Remote debugging an app with the DEBUG versions of the CRT when VS is not installed on the remote machine

Question

First let me say that I can remote debug a release build on the remote computer. I set up my release build much like my debug buil

Answer 1

This question is for an older version of Visual Studio, but in case anyone comes here for a newer version (as I did), there is built-in support to deploy the debug DLLs that you need in VS 2013 (perhaps earlier). This is an obvious setting, but it can be easy to miss if one is rushing through things (as I was). So maybe this will help somebody.

In the property pages, under Debugging, when Debugger to launch is set to Remote Windows Debugger, in the property list, there is an option called Deploy Visual C++ Debug Runtime Libraries. Simply set that to Yes.

Update -- as requested, this is to clarify which property pages I'm referring to, by way of how to access them: In Solution Explorer, right click the startup project (the one in bold), and click Properties on the context menu. The Property Pages window appears. In the panel on the left side, expand Configuration Properties, and then select Debugging, the second item under Configuration Properties.

Edit to the Update: I got here via notification, and did not see that I could have just said, "See Cody Gray's answer for a picture of the window," to meet the request for clarification. But, there's the how-to anyway in case anyone needs it.

Answer 2

The debug versions of the CRT DLLs are all available with the standard Visual Studio installation, including the x86 versions even on 64-bit machines.

By default, they're located in the following path:

<Program Files folder>\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\VC\redist\Debug_NonRedist

Under that folder, you'll find two additional folders (x64 and x86) that contain the debugging versions of these DLLs for the respective platforms.

But pay special attention to the name of the folder (Debug_NonRedist). That indicates that these debug DLLs are not redistributable. It's certainly OK for a developer who owns a license for VS to use them when testing his/her code on another machine, but they should not be distributed to client machines and used to run your application. (Sounds like from your question that you know this, but it's worth pointing out anyway for future Googlers.)

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Alternatively, you can change which version of the CRT DLLs that a Visual Studio project links to for specific project configurations. That means that you can compile a "Debug" version of your application, but tell Visual Studio to link to the full redistributable versions of the CRT.

To do that:

1. Right-click on your project in the Solution Explorer and select "Properties".

2. Ensure that the "Debug" configuration is selected in the drop-down box at the top of the dialog.

3. Expand the "C/C++" item in the TreeView, and select "Code Generation".

4. Change the setting of the "Runtime Library" option to either "Multi-threaded DLL (/MD)" or "Multi-threaded (/MT)".

   Notice here that you're just telling Visual Studio not to use the "Debug" variants of each of these options. They still mean the same thing. The first will dynamically link to a DLL, the second will statically link the CRT into your application. Pick the one most appropriate for your case. (I often find it convenient to configure my "Debug" builds to statically link exactly for instances like this.)