Enable the .NET Profiler for web apps on a Windows virtual machine

Using an ARM template and Visual Studio is the recommended method for enabling the .NET Profiler on a Windows VM or virtual machine scale set.

Install the Azure Diagnostics extension

1. Choose which ARM template to use:

   • Virtual machine
   • Virtual machine scale set

2. In the template, locate the resource of type extension.

3. In Visual Studio, open the arm.json file that the Application Insights SDK added to your ASP.NET Core application.

4. Add the resource type extension from the template to the arm.json file to set up a VM or virtual machine scale set with Azure Diagnostics.

5. In the WadCfg node, add your Application Insights connection string to MyApplicationInsightsProfilerSink.

   "WadCfg": {
     "SinksConfig": {
       "Sink": [
         {
           "name": "MyApplicationInsightsProfilerSink",
           "ApplicationInsightsProfiler": "YOUR_APPLICATION_INSIGHTS_CONNECTION_STRING"
         }
       ]
     }
   }
   

6. Deploy your application.

The following PowerShell commands work for existing VMs and touch only the Azure Diagnostics extension.

Add the Profiler sink by using the Azure Diagnostics configuration

1. Create a temporary file to store the diagnostics configuration.

   $ConfigFilePath = [IO.Path]::GetTempFileName()
   

2. Export the currently deployed Azure Diagnostics configuration to the file.

   (Get-AzVMDiagnosticsExtension -ResourceGroupName "YOUR_RESOURCE_GROUP" -VMName "YOUR_VM").PublicSettings | Out-File -Verbose $ConfigFilePath
   

3. Add the Application Insights Profiler sink to the SinksConfig node under WadCfg in the exported file.

   "WadCfg": {
     "SinksConfig": {
       "Sink": [
         {
           "name": "MyApplicationInsightsProfilerSink",
           "ApplicationInsightsProfiler": "YOUR_APPLICATION_INSIGHTS_CONNECTION_STRING"
         }
       ]
     }
   }
   

4. Apply the updated configuration to the VM.

   Set-AzVMDiagnosticsExtension -ResourceGroupName "YOUR_RESOURCE_GROUP" -VMName "YOUR_VM" -DiagnosticsConfigurationPath $ConfigFilePath
   

   Note

   Set-AzVMDiagnosticsExtension might require the -StorageAccountName argument. If your original diagnostics configuration had the storageAccountName property in the protectedSettings section, which isn't downloadable, be sure to pass the same original value you had in this cmdlet call.

Set the Profiler sink by using Azure Resource Explorer

Because the Azure portal doesn't provide a way to set the Application Insights Profiler for .NET sink, use Azure Resource Explorer to set the sink.

1. Verify that the Azure Diagnostics extension is installed by viewing your virtual machine's extensions.

   

2. Find the Azure Diagnostics extension for your VM:

   1. Go to Azure Resource Explorer.

   2. Expand subscriptions and find the subscription that holds the resource group with your VM.

   3. Drill down to your VM extensions by selecting your resource group. Then select Microsoft.Compute > virtualMachines > [your virtual machine] > extensions.

      

3. Add the Application Insights Profiler for .NET sink to the SinksConfig node under WadCfg. If you don't already have a SinksConfig section, you might need to add one. To add the sink:

   • Specify the proper Application Insights connection string in your settings.

   • Switch the Explorer mode to Read/Write in the upper-right corner.

   • Select Edit.

     

     "WadCfg": {
       "SinksConfig": {
         "Sink": [
           {
             "name": "MyApplicationInsightsProfilerSink",
             "ApplicationInsightsProfiler": "YOUR_APPLICATION_INSIGHTS_CONNECTION_STRING"
           }
         ]
       }
     }
     

4. After you finish editing the configuration, select PUT.

5. If the PUT is successful, a green check mark appears in the middle of the screen.