Is there a way to detect if a debugger is attached to another process from C#?

C#Debugging

C# Problem Overview


I have a program that Process.Start() another program, and it shuts it down after N seconds.

Sometimes I choose to attach a debugger to the started program. In those cases, I don't want the process shut down after N seconds.

I'd like the host program to detect if a debugger is attached or not, so it can choose to not shut it down.

Clarification: I'm not looking to detect if a debugger is attached to my process, I'm looking to detect if a debugger is attached to the process I spawned.

C# Solutions


Solution 1 - C#

if(System.Diagnostics.Debugger.IsAttached)
{
    // ...
}

Solution 2 - C#

You will need to P/Invoke down to CheckRemoteDebuggerPresent. This requires a handle to the target process, which you can get from Process.Handle.

Solution 3 - C#

Is the current process being debugged?

var isDebuggerAttached = System.Diagnostics.Debugger.IsAttached;

Is another process being debugged?

Process process = ...;
bool isDebuggerAttached;
if (!CheckRemoteDebuggerPresent(process.Handle, out isDebuggerAttached)
{
    // handle failure (throw / return / ...)
}
else
{
    // use isDebuggerAttached
}


/// <summary>Checks whether a process is being debugged.</summary>
/// <remarks>
/// The "remote" in CheckRemoteDebuggerPresent does not imply that the debugger
/// necessarily resides on a different computer; instead, it indicates that the 
/// debugger resides in a separate and parallel process.
/// <para/>
/// Use the IsDebuggerPresent function to detect whether the calling process 
/// is running under the debugger.
/// </remarks>
[DllImport("Kernel32.dll", SetLastError=true, ExactSpelling=true)]
[return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)]
private static extern bool CheckRemoteDebuggerPresent(
    SafeHandle hProcess,
    [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)] ref bool isDebuggerPresent);

Within a Visual Studio extension

Process process = ...;
bool isDebuggerAttached = Dte.Debugger.DebuggedProcesses.Any(
    debuggee => debuggee.ProcessID == process.Id);

Solution 4 - C#

I know this is old, but I was having the same issue and realized if you have a pointer to the EnvDTE, you can check if the process is in Dte.Debugger.DebuggedProcesses:

foreach (EnvDTE.Process p in Dte.Debugger.DebuggedProcesses) {
  if (p.ProcessID == spawnedProcess.Id) {
    // stuff
  }
}

The CheckRemoteDebuggerPresent call only checks if the process is being natively debugged, I believe - it won't work for detecting managed debugging.

Solution 5 - C#

The solution for me is Debugger.IsAttached as described here: http://www.fmsinc.com/free/NewTips/NET/NETtip32.asp

Attributions

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Content TypeOriginal AuthorOriginal Content on Stackoverflow
QuestionLucas MeijerView Question on Stackoverflow
Solution 1 - C#Bryan WattsView Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 2 - C#itowlsonView Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 3 - C#Drew NoakesView Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 4 - C#AekaView Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 5 - C#AdiView Answer on Stackoverflow