Debugging Managed Custom Actions

+ +

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.

+ +

+ + +