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Process Server Examples

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Suppose one person is running an application on a computer named \\BOX17. This application has problems, but the debugging technician is at a different site.

The first person sets up a process server using DbgSrv on \\BOX17. The target application has a process ID of 122. TCP protocol is chosen, with a socket port number of 1025. The server is started with the following command:

E:\Debugging Tools for Windows> dbgsrv -t tcp:port=1025

On the other computer, the technician starts WinDbg as a smart client with this command:

G:\Debugging Tools> windbg -premote tcp:server=BOX17,port=1025 -p 122

Here is another example. In this case, NPIPE protocol is chosen, and CDB is used instead of WinDbg. The first user chooses a pipe name. This can be any alphanumeric string -- in this example, "AnotherPipe". The first user opens an elevated Command Prompt window (Run as Administrator) and starts a debugging server by entering this command:

E:\Debugging Tools for Windows> dbgsrv -t npipe:pipe=AnotherPipe

The technician is logged on to the client computer with an account that does not have access to the server computer. But the technician knows the username and password for an account that does have access to the server computer. The username for that account is Contoso. The technician enters the following command:

net use \\BOX17\ipc$ /user:Contoso

When prompted, the technician enters the password for the Contoso account.

The technician is not sure what name was used for the named pipe, so they query BOX17 for process servers:

G:\Debugging Tools> cdb -QR \\BOX17
Servers on \\BOX17:
Debugger Server - npipe:Pipe=MainPipe
Remote Process Server - npipe:Pipe=AnotherPipe

Two pipes are shown. However, only one is a process server -- the other is a debugging server, and we are not interested in that. So AnotherPipe must be the correct name. The technician enters the following command to start the smart client:

G:\Debugging Tools> cdb -premote npipe:server=BOX17,pipe=AnotherPipe -v sol.exe

For a more complicated example using a process server, see Symbols in the Middle.