Configuration Properties for the Cluster-SOA Debugger

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The C# Cluster-SOA Debugger configuration properties let you define how to run your debugging session. This information is used for the following tasks:

  • To select the cluster nodes on which to run the debugging session.

  • To specify the services to debug.

  • To specify deployment information.

Cluster-SOA Debugger configuration properties

The following table describes the SOA Debugger configuration properties.

Property

Description

Enable Cluster-SOA service debugging

When you select this option, the debugger deploys your Cluster-SOA service to the cluster, interacts with the HPC Job Scheduler Service to create a SOA job, and launches the remote debugger on the nodes when debugging starts. When debugging ends, Visual Studio stops the remote debugger and deletes your service files from the cluster.

When you clear the check box for this option, Visual Studio uses the default debugging behavior when you start debugging.

Head node

Specifies the head node of the cluster that you want to use for debugging.

This is the same head node that you specify in the client code with the SessionStartInfo object.

Debug mode

Specifies the debugging mode to use.

Note

You must set a breakpoint in the service code to step through the service.

This property has the following options:

  • Step into a request: When you step into a service request in the client code, the remote debugger attaches to the service process that receives the request. This mode supports synchronous and asynchronous requests. During an asynchronous request, the debugger may not step immediately into the service process for the request.

    Use this mode to debug requests with specific parameters and identical stateless services.

    Note

    To step into a request, you must set a breakpoint in the client code and use the Step Into debugging action when you reach the line of code that creates the service request. For more precise control, select a process in the Processes window and then use the Step Into Current Process debugging action.

  • Services on all nodes: The remote debugger attaches to the service process on each node. Use this mode when interaction between the services must be controlled to observe a bug.

  • Services on selected nodes: The remote debugger attaches to service processes on the selected nodes.

    After you select this option, select a cluster node group from the drop-down list, and then select individual nodes.

    Use this mode when a specific resource is held on a given cluster node and the resource interaction with the service must be controlled for a bug to be observed.

    Note

    This property does not determine or limit the nodes that are allocated to the service job. Nodes that are selected in this property must be included in the nodes that the client requests when the session is created (use startInfo.RequestedNodes).

Cluster node group

Specifies the node group to use when debugging services on specific nodes. This property applies to the Services on selected nodes debugging mode.

Every cluster has three default node groups: Head nodes, WCF Broker nodes, and Compute nodes. Services are only hosted on Compute nodes. In addition to these node groups, the drop-down list reflects any custom node groups that are defined by the cluster administrator. When you select a node group, the nodes in the group appear in the node list.

Individual nodes from the node group

Specifies the individual nodes that you want to watch during debugging. The listed nodes belong to the node group that you selected in the Cluster node group property.

Services to debug

Specifies the services to debug during the Cluster-SOA debugging session.

The services that are part of the same solution are listed by default. You can add services that are provided as a binary or that are part of another solution.

Files of selected services

Displays the files and folders that the Cluster-SOA Debugger deploys for the selected services.

Deploy services before debugging

When you select this option, the Cluster-SOA Debugger deploys the most recently compiled service binary files to the cluster. If you need to deploy additional files with the service, you can add them in the Files of selected services property.

Deploy the CRT assemblies before debugging

When you select this option, the Cluster-SOA Debugger deploys the most recently compiled CRT files with the service. Select this option if the service has native dependencies and the CRT is not installed on the cluster.

Clean up the deployment files after debugging

When you select this option, the Cluster-SOA Debugger creates a task to delete the files that were deployed from the cluster. Any files that your service created while running on the cluster are not deleted.

Deployment folder

Specifies the shared folder to use for staging deployment to the cluster. The default location is

\\<headnode>\ccpspooldir\<UserName>\<ProjectName_<ClientComputerName>_<PidOfVisualStudio)

Working directory on each compute node

Specifies the working directory to use to run the application on each compute node in the cluster. The default location is

%TMP%\<UserName>\<ProjectName_<ClientComputerName>_<PidOfVisualStudio)

See Also

Using the C# Cluster-SOA Debugger for Windows HPC 2008 (Visual Studio 2008)
How to: Configure and Launch the Cluster-SOA Debugger
Walkthrough: Debugging an Interactive SOA Application on a Windows HPC 2008 Cluster