Debug an Application in a Virtual Machine from a Windows Host

You can debug an application in a virtual machine from a Windows host system over a virtual serial port.

Prerequisites

• Verify that Debugging Tools for Windows is installed on the host system and that it supports debugging over a pipe. It must be version 5.0.18.0 or later.
• Verify that a serial port is configured for the virtual machine. See Configuring Virtual Ports.

Procedure

1. Configure the named pipe on the target virtual machine and select This end is the server.
2. Power on the virtual machine.
3. Select the virtual machine, select VM > Removable Devices, and verify that the serial port is connected.
4. If the serial port is not reported as \\.\pipe\namedpipe, select the virtual serial port and click Connect.
5. On the host system, type the debugger command.
   For example: debugger -k com:port=\\.\pipe\namedpipe,pipe
   The debugger value is WinDbg or KD.
6. Press Enter to start debugging.