Profile Web Application on IIS Express

Last modified: 22 March 2024

Supported OSs: Windows

  1. Close all running IIS Express instances.

  2. Run dotTrace as a standalone application. The dotTrace Home window will open.

  3. Add a run configuration – the configuration that tells dotTrace how to run the profiled application:

    1. Under Choose what you want to profile, New Process Run, click Add run configuration Add run configuration.

    2. In the New Run Configuration wizard, choose IIS Express and click Next.

    3. Specify application options:

      • If the web app you want to profile is described in the default IIS Express configuration file applicationhost.config, select Configuration file and then, in Site, select a web site you want to profile.

        Note that a config file location depends on a IDE you use:

        • JetBrains Rider: {solutionDir}\.idea\config\applicationhost.config

        • Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 and later: {solutionDir}\.vs\config\applicationhost.config

        • Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 and earlier: %USERPROFILE%Documents\IISExpress\config\applicationhost.config

        If you do not want to use a configuration file, you can select Application path and specify a full path to the directory that contains the profiled application.

      • If you want the application URL to be opened automatically, once the profiling starts, select Open URL and specify the application URL. The in browser parameter allows you to select a browser in which the URL must be opened.

      • Optionally, you can specify custom IIS Express and runtime settings:

        • In Server, select an IIS Express instance,

        • in Runtime version: a .NET Framework version,

        • in Port: an HTTP port, or select Use random port if you want dotTrace to automatically select the port.

      • Optionally, in Open URL, specify the URL that dotTrace will use to invoke the web application after starting the session.

      • Optionally, in in browser, specify the browser that dotTrace should use to open the URL.

    4. Click Save.

  4. Make sure the created run configuration is selected in the New Process Run list.

  5. Under Choose how you want to profile it, specify profiling options:

    • Profiling Type: typically, you should choose between Sampling (evaluate performance and determine the slowest methods in your app) and Timeline (same as Sampling but with additional timeline data). Learn more about profiling types

    • If required, specify other profiling options.

  6. If you want dotTrace to start collecting profiling data right after you start the session, under Run profiling, select Collect profiling data from start.

  7. Click Start. This will start the profiling session.

  8. Go through a particular workflow in your application (if you want to evaluate its performance) or reproduce a particular performance issue. Collect snapshots using the Get Snapshot button in the profiling controller window. Learn more about how to control the profiling session

  9. After you collect the data, either close the profiled application or detach the profiler using the Detach button in the controller window.

  10. Analyze the collected snapshots using dotTrace Viewer.