Visual Studio -Troubleshooting and updating variable in code (production environment)

Question

Visual Studio -Troubleshooting and updating variable in code (production environment)

Melanie Tham 0

Hi there,

Seeking some advice on optional tools to do troubleshooting on production server and also to update environment variables in our code since Visual Studio cannot be installed on production environment.

Thanks,

Melanie

2 answers

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Answer 1

Thanks for reaching out!

It sounds like you're looking for some tools to troubleshoot and update environment variables on a production server without the option to install Visual Studio. Here are a few suggestions:

Remote Debugging: While Visual Studio can't be installed on the production environment, you can use the remote debugging feature. This allows you to debug an application running on a different machine. You'll need to enable remote debugging in Azure and ensure the firewall allows the necessary ports (typically port 4024). Here's a helpful guide on Remote Debugging Azure Web Apps.
Visual Studio Code: If you can use Visual Studio Code on another machine (not directly on the server), you can connect to your Azure resources and perform some debugging tasks remotely. It's lightweight and offers many useful extensions.
Here's a https://free.blessedness.top/en-us/azure/logic-apps/create-standard-workflows-visual-studio-code to get started.
Environment Variables Update: For updating environment variables without Visual Studio, consider using the Azure Portal or Azure CLI commands. In the Azure Portal, navigate to your Function App -> Configuration -> Application settings. You can add or update environment variables (app settings) here directly.
Diagnostics Tools: Leverage diagnostic tools in Azure like Application Insights to monitor and troubleshoot issues in your application. You can integrate it with your application to get telemetry data and error logs, which help you understand the application's behavior in production. More info can be found https://free.blessedness.top/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/app/app-insights-overview

If you have specific requirements or constraints regarding the tools or methods, feel free to provide more details.

Let me know if you need any further help with this. I will be happy to assist.

If you find this helpful, please click "Accepted answer".

Melanie Tham 0 Reputation points

2025-10-21T22:38:06.59+00:00

Thanks Susmitha. We also need it to set the environment variables and connect it to the database with the right credentials, this is what we currently do not have a workaround. Any advice? Cheers, Melanie
Bruce (SqlWork.com) 81,191 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2025-10-22T02:06:55.0366667+00:00

As environmental variables are controlled by the apps hosting environment , you would need to specify how the app is hosted. As for credentials you need to specify the database authentication method required and probably the type of database server.
Susmitha T (INFOSYS LIMITED) 755 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2025-10-22T09:40:06.0833333+00:00

Since Visual Studio cannot installed on the production environment, there are some alternative approaches you can use to manage environment variables and database connectivity securely.
For immediate needs, using power shell or IIS configuration is fully supported and secure. For long term security and centralized management of credentials, recommended integrating with a secure store such as Azure key vault or Azure app configuration.

Let me know if you need any further help with this. I will be happy to assist.

If you find this helpful, please click "Accepted answer"

Answer 2

Melanie Tham 0

Hi Susmitha and Bruce,

The App is hosted on an AWS cloud instance, access to which is controlled via our internal AD group membership. Example of some of the updates we make using the app is to SQL Server database.

Hope this information is sufficient.

Thank you.

Susmitha T (INFOSYS LIMITED) 755 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2025-10-24T07:17:42.12+00:00
Thanks for reaching out!

Thanks for the clarification, Since the application is hosted on an AWS cloud instance, please find the below approaches for troubleshooting and environment variables:

1.Remote Troubleshooting: You can use the Visual Studio Remote Debugger (msvsmon.exe) or other lightweight tools such as Event Viewer, dotnet-trace, or AWS CloudWatch Logs to capture runtime data and application logs without installing the full Visual Studio IDE.

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2.Environment Variable Management: For secure and centralized management, recommend using AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store or AWS Secrets Manager. These services allow you to securely store and update environment variables, including database connection strings, and access them at runtime using IAM permissions.

For manual updates (if required), environment variables can also be modified via PowerShell or IIS Configuration Editor, followed by an app restart to apply the changes.

3.Database Connectivity Updates: Connection strings or credentials should be stored securely in AWS Secrets Manager or in encrypted configuration files (e.g., web.config or appsettings.json). This ensures that sensitive data is not hardcoded in the codebase.

4.Monitoring and Logging: Utilize AWS CloudWatch or your existing logging framework (e.g., Serilog/NLog) for continuous monitoring and diagnostics in the production environment.

If you have more specific requirements or questions, feel free to share. I will be happy to assist you further.

If you find this helpful, please mark the response as "answered".

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Visual Studio -Troubleshooting and updating variable in code (production environment)

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