Attach to and profile .NET processes
warning
Attaching to running processes is available with the following limitations:
Windows: Native, .NET Framework 4.0+, .NET Core 3.0+, .NET 5+.
Run a profiling session
In the menu, choose Run | Profile running process. This will open a list of running processes.
Select a process you want to profile (note that this must be a managed .NET process), and in the context menu, choose a suitable profiling configuration. Note that it's not possible to collect full allocation data when attaching to a process.
note
When attaching to .NET Core processes, note that only .NET Core 3.0+ or .NET 5+ processes are supported.
Once the profiling is started, you will see the dotMemory Profiler tool window opened on the Profiling tab with the profiling controller inside.
Reproduce the issue you are looking for or, if you just want to evaluate the memory usage, go through the desired usage scenarios in your application. Note that currently, it's not possible to get memory snapshots. You can analyze only memory allocation.
After you collect the data, you can finish the profiling session. Normally, you do it either by closing the profiled application or by detaching the profiler via the
Detach button (
Kill forcibly terminates the profiled app and the session, so, use it only in emergency cases).
About profiling configurations
Create a custom profiling configuration
In the menu, choose Run | Switch Profiling Configuration | Edit Configurations.
In the opened Profiling Configurations window, click
to add a new profiling configuration.In the list, select a data collection mode (always Memory (Sampled allocations) if you're going to profile an attached process).
Specify configuration Name and other profiling options:
- Control profiling via API
Enables you to control profiling directly from the code of the profiled application. Learn more about using the API in the dotMemory documentation.