Setup for automation

What is Windbg?

Windbg or Debugging Tools for Windows is a multipurpose debugger for the Microsoft Windows operating system, distributed by Microsoft. Debugging is the process of finding and resolving errors in a system ; in computing it also includes exploring the internal operation of software as a help to development.

What are the core components of Windbg?

Windbg package contains a lot of functionality but at its core are few DLL's listed below

• dbgeng.dll (core debugger interfaces)
• dbghelp.dll (helper functions)
• symsrv.dll (symbol loading)
• srcsrv.dll (source loading)

How do the above files get utilized?

When you write an application using dbgeng, by default the above dll's are loaded from Windows system folder. But these files are not updated often and that becomes a challenge if you are planning to write an application using dbgeng as debugger engine.

How to get updated debugger components?

The updated component dll's mentioned above are available as part of 'Debugging Tools for Windows' packages. In order to use the updated components, copy the above 4 dll's to your local application/executable folder.

Keep in mind, debugger components are NOT architecture agnostic. So make sure the files match the process (or system) architecture you are debugging.

Can I re-distribute these components as part of my application?

The answer is YES. Here is the legal documentation for it from Microsoft.