Profile Web Application in IIS Express

To profile a web application hosted in IIS Express

1. Close all running IIS Express instances.

2. Run dotMemory as a standalone application. The dotMemory Home window will open.

3. Add a run configuration - the configuration that tells dotMemory how to run the profiled application:

   • Under Choose what you want to profile, New Process Run, click Add run configuration.

   • In the New Run Configuration wizard, choose IIS Express and click Next.

   • Specify application options:

     • If the web app you want to profile is described in the default IIS Express configuration file applicationhost.config, select Configuration file and then, in Site, select a web site you want to profile.

       Note that a config file location depends on a IDE you use:

       • JetBrains Rider: {solutionDir}\.idea\config\applicationhost.config

       • Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 and later: {solutionDir}\.vs\config\applicationhost.config

       • Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 and earlier: %USERPROFILE%Documents\IISExpress\config\applicationhost.config

       If you do not want to use a configuration file, you can select Application path and specify a full path to the directory that contains the profiled application.

     • If you want the application URL to be opened automatically, once the profiling starts, select Open URL and specify the application URL. The in browser parameter allows you to select a browser in which the URL must be opened.

     • Optionally, you can specify custom IIS Express and runtime settings:

       • In Server, select an IIS Express instance,

       • in Runtime version: a .NET Framework version,

       • in Port: an HTTP port, or select Use random port if you want dotMemory to automatically select the port.

     • Optionally, in Open URL, specify the URL that dotMemory will use to invoke the web application after starting the session.

     • Optionally, in in browser, specify the browser that dotMemory should use to open the URL.

   • Click Save.

4. Make sure the created run configuration is selected in the New Process Run list.

5. If you want dotMemory to start collecting the stack trace allocation data * right after you start the session, under Run profiling, select Collect memory allocation and traffic data from start.

6. Click Start. This will start the profiling session.

7. Go through a particular workflow in your application (if you want to check it on potential memory issues) or reproduce a particular memory issue. Collect memory snapshots using the Get Snapshot button. Learn more about how to control the profiling session

8. After you collect the data, either close the profiled application or detach the profiler using the Detach button.

9. Analyze the collected snapshots.