x86 Remote Debugger Service on x64

Question

Is it possible to install the x86 Remote Debugger as a Service on a 64bit machine? I need to attach a debugger to managed code in a Session 0 process. The process runs 32bit but the debugger service that gets installed is 64bit and wont attach to the 32bit process.

I tried creating the Service using the SC command, and was able to get the service to start, and verified that it was running in Task manager processes. However, when I tried to connect to it with visual studio, it said that the remote debugger monitor wasn't enabled. When I stopped the x86 service, and started the x64 service and it was able to find the monitor, but still got an error.

Here is the error when I try to use the remote debugger: Unable to attach to the process. The 64-bit version of the Visual Studio Remote Debugging Monitor (MSVSMON.EXE) cannot debug 32-bit processes or 32-bit dumps. Please use the 32-bit version instead.

Here is the error when I try to attach locally: Attaching to a process in a different terminal server session is not supported on this computer. Try remote debugging to the machine and running the Microsoft Visual Studio Remote Debugging Monitor in the process's session.

If I try to run the 32bit remote debugger as an application, it wont work attach b/c the Remote Debugger is running in my session and not in session 0.

Answer 1

1) Install the x64 version. This also installs the x86 debugger but does not create a shortcut.

2) You can find the executable for x86 process debugging here... C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\Common7\IDE\Remote Debugger\x86\msvsmon.exe

3) If you want to, pin it to the task bar.