C#

How to setup recording & monitoring for C# applications

Requirements

• C# project configuration

• Build requirements: Microsoft .NET Framework 4.7.2+ or .NET Core 6.0+

• Runtime requirements: Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.1+ or Microsoft .NET Core 2.1+

  • You could use the RevDeBug ASP.NET Core Demo application

• Configured & installed RevDebug Server

To setup RevDeBug you will need to:

1. Add RevDeBug dependency

2. Configure the connection to RevDeBug Monitor

Adding RevDeBug dependency

Add the RevDeBug NuGet repository to your solution. You can do that globally in Visual Studio settings:

Or by adding nuget.config file on the solution level:

nuget.config

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
  <packageSources>
    <!--To inherit the global NuGet package sources remove the <clear/> line below -->
    <clear />
    <add key="nuget" value="https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json" />
    <add key="rdb" value="https://nexus.revdebug.com/repository/nuget/" />
  </packageSources>
</configuration>

Next, use the NuGet package manager to add RevDeBug dependencies by adding the following NuGet packages:

After searching for a RevDeBug package, select both:

• For .NET Core application:

  • RevDeBug.Net.Compilers.Toolset

  • RevDeBugAPM.Agent.AspNetCore

• For .NET Framework application:

  • RevDeBug.Net.Compilers.Toolset

  • RevDeBugAPM.Agent.AspNet

Configure the connection to RevDeBug Monitor

Add Directory.Build.props file on solution level

Directory.Build.props

<Project>
  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(RevDeBugDisableNuget)' != 'true'">
    <RevDeBugActive>true</RevDeBugActive>
    <UseRevDeBugOnThisProject>true</UseRevDeBugOnThisProject>
    <RevDeBugStateStorageType>CrashRecorder</RevDeBugStateStorageType>
    <SendToServer>true</SendToServer>
    <RecorderAddress>127.0.0.1</RecorderAddress>
    <RecorderTCPPort>42734</RecorderTCPPort>
    <RevDeBugForceTLS>false</RevDeBugForceTLS>
    <ImportGitInfo>true</ImportGitInfo>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(TargetFrameworkIdentifier)' != '.NETFramework'">
    <isNetCore>true</isNetCore>
  </PropertyGroup>
</Project>

There are several configurable fields:

• RecorderTCPPort - Default port to connect to RevDeBug DevOps Monitor.

• RecorderAddress - Here you have to enter the IP address or hostname of the recording servers (if you are using Docker, use Ifconfig command to get an IP address). It’s possible to send metadata to more than one server, just type another IP after comma. Recording will appear only on the first address.

• RevDeBugForceTLS - Forces TLS connection with the server. Set this to true if your RevDeBug DevOps Monitor instance has been configured to work with an SSL certificate.

• RevDeBugUseWarningOnFailedSend - Replaces error messages with warnings for the metadata transfer process. Useful for non-mandatory builds.

Both these fields are used to connect to the data repository. In most cases, it is a RevDeBug server - a place to store recordings.

• RevDeBugActive - Fast way to disable RevDeBug on your solution.

• RevDeBugStateStorageType - this field is crucial for application performance. There are three values that you can use here:

  • Continuous - means that your application will be permanently connected to the RevDeBug server. Even if you select standby or emergency recording mode, the application will be connected. It will not stream data, but there will be a slight decrease in performance.

  • OnEvent - works on the contrary. The application connects to the RevDeBug server only for a specific event. And this event must come from the application. For example, a failure or a particular method or object you want to record.

  • Noop - this field is handy when you want to connect to the RevDeBug server only in case of an emergency, or you care about performance. For example, you can build your application with RevDeBug, and prepare all events that should be recorded, but until you change this setting, nothing will be recorded.

RevDeBug Compiler Tools behaviour modifiers

You can use these settings to modify how RevDebug Compiler Tools (RCT) will transform your application code. By default all modifiers are active. To turn off a behaviour, you have to set a corresponding MSBuild property to false. If you want to change the behaviour for all projects, add the property modification to your Directory.Build.props file. If you want to change the behaviour for one project only or for a selected group of projects, add the property modification directly to your project MSBuild file/files or to *.user* file of that/those projects.

Available modifiers:

• RevDeBugHttpClientHandlerInject - used with ASP .NET (legacy) projects only. If this modifier is active, RCT will inject HttpClient wrappers into your project, which will allow our APM agent to track HttpClient calls from your code. Default value: false.

• RevDeBugStoreInject - if this modifier is active, RCT will inject internal tracking points and will create RevDeBug metadata. If you turn this modifier off, you won’t be able to create recordings or track exceptions with RevDebug Monitor. Default value: true.

