Debugging Managed Custom Actions

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There are two ways to attach a debugger to a managed custom action.

Attach to message-box: Add some temporary code to your custom action to display a - message box. Then when the message box pops up at install time, you can attch your - debugger to that process (usually identifiable by the title of the message box). - Once attached, you can ensure that symbols are loaded if necessary (they will be automatically - loaded if PDB files were embedded in the CA assembly at build time), then set breakpoints - anywhere in the custom action code.

MMsiBreak environment variable: When debugging managed custom actions, - you should use the MMsiBreak environment variable instead of MsiBreak. Set the MMsiBreak - variable to the custom action entrypoint name. (Remember this might be different from - the method name if it was overridden by the CustomActionAttribute.) When the CA proxy - finds a matching name, the CLR JIT-debugging dialog - will appear with text similar to "An exception 'Launch for user' has occurred - in YourCustomActionName." The debug break occurs after the custom - action assembly has been loaded, but just before custom action method is invoked. - Once attached, you can ensure that symbols are loaded if necessary, - then set breakpoints anywhere in the custom action code. Note: the MMsiBreak - environment variable can also accept a comma-separated list of action names, any of - which will cause a break when hit.

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