Set Up the Remote Tools on the Device
The Visual Studio Remote Tools lets you run, debug, and test an application that is running on one device from another computer that is running Visual Studio.
Note
Windows Store apps
For information about remote debugging of Windows Store apps, see Debug and test Windows Store apps on a remote device from Visual Studio in the Windows Developer Center.
Azure
For information about debugging on Azure, see one of these topics:
-
Debugging a Cloud Service or Virtual Machine in Visual Studio
-
Introduction to Remote Debugging on Azure Web Sites (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3).
Attach to a running process on a remote machine
To attach the debugger to a process on a remote machine, follow the procedures in this article to configure the remote machine, then see Attach to a process on a remote computer.
Contents
Prerequisites
Installing the Remote Tools
Configuring the remote tools
Related topics in the Windows Dev Center
Prerequisites
To debug on a remote device:
The remote device and the Visual Studio computer must be connected over a network or connected directly through an Ethernet cable. Debugging over the internet is not supported.
The remote device must be running the remote debugging components.
You must be an administrator to install the remote tools on the remote device. To communicate with the remote tools, you must have user access to the remote device.
Installing the Remote Tools
Note
Versions and updates
You must install the update version of the Remote Tools for Visual Studio 2013 that matches the update version of your Visual Studio installation. The VS debugger is compatible with any combination of versions of VS 2013 and the Remote Tools for VS 2013. However, the newest functionality in Visual Studio requires both Visual Studio and the Remote Tools to be on the most up to date version. Other diagnostic tools might require the same versions of the remote tools and Visual Studio.
Installing the remote debugging components on a remote device
To run or save the installation program for the remote tools, choose one of the links in this table that matches the operating system on the remote device:
Visual Studio 2013
VS 2013 Update version |
X86 |
X64 |
ARM |
RTM |
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Update1 |
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Update2 |
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Update 3 |
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Update 4 |
Remote tools for Visual Studio 2015 Preview. You can download the Remote tools for Visual Studio 2015 Preview here.
You can choose to download the install program or you can run it immediately. When you run the install program, accept the user agreement, and then choose Install.
By default, the remote debugging components are installed in the C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\Common7\IDE\Remote Debugger folder.
Configuring the remote tools
- Start and configure the remote tools for the first time • Reconfiguring the remote tools
Start and configure the remote tools for the first time
Note
To start the remote tools for the first time, you must have administrative permissions on the remote device to allow the debugger to configure the firewall.
On the Start menu of the remote device, choose Remote Debugger. You must have administrator privileges to start the remote tools for the first time.
When you start the remote tools for the first time, the Configure Remote Debugging dialog box appears.
.png "Remote Debugging Configuration dialog")
If the Windows Service API is not installed, choose the Install button.
Select the type of networks that you want the remote tools to communicate with. At least one network type must be selected.
Choose Configure remote debugging to configure the firewall and start the Remote Debugging Monitor.
To change the Authentication mode or to specify a timeout value for the remote tools, choose Options on the Remote Debugging Monitor Tools menu.
Warning
By default, the remote tools use Windows Authentication. You can choose to run the remote tools in No Authentication mode, but this mode is strongly discouraged. There is no network security when you run in this mode. Choose the No Authentication mode only if you are sure that the network is not at risk of from malicious or hostile traffic.
By default, Administrators of the remote device can connect to the remote tools. To grant or deny other users permission to use the remote tools, choose Permissions on the Tools menu.
When the debugger is running, it broadcasts its identity on the local sub-net of the network, which allows a Visual Studio computer on the same sub-net to know that the remote device is available as a remote debugging target.
Reconfiguring the remote tools
You can change the configuration of the remote tools after you have started it for the first time.
Start the remote tools. On the Start menu of the remote device, choose Remote Debugger.
To grant or deny other users permission to use the remote tools, choose Permissions on the Tools menu. You must have administrator privileges to grant or deny permissions.
To change the Authentication mode or to specify a timeout value for the remote tools, choose Options on the Remote Debugging Monitor Tools menu.
Warning
You can choose to run the remote tools in No Authentication mode, but this mode is strongly discouraged. There is no network security when you run in this mode. Choose the No Authentication mode only if you are sure that the network is not at risk of from malicious or hostile traffic.
To run the remote tools as a service or change remote debugging network options To run the remote tools as a service or change remote debugging network options, on the Start menu, search for Remote Debugger Configuration Wizard. By default, the remote tools runs as a Windows application. In the Configuration Wizard, you can choose to run the remote tools as a Windows service. You can also restrict the networks that the remote tools is allowed to communicate with. You must have administrator privileges to perform these actions.
Related topics in the Windows Dev Center
Debugging and testing Store apps with Visual Studio
Run Store apps from Visual Studio
Run Windows Store apps on a remote machine from Visual Studio
See Also
Tasks
Start the Remote Debugging Monitor
Set Up Remote Debugging for a Visual Studio Project
Remote Debugging Across Domains