Debug-Runspace
Starts an interactive debugging session with a runspace.
Syntax
Debug-Runspace
[-Runspace] <Runspace>
[-BreakAll]
[-WhatIf]
[-Confirm]
[<CommonParameters>]Debug-Runspace
[-Name] <String>
[-BreakAll]
[-WhatIf]
[-Confirm]
[<CommonParameters>]Debug-Runspace
[-Id] <Int32>
[-BreakAll]
[-WhatIf]
[-Confirm]
[<CommonParameters>]Debug-Runspace
[-InstanceId] <Guid>
[-BreakAll]
[-WhatIf]
[-Confirm]
[<CommonParameters>]Description
The Debug-Runspace cmdlet starts an interactive debugging session with a local or remote active
runspace. You can find a runspace that you want to debug by first running Get-Process to find
processes associated with PowerShell, then Enter-PSHostProcess with the process ID specified in
the Id parameter to attach to the process, and then Get-Runspace to list runspaces within the
PowerShell host process.
After you have selected a runspace to debug, if the runspace is currently running a command or script, or if the script has stopped at a breakpoint, PowerShell opens a remote debugger session for the runspace. You can debug the runspace script in the same way remote session scripts are debugged.
You can only attach to a PowerShell host process if you are an administrator on the computer that is running the process, or you are running the script that you want to debug. Also, you cannot enter the host process that is running the current PowerShell session. You can only enter a host process that is running a different PowerShell session.
Examples
Example 1: Debug a remote runspace
In this example, you debug a runspace that is open on a remote computer, WS10TestServer. In the
first line of the command, you run Get-Process on the remote computer, and filter for Windows
PowerShell host processes. In this example, you want to debug process ID 1152, the Windows
PowerShell ISE host process.
PS C:\> Get-Process -ComputerName "WS10TestServer" -Name "*powershell*"
Handles WS(K) VM(M) CPU(s) Id ProcessName
------- ----- ----- ------ -- -----------
377 69912 63 2.09 2420 powershell
399 123396 829 4.48 1152 powershell_ise
PS C:\> Enter-PSSession -ComputerName "WS10TestServer"
[WS10TestServer]:PS C:\> Enter-PSHostProcess -Id 1152
[WS10TestServer:][Process:1152]: PS C:\Users\Test\Documents> Get-Runspace
Id Name ComputerName Type State Availability
-- ---- ------------ ---- ----- ------------
1 Runspace1 WS10TestServer Remote Opened Available
2 RemoteHost WS10TestServer Remote Opened Busy
[WS10TestServer][Process:1152]: PS C:\Users\Test\Documents> Debug-Runspace -Id 2
Hit Line breakpoint on 'C:\TestWFVar1.ps1:83'
At C:\TestWFVar1.ps1:83 char:1
+ $scriptVar = "Script Variable"
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Process:1152]: [RSDBG: 2]: PS C:\> >In the second command, you run Enter-PSSession to open a remote session on WS10TestServer. In the
third command, you attach to the Windows PowerShell ISE host process running on the remote server by
running Enter-PSHostProcess, and specifying the ID of the host process that you obtained in the
first command, 1152.
In the fourth command, you list available runspaces for process ID 1152 by running Get-Runspace.
You note the ID number of the Busy runspace; it is running a script that you want to debug.
In the last command, you start debugging an opened runspace that is running a script,
TestWFVar1.ps1, by running Debug-Runspace, and identifying the runspace by its ID, 2, by adding
the Id parameter. Because there's a breakpoint in the script, the debugger opens.
Parameters
-BreakAll
Allows you to break immediately in the current location when the debugger attaches.
This parameter was added in PowerShell 7.2.
| Type: | SwitchParameter |
| Position: | Named |
| Default value: | None |
| Required: | False |
| Accept pipeline input: | False |
| Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-Confirm
Prompts you for confirmation before running the cmdlet.
| Type: | SwitchParameter |
| Aliases: | cf |
| Position: | Named |
| Default value: | True |
| Required: | False |
| Accept pipeline input: | False |
| Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-Id
Specifies the ID number of a runspace. You can run Get-Runspace to show runspace IDs.
| Type: | Int32 |
| Position: | 0 |
| Default value: | None |
| Required: | True |
| Accept pipeline input: | False |
| Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-InstanceId
Specifies a runspace by its instance ID, a GUID that you can show by running Get-Runspace.
| Type: | Guid |
| Position: | 0 |
| Default value: | None |
| Required: | True |
| Accept pipeline input: | False |
| Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-Name
Specifies a runspace by its name. You can run Get-Runspace to show the names of runspaces.
| Type: | String |
| Position: | 0 |
| Default value: | None |
| Required: | True |
| Accept pipeline input: | False |
| Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-Runspace
Specifies a runspace object. The simplest way to provide a value for this parameter is to specify a
variable that contains the results of a filtered Get-Runspace command.
| Type: | Runspace |
| Position: | 0 |
| Default value: | None |
| Required: | True |
| Accept pipeline input: | True |
| Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-WhatIf
Shows what would happen if the cmdlet runs. The cmdlet is not run.
| Type: | SwitchParameter |
| Aliases: | wi |
| Position: | Named |
| Default value: | True |
| Required: | False |
| Accept pipeline input: | False |
| Accept wildcard characters: | False |
Inputs
You can pipe the results of a Get-Runspace command to this cmdlet.
Notes
Debug-Runspace works on runspaces that are in the Opened state. If a runspace state changes from
Opened to another state, that runspace is automatically removed from the running list. A runspace is
added to the running list only if it meets the following criteria.
- If it is coming from Invoke-Command; that is, it has an
Invoke-CommandGUID ID. - If it is coming from
Debug-Runspace; that is, it has aDebug-RunspaceGUID ID. - If it is coming from a PowerShell workflow, and its workflow job ID is the same as the current active debugger workflow job ID.
