How to Debug a .NET Core Console App When Using dotnet run

Question

So I'm working on a custom dotnet cli tool as described here. I'm getting started with it and can run my console app using dotnet run, but it's going right past my breakpoints when trying to debug. It does work when running from VS, but I want to be able to play around with passing various arguments and doing that from the application arguments box is not really practical. Any thoughts?

You should be able to attach a debugger to an existing .net process, alternatively if timing is an issue, you can use Debugger.Launch learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/… — Matthew
– Matthew, Commented Jul 26, 2020 at 17:04
Your tool is still a console application. You can debug it just like any other console application, directly from your IDE whatever that is (VS, VS Code, Rider). You can pass whatever arguments you want in the Debug project property page — Panagiotis Kanavos
– Panagiotis Kanavos, Commented Jul 26, 2020 at 17:38
Debugging it by starting it from the debugger (i.e. Visual Studio) is still the best way to debug your application. Yes, changing the arguments through the project properties is a bit annoying but that’s still how to do it. You can also check out the launchSettings.json which gets modified through the project properties and change the arguments there directly if that seems nicer to work with for you. — poke
– poke, Commented Jul 26, 2020 at 18:20

Link · Accepted Answer · 2020-07-26 17:35:53Z

6

You have multiple options:

Debugger.Launch This is a function which will pop up a window where you can attach a Visual Studio Debugger. See: Debugger.Launch. This has one theoretical downside (which does not apply to you) it is only usable in Visual Studio and not for example in Rider as the API is not open. (But you when this window pops up you could attach Rider to the process)
"Wait" the first seconds in your program You could just pass an argument to your cli which indicates it should wait x seconds so that you can attach your Debugger.

public static void Main(string[] args)
{
    if(args[0] == "waitfordebugger")
    {
        Thread.Sleep(10000); // Wait 10 Seconds
    }

    // Do stuff here

You then call your program like this: dotnet run -- waitfordebugger

answered Jul 26, 2020 at 17:35

Link

1,7411 gold badge15 silver badges26 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

3 Comments

poke Over a year ago

Both of these mean changing the application that is being debugged though so this can have unwanted side effects.

Konrad Viltersten Over a year ago

Doesn't this apply to other projects than console ones? I'm running an API and get nothing on the breakpoints. I added Debugger.Launch() in the Startup.cs and executed with the flag dotnet run --waitfordebugger. No breakies hit, though. The log tells me that the spot is passed but VS gives nothing orange blinking. Is attaching to a process the only way to go? Not sure how to do that...

Konrad Viltersten Over a year ago

Correction to the above. I know how to attach to a process, obviously. I meant, I want to do that without scrolling like a crazy money through the list of all processes. I'd like to attach to "right" process.

Paul DeVito · Accepted Answer · 2021-05-24 17:27:56Z

3

For what it's worth, it seems like the best way is unfortunately to pass them in as arguments.

You can do this by clicking on the arrow next to Run button in Visual Studio and selecting 'Project Debug Properties'. From there, you can go to 'Application Arguments' and enter the arguments you want. For example, something like --list all would pass in an array with a length of two where index 0 is --list and index 1 is all.

If someone comes up with a less invasive way, let me know!

Edit: You can also do it from command prompt/powershell by using dotnet run and attaching to the associated process in VS (Debug>Attach to Process)

edited May 24, 2021 at 17:27

answered Jul 30, 2020 at 3:17

Paul DeVito

1,9514 gold badges22 silver badges48 bronze badges

Comments

DmitryKosarev · Accepted Answer · 2024-08-02 14:48:23Z

0

There is the implementation of the debugger call in the MsBuild repo, DebuggerLaunchCheck function.
It is more convenient to attach to "right" process.
Stop occurs if a certain environment variable is set.
src/MSBuild/XMake.cs#L603

   Process currentProcess = Process.GetCurrentProcess();
   Console.WriteLine($"Waiting for debugger to attach 
   ({currentProcess.MainModule.FileName} PID {currentProcess.Id}).  Press 
   enter to continue...");
   Console.ReadLine();
   break;

Launch:

  Set CONSOLEDEBUGONSTART="2"
  dotnet run

answered Aug 2, 2024 at 14:48

DmitryKosarev

92 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How to Debug a .NET Core Console App When Using dotnet run

3 Answers 3

3 Comments

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

3 Answers 3

3 Comments

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related