IntelliTrace on 64-bit apps using Microsoft Test Manager

From lots (and I do mean lots) of customer tweets and comments we know that folks are unhappy with IntelliTrace not working with 64-bit applications. We knew that this was going to be an issue for many customers, but due to time constraints we just weren’t able to get all the kinks in 64-bit F5 ironed out in time to launch with a high quality bar.

While we are working on getting this scenario fixed for a future date I would like to mention that there is actually is a way to collect IntelliTrace data on 64-bit applications with just what ships with VS 2010 Ultimate. Some time ago I posted a blog article in which I talked about how to collect IntelliTrace data with Microsoft Test Manager, the new standalone test data collection application that ships with VS 2010 Ultimate. Because the launch patterns for our MTM IntelliTrace data collector and for F5 launch from Visual Studio are different we were actually able to get 64-bit working in the MTM scenario. Just follow the steps in my listed blog article and you will be able to capture IntelliTrace data for 64-bit applications, no special tweaks or changes to the workflow are needed from 32-bit applications in MTM.

It’s not the best workaround, especially if you don’t regularly use MTM already, but if you want to capture IntelliTrace data on 64-bit applications it’s currently the only option available.