asp.net debugging on production server

Question

We have recently deployed an ASP.Net application on Production server and are having some trouble with it in IE. We have built a custom security module based on cookies. The interesting part is, everything works perfect on staging server in all browsers and it also works on Production server but ONLY for Firefox. the process is able to write the cookie but for some weird reason the authentication is unable to read the cookie when logged in from IE on production server. The security module was developed by another company and handed over to us, interestingly that company has now been dissolved and there is nobody who could do some knowledge sharing on the overall module.

how would you guys recommend to debug/troubleshoot the issue on production server.

Answer 1

Try dropping in ELMAH on the site. Installation is pretty non-invasive and you can get some answers really fast.

If that isn't giving you what you need, which may occur thanks to cookie issues, try getting a debugbar type app and walk through the process.

If you're still running into issues, you may need to use something like log4net to inject some additional debug details and view the results, but this will require you to recompile the app and migrate it up.

Answer 2

The absolutely first thing you should do is make your staging server mirror your production server exactly. For example, if the production server is NOT in your primary domain, then the staging server shouldn't be there either.

If you are having problems with IE, then it sounds like the security zones are different. This can be caused by "little things" like the domain issue.

Everything from hardware, to service pack levels, to installed software absolutely should be identical. If they aren't things like this pop up.

Once you can replicate the problem in staging then, and only then, fix it. Debugging production is Bad Idea.