Enable tracing for ASP .NET Core App

When you run ASP.NET Core application set the environment variable ASPNETCORE_HOSTINGSTARTUPASSEMBLIES to RevDeBugAPM.Agent.AspNetCore

Setting environment variable on IIS

If you want to set an environment variable on IIS you have to enter your variable in web.config with an <environmentVariables> section.

web.config

<aspNetCore .....>
 <environmentVariables>
  <environmentVariable name="ASPNETCORE_HOSTINGSTARTUPASSEMBLIES" value="RevDeBugAPM.Agent.AspNetCore" />
 </environmentVariables>
</aspNetCore>

You can find more information and alternative method for setting environment variables in IIS here.

Configure tracing

The first step to configure the RevDeBug APM agent is to create skyapm.json file. This file should be in the startup project. Make sure the skyapm.json file has been copied to the output directory after compilation.

You can use environment variables as values in the file. The environment variable should be referenced using $(variable_name) format and can be used solely as the value i.e., "ServiceName:" "$(service_name)" or as part of the value i.e., "ServiceInstanceName": "Instance_$(PC_NAME)_5_0_4".

skyapm.json

{
  "SkyWalking": {
    "ServiceName": "ServiceName",
    "Namespace": "",
    "HeaderVersions": [
      "sw8"
    ],
    "Sampling": {
      "SamplePer3Secs": -1,
      "Percentage": -1.0,
      "IgnorePaths": ["**/ignore"]
    },
    "Logging": {
      "Level": "Information",
      "FilePath": "logs\\skyapm-{Date}.log"
    },
    "Transport": {
      "Interval": 3000,
      "ProtocolVersion": "v8",
      "QueueSize": 30000,
      "BatchSize": 3000,
      "gRPC": {
        "Servers": "[address]:11800",
        "Timeout": 10000,
        "ConnectTimeout": 10000,
        "ReportTimeout": 600000,
        "ForceTLS": false
      }
    }
  }
}

Required settings

Options which setting is necessary for the proper functioning of your application with RevDeBug

Name	Explanation	Default
Transport.gRPC.Servers	Address of your RevDeBug server, remember you need to have communication between the application and RevDeBug port 11800 open	127.0.0.1:11800
Transport.gRPC.ForceTLS	For RevDeBug SSL enabled server it is necessary to use change the secure connection option to “true”	false
ServiceName	Name of the service as it will appear in the RevDeBug APM	ServiceName

Optional settings

Additional options that allow you to adjust RevDeBug APM Agent to your needs

Name	Explanation	Default
Sampling.SamplePer3Secs	Negative or zero means all traces are monitored (default). Any positive number means tracing only the number of requests in the 3 seconds window, every other trace will be dropped	-1
Transport - section	Transport level configuration. Not needed to alter in most use-cases
Transport.Interval	Trace sending interval (ms)	3000
Transport.QueueSize	Transport queue size for gRPC messages	30000
Transport.BatchSize	Batch size for gRPC messages	3000
Transport.gRPC.Timeout	Timeout for gRPC connection creation (ms)	10000
Transport.gRPC.ConnectTimeout	GRPC max connection time (ms)	10000

Troubleshooting

In the case of .NET web applications under high traffic not all traces are being sent to RevDeBug server (will be seen a plateau in the number of connection graphs on the dashboard) setting of Transport.Interval and Transport.QueueSize needs to be altered. Decreasing the Transport.Interval value to increase the frequency of sending data, and increase the Transport.QueueSize to send more data at a time.

RevDeBug agent configuration using WebConfig

It is possible to configure selected revdebug agent options using the WebConfig file. At this moment we can change the following settings:

• AgentActive - The option responsible for activating and deactivating the RevDeBug agent

• ServiceInstanceName - Name of the application instance displayed in RevDeBug

<configuration>
	<configSections>
		<section name="revDeBugConfigs" type="SkyApm.Agent.AspNet.Configuration.AgentConfigsSection" />
	</configSections>
	<revDeBugConfigs agentActive="true" serviceInstanceName="servicename" />
</configuration>

Controlling RevDeBug with environment variables

Once the application is compiled with RevDeBug it reports exceptions and traces to the RevDeBug server. You can turn off this behavior without the need for recompilation. To do so, simply follow this instruction:

Set environment variable on the server where your application is running (this setting will turn off exception reporting):

REVDEBUG_CONNECTIVITY_TYPE=noop

To turn off traces reporting unset ASP.NET Core Hosting Assemblies environment variable

ASPNETCORE_HOSTINGSTARTUPASSEMBLIES