Configuring XP SP2 to enable remote debugging for VS 2002/2003

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Soon we will get the remote debugger KB article fixed, and this blog will be useless. In the mean time…

Basic steps to get remote debugging to work after installing XP SP2:

  1. Configure DCOM on the Visual Studio computer
  2. Configure Windows Firewall on both computers
  3. Configurations for special scenarios

Configure DCOM on the Visual Studio computer:

  1. Start->Run, type DCOMCNFG, and then press ENTER.
  2. The Component Services dialog box appears.
  3. In the Component Services dialog box, expand Component Services, expand Computers, and then expand My Computer.
  4. On the toolbar, click the Configure My Computer button. The My Computer dialog box appears.
    In the My Computer dialog box, click the COM Security tab.
  5. Under Access Permission, click Edit Limits.
  6. In the Access Permission dialog box, under the Group or user names section, click ANONYMOUS LOGON.
  7. In the Access Permission dialog box, under the Permissions for ANONYMOUS LOGON section, select the Remote Access check box, and then click OK.

Configure Windows Firewall

The Windows Firewall needs to be configured on the both Visual Studio and remote computer. Download and run the firewall configuration utility. There is more information on this utility in KB 841177.

Configuration for special scenarios

There are a few other scenarios that require special configuration.

  1. For ASP, ASP.NET, or ATL Server debugging, the Visual Studio computer must be able to speak to the web server. This usually means adding an exception for port 80. See 'Enable Web Server Debugging' in KB 833977.
  2. For script debugging, see the 'Enable Script Debugging' in KB 833977.
  3. Remote T-SQL debugging is currently impossible. Hopefully, we will soon release a VS 2002 SP1/VS 2003 SP1, which will make this scenario possible again.
  4. For users who are not an Administrator on the remote computer, see 'Run the debugger as a normal user' in KB 833977.