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Diagnostics extensions

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This article list and explains all Microsoft Testing Platform extensions related to the diagnostics capability.

Built-in options

The following platform options provide useful information for troubleshooting your test apps:

  • --info
  • --diagnostic
  • ⁠-⁠-⁠diagnostic-⁠filelogger-⁠synchronouswrite
  • --diagnostic-verbosity
  • --diagnostic-output-fileprefix
  • --diagnostic-output-directory

You can also enable the diagnostics logs using the environment variables:

Environment variable name Description
TESTINGPLATFORM_DIAGNOSTIC If set to 1, enables the diagnostic logging.
TESTINGPLATFORM_DIAGNOSTIC_VERBOSITY Defines the verbosity level. The available values are Trace, Debug, Information, Warning, Error, or Critical.
TESTINGPLATFORM_DIAGNOSTIC_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY The output directory of the diagnostic logging, if not specified the file is generated in the default TestResults directory.
TESTINGPLATFORM_DIAGNOSTIC_OUTPUT_FILEPREFIX The prefix for the log file name. Defaults to "log_".
TESTINGPLATFORM_DIAGNOSTIC_FILELOGGER_SYNCHRONOUSWRITE Forces the built-in file logger to synchronously write logs. Useful for scenarios where you don't want to lose any log entries (if the process crashes). This does slow down the test execution.

Note

Environment variables take precedence over the command line arguments.

Crash dump

This extension allows you to create a crash dump file if the process crashes. This extension is shipped as part of Microsoft.Testing.Extensions.CrashDump NuGet package.

Important

The package is shipped with Microsoft .NET library closed-source free to use licensing model.

To configure the crash dump file generation, use the following options:

Option Description
--crashdump Generates a dump file when the test host process crashes. Supported in .NET 6.0+.
⁠-⁠-⁠crashdump-⁠filename Specifies the file name of the dump.
--crashdump-type Specifies the type of the dump. Valid values are Mini, Heap, Triage, Full. Defaults as Full. For more information, see Types of mini dumps.

Caution

The extension isn't compatible with .NET Framework and will be silently ignored. For .NET Framework support, you enable the postmortem debugging with Sysinternals ProcDump. For more information, see Enabling Postmortem Debugging: Window Sysinternals ProcDump. The postmortem debugging solution will also collect process crash information for .NET so you can avoid the use of the extension if you're targeting both .NET and .NET Framework test applications.

Hang dump

This extension allows you to create a dump file after a given timeout. This extension is shipped as part of Microsoft.Testing.Extensions.HangDump package.

Important

The package is shipped with Microsoft .NET library closed-source free to use licensing model.

To configure the hang dump file generation, use the following options:

Option Description
--hangdump Generates a dump file in case the test host process hangs.
-⁠-⁠hangdump-⁠filename Specifies the file name of the dump.
--hangdump-timeout Specifies the timeout after which the dump is generated. The timeout value is specified in one of the following formats:
1.5h, 1.5hour, 1.5hours
90m, 90min, 90minute, 90minutes
5400s, 5400sec, 5400second, 5400seconds. Defaults to 30m (30 minutes).
--hangdump-type Specifies the type of the dump. Valid values are Mini, Heap, Triage, Full. Defaults as Full. For more information, see Types of mini dumps.