How to Debug Plug-Ins in CRM

Hi,

Sometimes you might get wonder (even frustrated) why the debugger is not hitting the break point in your Plug-In code file.

Below are the Checklist to perform prior to start the debugging of your Plug-in assembly.

• Ensure that your plug-in assembly is signed (See)
• Rebuild the plug-in assembly
• Reset the IIS (i.e. Open command prompt and run ‘iisreset’ command)
• Restart CRM Asynchronous Service on CRM server (Only in case of asynchronous plug-in or Custom workflow )
• Copy the .pdb file and your .dll file to server’s assembly (i.e., ..\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics CRM\Server\bin\assembly)
• Open the Plug-in Registration Tool (Download)
• Browse the dll from your Plug-Ins projects “bin\debug” folder
• In Plug-in Registration Tool , Choose “Specify the location where assembly should be stored” option as “Disk”
• Register the step
• Register the image(s) if any
• Attach the process by opening the Plug-in project in the Visual Studio and then
  • From menu choose “Debug -> Attach to Process…” ( or Click ‘Alt + Ctrl + P’)
  • Select  w3wp.exe (i.e.,Worker Process), if plug-in is Synchronous
  • Select CRMAsyncService.exe, if Plug-in is asynchronous or Custom workflow.

Attaching Worker Process (w3wp.exe)

• You are all set by now and put a break point (Click F9) on relevant code line.

In case of Remote Debugger :-

• If your CRM server machine is different from your development machine
• Install “Visual Studio Remote Debugger” (Download) on CRM server machine
• Run it as “Administrator”
• Follow the same steps above except while attaching Process, in the “Attach to Process” window, set “Qualifier” as “CRM server machine”

Debug plug-in in outlook offline mode

• Clean and rebuild the plug-in solution on your machine using visual studio
• Register the plugin on the server
• Synchronize the organization with the outlook
• Go Offline
• Attach the debugger to the process “Microsoft.Crm.Application.Hoster.exe”
• Place a breakpoint in the code.
• Run the scenario

Hope it helps 🙂