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Debug-Runspace

  • Reference
Module:
Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility

Starts an interactive debugging session with a runspace.

Syntax

Debug-Runspace
     [-Runspace] <Runspace>
     [-BreakAll]
     [-WhatIf]
     [-Confirm]
     [<CommonParameters>]
Debug-Runspace
     [-Name] <String>
     [-BreakAll]
     [-WhatIf]
     [-Confirm]
     [<CommonParameters>]
Debug-Runspace
     [-Id] <Int32>
     [-BreakAll]
     [-WhatIf]
     [-Confirm]
     [<CommonParameters>]
Debug-Runspace
     [-InstanceId] <Guid>
     [-BreakAll]
     [-WhatIf]
     [-Confirm]
     [<CommonParameters>]

Description

The Debug-Runspace cmdlet starts an interactive debugging session with a local or remote active runspace. You can find a runspace that you want to debug by first running Get-Process to find processes associated with PowerShell, then Enter-PSHostProcess with the process ID specified in the Id parameter to attach to the process, and then Get-Runspace to list runspaces within the PowerShell host process.

After you have selected a runspace to debug, if the runspace is currently running a command or script, or if the script has stopped at a breakpoint, PowerShell opens a remote debugger session for the runspace. You can debug the runspace script in the same way remote session scripts are debugged.

You can only attach to a PowerShell host process if you are an administrator on the computer that is running the process, or you are running the script that you want to debug. Also, you cannot enter the host process that is running the current PowerShell session. You can only enter a host process that is running a different PowerShell session.

Examples

Example 1: Debug a remote runspace

In this example, you debug a runspace that is open on a remote computer, WS10TestServer. In the first line of the command, you run Get-Process on the remote computer, and filter for Windows PowerShell host processes. In this example, you want to debug process ID 1152, the Windows PowerShell ISE host process.

PS C:\> Get-Process -ComputerName "WS10TestServer" -Name "*powershell*"

Handles      WS(K)   VM(M)      CPU(s)    Id  ProcessName
-------      -----   -----      ------    --  -----------
    377      69912     63     2.09      2420  powershell
    399     123396    829     4.48      1152  powershell_ise

PS C:\> Enter-PSSession -ComputerName "WS10TestServer"
[WS10TestServer]:PS C:\> Enter-PSHostProcess -Id 1152
[WS10TestServer:][Process:1152]: PS C:\Users\Test\Documents> Get-Runspace

Id Name            ComputerName    Type          State         Availability
-- ----            ------------    ----          -----         ------------
 1 Runspace1       WS10TestServer  Remote        Opened        Available
 2 RemoteHost      WS10TestServer  Remote        Opened        Busy

[WS10TestServer][Process:1152]: PS C:\Users\Test\Documents> Debug-Runspace -Id 2

Hit Line breakpoint on 'C:\TestWFVar1.ps1:83'
At C:\TestWFVar1.ps1:83 char:1
+ $scriptVar = "Script Variable"
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Process:1152]: [RSDBG: 2]: PS C:\> >

In the second command, you run Enter-PSSession to open a remote session on WS10TestServer. In the third command, you attach to the Windows PowerShell ISE host process running on the remote server by running Enter-PSHostProcess, and specifying the ID of the host process that you obtained in the first command, 1152.

In the fourth command, you list available runspaces for process ID 1152 by running Get-Runspace. You note the ID number of the Busy runspace; it is running a script that you want to debug.

In the last command, you start debugging an opened runspace that is running a script, TestWFVar1.ps1, by running Debug-Runspace, and identifying the runspace by its ID, 2, by adding the Id parameter. Because there's a breakpoint in the script, the debugger opens.

Parameters

-BreakAll

Allows you to break immediately in the current location when the debugger attaches.

This parameter was added in PowerShell 7.2.

Type:SwitchParameter
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False

-Confirm

Prompts you for confirmation before running the cmdlet.

Type:SwitchParameter
Aliases:cf
Position:Named
Default value:True
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False

-Id

Specifies the ID number of a runspace. You can run Get-Runspace to show runspace IDs.

Type:Int32
Position:0
Default value:None
Required:True
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False

-InstanceId

Specifies a runspace by its instance ID, a GUID that you can show by running Get-Runspace.

Type:Guid
Position:0
Default value:None
Required:True
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False

-Name

Specifies a runspace by its name. You can run Get-Runspace to show the names of runspaces.

Type:String
Position:0
Default value:None
Required:True
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False

-Runspace

Specifies a runspace object. The simplest way to provide a value for this parameter is to specify a variable that contains the results of a filtered Get-Runspace command.

Type:Runspace
Position:0
Default value:None
Required:True
Accept pipeline input:True
Accept wildcard characters:False

-WhatIf

Shows what would happen if the cmdlet runs. The cmdlet is not run.

Type:SwitchParameter
Aliases:wi
Position:Named
Default value:True
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False

Inputs

Runspace

You can pipe the results of a Get-Runspace command to this cmdlet.

Notes

Debug-Runspace works on runspaces that are in the Opened state. If a runspace state changes from Opened to another state, that runspace is automatically removed from the running list. A runspace is added to the running list only if it meets the following criteria.

  • If it is coming from Invoke-Command; that is, it has an Invoke-Command GUID ID.
  • If it is coming from Debug-Runspace; that is, it has a Debug-Runspace GUID ID.
  • If it is coming from a PowerShell workflow, and its workflow job ID is the same as the current active debugger workflow job ID.