How to use the Debug Diagnostics tool to troubleshoot a process that has stopped responding in IIS

When an IIS process stops responding, we recommend that you create a full memory dump file of the IIS process while IIS is processing client requests. You can use the Debug Diagnostics tool to capture and analyze memory dump files that are captured when IIS is processing client requests.

To install and configure the Debug Diagnostics tool, follow these steps:

1. Download and install the Debug Diagnostics Tool. To install the Debug Diagnostics Tool, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
   
   http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=26798Note If you are configuring the Debug Diagnostics tool for use with IIS 6.0 or higher, go to step 3.
2. In Microsoft Internet Information Services 5.1 and in Microsoft Internet Information Services 5.0, turn off the debug exception catching feature. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Click Start, click Run, type Inetmgr.exe, and then click OK.
   2. Right-click the computer that you want to configure, and then click Properties.
   3. In the Master Properties list, click WWW Service, and then click Edit.
   4. On the Home Directory tab, click Configuration.
   5. On the Process Options tab, click to clear the Enable debug exception catching check box, and then click OK.
   6. Restart IIS. You must restart IIS for this change to take effect.
3. Create a dump file by using one of the following methods:
   •  Create a Performance rule. To do this, follow these steps:
     1. Click Start, click Run, type the path of the Debug Diagnostics tool, and then click OK.
        
        Note By default, the Debug Diagnostics tool is located in the C:\Program Files\DebugDiag folder.
     2. On the Rules tab, click Add Rule.
     3. Click Performance, choose HTTP Response Time, and then click Next.
     4. Click Add URL, type the URL for a Web site on which you experience the issue, click OK, and then click Yes to test the URL.
     5. Click OK, and then click Next.
     6. Click Add Dump Target.
     7. In the Target Type list, click the target type that you want, click OK, and then click Next.
     8. Type a name for the rule, type a path for the user dump file location, and then click Next.
     9. Click Activate the rule now, and then click Finish.
     10. On the Rules tab, notice that the rule is Active in the Status column.
   • Manually create an IIS Hang Dump file. To do this, follow these steps:
     1. Click Start, click Run, type the path of the Debug Diagnostics tool, and then click OK.
        
        Note By default, the Debug Diagnostics tool is located in the C:\Program Files\DebugDiag folder.
     2. On the Tools menu, click Create IIS/COM+ Hang Dump.
   • Create a user dump file for a process. To do this, follow these steps:
     1. Click Start, click Run, type the path of the Debug Diagnostics tool, and then click OK.
        
        Note By default, the Debug Diagnostics tool is located in the C:\Program Files\DebugDiag folder.
     2. On the Processes tab, right-click the process that you want to troubleshoot, and then click Create Full Userdump.
4. Analyze the dump file. To analyze the dump file, follow these steps:
   1. Click Start, click Run, type the path of the Debug Diagnostics tool, and then click OK.
      
      Note By default, the Debug Diagnostics tool is located in the C:\Program Files\DebugDiag folder.
   2. On the Advanced Analysis tab, click Add Data Files.
   3. Locate and then click the dump file that you want to analyze, and then click Open.
   4. On the Advanced Analysis tab, click Crash/Hang Analysis, and then click Start Analysis.
   5. Review the report that is displayed in Microsoft Internet Explorer. A copy of this report is also stored in the \DebugDiag\Reports folder.

Note If you want to troubleshoot a custom DLL, you can include the custom PDB files. To include the custom PDB files, click Options and Settings on the Tools menu, click Folder and Search Paths, type the path in the Symbol Search Path for Debugging box, and then click OK.