[Mono-dev] Debugging on a remote (non-Android) Linux Device

[Chris Tacke]

I have a Mono project that mirrors a desktop project (same code, same projects, etc).  Most development and debugging is done in Visual Studio and the Linux/Mono deployment is done on the build server with a command-line call to compile the Mono build.

Generally speaking this all works just fine.  

Occasionally, however, we find behavioral differences between the .NET Framework and Mono.  For example, right now I have code that works fine on the desktop, but under Mono it's failing (it's a socket call out to SSL, and yes, I've added a handler for ServicePointManager.ServerCertificateValidationCallback as a test but it still fails).

When I run into these types of problems, I use Xamarin Studio to add in Console.Writeline calls, build, copy via USB, reiterate cycles and try narrowing the problem down.  It's extremely slow and painful.

Xamarin Studio can connect and live debug against iOS and Android.  Is there a way to configure Xamarin Studio (or Visual Studio) and my Linux device to do the same?  I would suspect that someone out there has tried debugging against a Raspberry Pi or something and this would be an analogous situation.

If it matters, the Mono build I'm using is not off-the-shelf - I had to compile it myself since we're targeting the i586-cored Quark processors.

I used to have a license for both Xamarin iOS and Xamarin Android, but really we don't target those devices so I let them lapse.  I'm hoping that the debugging pieces aren't wrapped up in those.

-Chris