How to: Run the Remote Debugging Monitor

The Remote Debugging Monitor (msvsmon.exe) is a small application that Visual Studio connects to for remote debugging. During remote debugging, Visual Studio runs on one computer (the debugger host) and the Remote Debugging Monitor runs on a remote computer together with the applications that you are debugging.

Before you can start remote debugging, you must set up remote debugging. For more information, see How to: Set Up Remote Debugging.

Note

The dialog boxes and menu commands you see might differ from those described in Help depending on your active settings or edition. To change your settings, choose Import and Export Settings on the Tools menu. For more information, see Visual Studio Settings.

Permissions

The Visual Studio user must have permission to connect to the remote debugger. By default, administrators on the remote machine can connect to the remote debugger. To grant permissions to other users, see Configuring the remote debugger.

For information about permissions for remote debugging across domains or between workgroup computers, see Remote Debugging Across Domains.

To start the remote debugging monitor

  • On the remote computer, choose Start, All Programs, Visual Studio 2012, Visual Studio 2012 Remote Debugger.

    -or-

    Run msvsmon.exe at the Windows Command Prompt.

    The Remote Debugging Monitor runs as a Windows application. The user interface shows that the Remote Debugging Monitor is running and makes remote debugging easy to set up.

Running the Remote Debugging Service (ASP.NET and Other Server Environments)

For debugging in ASP.NET and other server environments, you can run the Remote Debugging Monitor as a Windows service (the Remote Debugger Service.)

To configure the remote debugging monitor as a service

  1. Choose Start, Visual Studio Remote Debugger Configuration Wizard.

  2. Follow the steps in the wizard to set up remote debugging as a service.

See Also

Tasks

Remote Debugging Across Domains

Remote Debugging Errors and Troubleshooting

Concepts

Just-In-Time Debugging

Other Resources

Debugging in Visual Studio

Remote Debugging Setup

How to: Set Up Remote Debugging