Debug .NET Core within a container

Prerequisites

  1. Install the .NET Core SDK, which includes support for attaching to the .NET Core debugger.

  2. Install the Visual Studio Code C# extension, which includes support for attaching to the .NET Core debugger with VS Code.

  3. macOS users only: Add /usr/local/share/dotnet/sdk/NuGetFallbackFolder as a shared folder in your Docker preferences.

    dockerSharedFolders

Walkthrough

  1. If needed, create a .NET Core project with dotnet new.

  2. Open the project folder in VS Code.

  3. Wait until a notification appears asking if you want to add required assets for debugging. Click Yes:

    csharpPrompt

  4. Open the Command Palette (⇧⌘P (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+P)) and enter Docker: Add Docker Files to Workspace.... If you have already dockerized your app, you can instead do Docker: Initialize for Docker debugging. Follow the prompts.

  5. Switch to the Debug view (⇧⌘D (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+D)).

  6. Select the Docker .NET Core Launch launch configuration.

  7. Optionally, set a breakpoint.

  8. Start debugging! (F5)

For additional customization options, see the documentation on Tasks and Debug containerized apps.

01/29/2020