Visual Studio Code Remote Debug for Raspberry Pi

1. Install Ubuntu on a Raspberry Pi

Follow this tutorial to walk you through the process of installing Ubuntu Server on a Raspberry Pi.

2. Setup device hostname and required software

# Setup the device hostname
sudo hostnamectl set-hostname [hostname]

# Get updated software for Ubuntu
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

# Install the current version of .NET 
curl -sSL https://dot.net/v1/dotnet-install.sh | bash /dev/stdin --channel Current
echo 'export DOTNET_ROOT=$HOME/.dotnet' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/.dotnet' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

# Install the latest virsion of Visual Studio Remote Debugger
curl -sSL https://aka.ms/getvsdbgsh | /bin/sh /dev/stdin -v latest -l ~/.vsdbg

# Enable user access to GPIO, I2C, GPIO and UART
sudo apt install rpi.gpio-common

# Restart the remote device
sudo reboot

3. Enable SSH key authentication on the Raspberry Pi

# Use ssh-keygen on developemnt workstaton to create our SSH key pair and copy to device
ssh-keygen

# Update remote device with authorized keys. Replace with set hostname
cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub | ssh ubuntu@[hostname] 'mkdir -p ~/.ssh && cat >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys'

# Secure the device public we transferred to authorized keys
chmod 700 .ssh
touch .ssh/authorized_keys
chmod 644 .ssh/authorized_keys
cat id_rsa.pub >> .ssh/authorized_keys
rm id_rsa.pub

4. Enable I2C Permissions

# Create an i2c rules file.
sudo nano /etc/udev/rules.d/i2c.rules

Add the following to the new rules file. Then save and reboot.

ACTION=="add", KERNEL=="i2c-[0-1]*", MODE="0666"

Visual Studio Code Remote Debugging for Raspberry Pi

Create the following NET6.0 Linux Arm64 project

/program.cs

using System.Device.Gpio;

Console.WriteLine("Blinking LED.");

int pin = 13;
bool ledOn = true;

var controller = new GpioController();
controller.OpenPin(pin, PinMode.Output);

while (true)
{
    controller.Write(pin, ((ledOn) ? PinValue.High : PinValue.Low));
    Thread.Sleep(1000);
    ledOn = !ledOn;
}

/rpi.csproj

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
    <TargetFramework>net6.0</TargetFramework>
    <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="System.Device.Gpio" Version="2.1.0" />
  </ItemGroup>
</Project>

/.vs/tasks.json

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": ".NET Core Remote Console",
            "type": "coreclr",
            "request": "launch",
            "preLaunchTask": "deploy",
            "program": "~/.dotnet/dotnet",
            "stopAtEntry": false,
            "args": [
                "/home/ubuntu/${workspaceFolderBasename}/Rpi.dll"
            ],
            "cwd": "~/${workspaceFolderBasename}",
            "console": "internalConsole",
            "pipeTransport": {
                "pipeCwd": "${workspaceRoot}",
                "pipeProgram": "ssh",
                "pipeArgs": [
                    "ubuntu@[hostname]" // Replace with set hostname
                ],
                "debuggerPath": "~/.vsdbg/vsdbg"
            },
            "sourceFileMap": {
                "~/${workspaceFolderBasename}/": "${workspaceRoot}"
            },
            "logging": {
                "moduleLoad": false
            },
        }
    ]
}

/.vs/tasks.json

{
    "version": "2.0.0",
    "tasks": [
        {
            "label": "build",
            "command": "dotnet",
            "type": "process",
            "args": [
                "build",
                "-r",
                "linux-arm64",
                "${workspaceFolder}/Rpi.csproj",
                "/property:GenerateFullPaths=true",
                "/consoleloggerparameters:NoSummary",
                "--no-self-contained"
            ],
            "problemMatcher": "$msCompile"
        },
        {
            "label": "deploy",
            "type": "shell",
            "dependsOn": "build",
            "command": "scp",
            "args": [
                "-r",
                "-p",
                "bin/Debug/net6.0/linux-arm64/*",
                "ubuntu@[hostname]\"~/${workspaceFolderBasename}\"" // Replace with set hostname
            ],
            "problemMatcher": "$msCompile"
        }
    ]
}

Tips and Tricks

From a bash prompt on the Raspberry Pi give a self-contained file executable permissin

chmod +x [filename]
./[filename]

Write your own I2C scanner

List<int> validAddress = new List<int>();
Console.WriteLine("Hello I2C!");
// First 8 I2C addresses are reserved, last one is 0x7F
for (int i = 8; i < 0x80; i++)
{
    try
    {
        I2cDevice i2c = I2cDevice.Create(new I2cConnectionSettings(1, i));
        var read = i2c.ReadByte();
        validAddress.Add(i);
    }
    catch (IOException)
    {
        // Do nothing, there is just no device
    }
}

Console.WriteLine($"Found {validAddress.Count} device(s).");

foreach (var valid in validAddress)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Address: 0x{valid:X}");
}

Helpful Links

• https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/remote/ssh
• https://github.com/OmniSharp/omnisharp-vscode/blob/master/debugger-launchjson.md
• https://www.petecodes.co.uk/deploying-and-debugging-raspberry-pi-net-applications-using-vs-code/
• https://www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/computers/remote-access.html

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Contributions

Contributions to this project are always welcome. Please consider forking this project on GitHub and sending a pull request to get your improvements added to the original project.

Disclaimer

All source, documentation, instructions and products of this project are provided as-is without warranty. No liability is accepted for any damages, data loss or costs incurred by its use.