How to profile multiple WPF services using dotTrace

Question

How to profile multiple WPF services at the same time using dotTrace profiler?

Answer

Although profiling individual specific WCF services simultaneously is not directly supported, one can manage this through External .NET Process profiling:

1. Launch dotTrace Profiler
2. On the dotTrace home screen, select the "External .NET Process profiling" option
3. To ensure you only profile the .NET processes you are interested in, configure a process filter to filter out irrelevant processes:
   • Find the Process Filter section under Advanced options
   • Add the names of the processes associated with your WCF services.
4. Start a profiling session
5. Start or restart your WCF services. If your application is targeting .NET 6 or later, it is crucial to restart all parent processes of your application. This step ensures dotTrace correctly attaches to the processes.

If dotTrace Fails to Attach: If dotTrace fails to attach to a process, ensure that:

• The process filter correctly specifies the processes.
• All parent processes of your applications targeting .NET 6 or later are restarted.
• Necessary permissions are granted to the dotTrace profiler to attach to the processes.