Starting a Remote.exe Session

There are two ways to start a remote.exe session with KD or CDB. Only the second of these methods works with NTSD.

Customizing Your Command Prompt Window

The Remote.exe Client and Remote.exe Server run in Command Prompt windows.

To prepare for the remote session, you should customize this window to increase its usability. Open a Command Prompt window. Right-click the title bar and select Properties. Select the Layout tab. Go to the section titled "Screen Buffer Size" and type 90 in the Width box and a value between 4000 and 9999 in the Height box. This enables scroll bars in the remote session on the kernel debugger.

Change the values for the height and width of the "Windows Size" section if you want to alter the shape of the command prompt. Select the Options tab. Enable the Edit Options quickedit mode and insert mode. This allows you to cut and paste information in the command prompt session. Click OK to apply the changes. Select the option to apply the changes to all future sessions when prompted.

Starting the Remote.exe Server: First Method

The general syntax for starting a Remote.exe Server is as follows:

remote /s "Command_Line" Unique_Id [/f Foreground_Color] [/b Background_Color] 

This can be used to start KD or CDB on the remote computer, as in the following examples:

remote /s "KD [options]" MyBrokenBox 

remote /s "CDB [options]" MyBrokenApp 

This starts the Remote.exe Server in the Command Prompt window, and starts the debugger.

You cannot use this method to start NTSD directly, because the NTSD process runs in a different window than the one in which it was invoked.

Starting the Remote.exe Server: Second Method

There is an alternate method that can start a Remote.exe Server. This method involves first starting the debugger, and then using the .remote (Create Remote.exe Server) command to start the server.

Since the .remote command is issued after the debugger has started, this method works equally well with KD, CDB, and NTSD.

Here is an example. First, start the debugger in the normal fashion:

KD [options] 

Once the debugger is running, use the .remote command:

.remote MyBrokenBox 

This results in a KD process that is also a Remote.exe Server with an ID of "MyBrokenBox", exactly as in the first method.

One advantage of this method is that you do not have to decide in advance if you intend to use remote debugging. If you are debugging with one of the console debuggers and then decide that you would prefer someone in a remote location to take over, you can use the .remote command and then they can connect to your session.

Starting the Remote.exe Client

The general syntax for starting a Remote.exe Client is as follows:

remote /c ServerNetBIOSName Unique_ID [/l Lines_to_Get] [/f Foreground_Color] [/b Background_Color] 
```dbgcmd

For example, if the "MyBrokenBox" session, described above, was started on a local host computer whose network name was "Server2", you can connect to it with the command:

```console
remote /c server2 MyBrokenBox 

Anyone on the network with appropriate permission can connect to this debug session, as long as they know your machine name and the session ID.

Issuing Commands

Commands are issued through the Remote.exe Client and are sent to the Remote.exe Server. You can enter any command into the client as if you were directly entering it into the debugger.

To exit from the remote.exe session on the Remote.exe Client, enter the @Q command. This leaves the Remote.exe Server and the debugger running.

To end the server session, enter the @K command on the Remote.exe Server.