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When I load a .Net executable into IDA then there is no Debug menu as when I load a normal binary. Is there any way to enable the debug functionality for .Net as well? I'd like to step into some jitted functions in order to analyse the quality (or lack thereof) of the generated native code.

I know that I can do this with Visual Studio, but that is too cumbersome and unwieldy for my taste. I'd rather use my trusted IDA, which is so much better for stuff like that.

I tried attaching to an running .Net exe but that didn't really get me anywhere, apart from the need for adding ReadLine() calls to the programs to make them stay around long enough.

In case it matters, on this machine I'm still using IDA 6.8 (Pro) at the moment because my antivirus - Avira - screams its little head off when I launch IDA 6.9 (on account of the plugins).

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    In most cases, using a tool like dnSpy is much preferable for .Net than using regular debuggers.
    – tmr232
    Commented May 1, 2016 at 14:06
  • @tmr: Interesting, thanks! Starred and filed away for further investigation...
    – DarthGizka
    Commented May 1, 2016 at 14:22

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No. https://www.hex-rays.com/products/ida/debugger/index.shtml Ask on their support forum if you want.

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  • Where does that say that IDA cannot debug those Windows executables that happen to be .Net assemblies?
    – DarthGizka
    Commented May 2, 2016 at 5:24
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    Well, surprisingly, if it doesn't list that rather significant capability, it does not have it.
    – Vitaly Osipov
    Commented May 6, 2016 at 1:57
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It's an old question, but maybe somebody is searching for it nowadays. Yes, IDA can do it!

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    but can it debug? Or it's just displays the IL?
    – Paweł Łukasik
    Commented Apr 26, 2020 at 9:29
  • @ scopolamin: The links you provided only indicate the ability to disassemble .NET code at the IL level (which IDA has had for quite a while and which ildasm has given us since day 1 of .NET). The question is about the ability to debug .NET code and/or to disassemble the jitted native code, just like Pawel said.
    – DarthGizka
    Commented Apr 26, 2020 at 11:20
  • Sorry, I didn't mean to make up false information.
    – scopolamin
    Commented Apr 26, 2020 at 11:55

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