Some notes/links on Windows Debugging CLR applications

I only need it every once in a while, so finding the right links and tips to help me usually takes too much time.

So here is a small list to get started:

• Debugging Managed Code Using the Windows Debugger (Windows Debuggers).
  
• SOS.dll (SOS Debugging Extension).
• .net – Windbg expects different version of mscordacwks.dll – Stack Overflow.
• .net – What to do with “The version of SOS does not match the version of CLR you are debugging” in WinDbg? – Stack Overflow.
• Download Psscor4 Managed-Code Debugging Extension for WinDbg from Official Microsoft Download Center.
• .net 4.0 – Unable to load SOS in WinDbg – Stack Overflow.
• just do IT: windbg sos.dll version issue.
• IanG on Tap: Getting Stack Traces of a Running .NET Process.

Keywords: CLR, SOS.DLL, WinDbg, mscordacwks.dll, PSSCOR4

Some tips:

• Except for .NET 1.x, get the SOS.DLL and mscordacwks.dll from the system you want to debug on (I tried maintaining a directory with each and every version: too hard to keep that complete).
  For .NET 1.x, get the SOS.DLL from Download and Install Debugging Tools for Windows or from a Windows Server 2003 installation.
• Favour .loadby over .load
• Favour PSSCOR4 over SOS

DumpStacks.bat Batch file I use for dumping the stack of a .NET 1.x process:

@echo on
if "%1" == "" goto :usage
if NOT "%2" == "" goto :run

:usage
echo Usage: %0 ^<pid^> ^<dumpfile^>
goto :quit

:run
setlocal
set output=%~f2
pushd %~dp0
Debuggers\ntsd -pv -p %1 -cf DumpStacks.ntsd.debugscript -logo %output%
popd
endlocal

:: .load C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.1.4322\sos.dll
:: .load Debuggers\clr11\sos.dll

:quit

It assumes the file DumpStacks.ntsd.debugscript exists in the same directory as the batch file:

.load Debuggers\clr11\sos.dll
~*k
!EEStack
.detach
q

This assumes a Debuggers directory under the directory of the batch file, which has a clr11 directory containing sos.dll

I copied the Debuggers directory after installing the Download and Install Debugging Tools for Windows.

–jeroen