Profiling an ASP.NET web application - ANTS Memory Profiler

ANTS Memory Profiler can profile ASP.NET web applications. The application you want to profile must be on the same machine on which you are running the profiler.

The procedure for profiling an ASP.NET web application depends on whether your application is hosted in IIS or in the web development server (also known as 'WebDev' or 'Cassini').

In both cases, web applications are profiled in Microsoft Internet Explorer, even if that is not your preferred browser. This is because ANTS Memory Profiler uses the low-level data exposed by Internet Explorer.

If you are profiling a SharePoint server, see Profiling Sharepoint because these servers have special requirements.

Hosted in IIS

Start ANTS Memory Profiler. If it is already running, on the File menu, click New Profiling Session...
On the ANTS Memory Profiler Settings dialog box, on the Application Settings tab, select ASP.NET web application (IIS).
Next to ASP.NET web application (URL), click the icon. ANTS Memory Profiler displays a list of applications currently running on IIS.
Choose the site that you want to profile.
You should normally leave Profile child processes and Monitor disposal of objects selected, although monitoring the disposal of objects may affect the performance of your application.
Choose an Unused port to profile on, if required. Choosing this option means that IIS does not have to restart; however, this option will not work if you have hard-coded a specific port in your web application. (This option is not available in IIS 5.)
With IIS 6 and 7, your web application will run under the Windows Local System user by default. If required, you can change the user account with which your application will run by selecting Manually specify ASP.NET account details. Note that the specified user must have administrator privileges, and must have permission to read from %ProgramFiles%\Red Gate\ANTS Memory Profiler 7\RedGate.Memory.Core.dll
With IIS 5, your web application will always run under the ASPNET account. Ensure that the ASPNET account has permission to read from %ProgramFiles%\Red Gate\ANTS Memory Profiler 7\RedGate.Memory.Core.dll
The Profiling will use URL notice confirms the URL that will be used for profiling, including any unused port you have set.
If required, change the performance counters to record.
Click .
Check whether there are any memory problems.

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Hosted in the web development server (WebDev, or Cassini)

Start ANTS Memory Profiler. If it is already running, on the File menu, click New Profiling Session...
On the ANTS Memory Profiler Settings dialog box, on the Application Settings tab, select ASP.NET web application (web development server).
Next to ASP.NET web application (path) browse to your application.
You should normally leave Profile child processes and Monitor disposal of objects selected, although monitoring the disposal of objects may impact the performance of your application.
Next to Web server virtual directory, specify the virtual directory where your application will start.
Next to Port to bind web server to, specify the port where your application will start.
For example, if the virtual directory is staging and the port is 8013, the URL profiled will be http://localhost:8013/staging/
Specify the .NET version against which the web application is compiled.
Click .
Check whether there are any memory problems.