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How to get windows symbol files for debugging?


Asked by Ariel Castro on Dec 02, 2021 Windows



Symbol files make it easier to debug your code. The easiest way to get Windows symbols is to use the Microsoft public symbol server. The symbol server makes symbols available to your debugging tools as needed. After a symbol file is downloaded from the symbol server it is cached on the local computer for quick access. Symbol package deprecation
Consequently,
The symbol path specifies locations where the Windows debuggers (WinDbg, KD, CDB, NTST) look for symbol files. For more information about symbols and symbol files, see Symbols. Some compilers (such as Microsoft Visual Studio) put symbol files in the same directory as the binary files.
Also Know, On Windows platform, the program symbols are stored in a separate file. These files are referred as pdb files and has the extension .pdb. When debugging a program in windbg, we need these symbol files otherwise what we see in the stack trace is just numerical addresses instead of function names and variable names.
In addition,
Specified network, internet, or local symbol servers and locations, such as the Microsoft Symbol Servers if selected. Visual Studio can download debugging symbol files from symbol servers that implement the symsrv protocol. Visual Studio Team Foundation Server and the Debugging Tools for Windows are two tools that can use symbol servers.
Next,
If you have built a DLL or an executable file on your computer, by default the linker places the full path and file name of the associated PDB file inside the DLL or the executable file. When you debug, the debugger first checks to see if the symbol file exists in the location that is specified inside the DLL or the executable file.