Debugging Azure IoT Edge Module C# (how to hit a breakpoint)

Question

I am trying to debug an IoT edge module. According to https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/iot-edge/how-to-vs-code-develop-module?view=iotedge-2018-06#build-and-run-container-for-debugging-and-debug-in-attach-mode I should (2) right-click on deployment.debug.template.json but I don't see that file. There is a file called module.json and when I right-click on it I see:

Is there a way to do this in VS that would be easier?

question from:https://stackoverflow.com/questions/65891979/debugging-azure-iot-edge-module-c-sharp-how-to-hit-a-breakpoint

Answer 1

If you just want to hit a breakpoint, and don't need to run the module as a container on your dev machine, you can follow these steps. That way you're using the IoT Edge Simulator instead of running it on the IoT Edge Runtime. When you run it this way, you supply the simulator with a device connection string (you can just create a new one in an IoT Hub) and the simulator will create a new module called target on the device in IoT Hub. You can interact with the module (Direct Methods, Module Twins) by targeting that module.

Alternatively, if you do want to follow the steps in the link you provided, you do need that deployment file. When you create a new IoT Edge Solution using VS Code, it will supply this file for you. Example: