutdinov

2021-03-01 19:38:08 +00:00
Commented Mar 1, 2021 at 19:38 — Ruslan Gilmutdinov
– Ruslan Gilmutdinov, Commented Mar 1, 2021 at 19:38

Ruslan Gilmutdinov · Accepted Answer · 2021-03-02 16:19:09Z

Let's assume your .NET Framework web application is called MyWebApp and you want to debug it on port 5521. This is how you can set up debugging in VSCode:

Add OmniSharp extension to VSCode.
Add following things to the PATH environment variable:

msbuild: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community\MSBuild\Current\Bin
iisexpress: C:\Program Files\IIS Express\
chrome: C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application

Build you project:

cd MyWebApp
msbuild MyWebApp.sln -m

Open .vs\MyWebApp\config\applicationhost.config and set up your <site>:

<sites>
    <site name="MyWebApp" id="1">
        <application path="/" applicationPool="Clr4IntegratedAppPool">
            <virtualDirectory path="/" physicalPath="W:\Projects\NET\MyWebApp\MyWebApp" />
        </application>
        <bindings>
            <binding protocol="http" bindingInformation="*:5521:localhost" />
        </bindings>
    </site>
    <siteDefaults>
        <!-- To enable logging, please change the below attribute "enabled" to "true" -->
        <logFile logFormat="W3C" directory="%AppData%\Microsoft\IISExpressLogs" enabled="false" />
        <traceFailedRequestsLogging directory="%AppData%\Microsoft" enabled="false" maxLogFileSizeKB="1024" />
    </siteDefaults>
    <applicationDefaults applicationPool="Clr4IntegratedAppPool" />
    <virtualDirectoryDefaults allowSubDirConfig="true" />
</sites>

(pay attention to the values of attributes bindingInformation and physicalPath)

Change your .csproj file. In VSCode, open up MyWebApp/MyWebApp.csproj. Look for this section and this is where you will be making some changes:

<PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Debug|AnyCPU' ">
  <DebugType>full</DebugType>
  <Optimize>false</Optimize>
</PropertyGroup>

Ensure that the Optimize is set to false and set the debug option to "portable":

<PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Debug|AnyCPU' ">
  <DebugType>portable</DebugType>
  <Optimize>false</Optimize>
</PropertyGroup>

Add following launch.json and tasks.json to .vscode directory:

tasks.json:

{
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "tasks": [
      {
          "label": "msbuild",
          "command": "msbuild.exe",
          "type": "shell",
          "args": [
              "/p:Configuration=Debug",
              "/t:build",
              "-m"
          ],
          "presentation": {
              "reveal": "silent"
          },
          "problemMatcher": "$msCompile"
      },
      {
          "label": "iisStart",
          "type": "shell",
          "dependsOn": "msbuild",
          "command": "Start-Process",
          "args": ["iisexpress.exe", "/config:${workspaceFolder}\\.vs\\MyWebApp\\config\\applicationhost.config /site:MyWebApp"],
          "presentation": {
              "reveal": "silent",
          }
      },
      {
          "label": "iisStop",
          "type": "shell",
          "command": "Stop-Process",
          "args": ["-Name", "iisexpress"]
      },
  ]
}

launch.json:

{
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "configurations": [ 
    {
      "name": "Launch Chrome",
      "request": "launch",
      "type": "pwa-chrome",
      "webRoot": "${workspaceFolder}",
      "runtimeArgs": [
        "http://localhost:5521/",
        "--new-window",
        "--remote-debugging-port=9222"
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Attach to Chrome",
      "port": 9222,
      "request": "attach",
      "type": "pwa-chrome",
      "webRoot": "${workspaceFolder}"
    },  
    {
      "name": "Start WebApp",
      "type": "clr",
      "request": "attach",
      "processName": "iisexpress",
      "preLaunchTask": "iisStart",
      "postDebugTask": "iisStop",
    },    
  ],
  "compounds":[
    {
      "name": "Launch & Attach Chrome",
      "configurations": ["Launch Chrome", "Attach to Chrome"]
    }
  ]
}

You will get the following options for debugging in VSCode:

Now all you have to do is to launch Start WebApp and then Launch & Attach Chrome. Happy debugging!

Thank you for your detailed answer. I think this is almost working. When I launch Start WebApp, VS Code gives me this error "No process with the specified name is currently running."
Does any error appear in the terminal? I'm getting THIS when I run the command.
Nevermind I got it working. I had the path wrong in the args to iisStart. Working now! Thank you so much for your help

vithushan_ms · Accepted Answer · 2021-03-01 20:34:27Z

0

You can simply click the debug buttun on the vscode

Then click create a launch.json file

After that, it will ask for the runtime. Select .NET for that and select your startup project. then you can see the launch.json file in your project path. Now add debug points wherever you want and press f5

answered Mar 1, 2021 at 20:34

vithushan_ms

17

2 Comments

Bill Kindig Over a year ago

There is no is no option for .NET. There is an option for .NET Core

vithushan_ms Over a year ago

I see. probably you can try adding a custom launch.json yourself

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