Blazor WASM debugging in VSC unable to open browser

[guardrex]

Describe the bug

Edge doesn't open for WASM debugging in VSC.

To Reproduce

Stock WASM app created from the 3.2 template and configured for Edge ...

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "Launch and Debug Standalone Blazor WebAssembly App",
            "type": "blazorwasm",
            "request": "launch",
            "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
            "browser": "edge"
        }
    ]
}

Exception

Additional note

The error dialog suggests setting the runtime executable for Edge (runtimeExecutable), but I don't think that's possible (not without hacks perhaps). Edge docs don't reveal much info about how Edge is launched, and they certainly they don't speak to an executable that does it. Research seemed to indicate that Edge doesn't launch via an executable.

Further technical details

.NET Core SDK (reflecting any global.json):
Version: 3.1.300
Commit: b2475c1295

Runtime Environment:
OS Name: Windows
OS Version: 10.0.18363
OS Platform: Windows
RID: win10-x64
Base Path: C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk\3.1.300\

Host (useful for support):
Version: 3.1.4
Commit: 0c2e69caa6

.NET Core SDKs installed:
3.1.300 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]

.NET Core runtimes installed:
Microsoft.AspNetCore.All 2.1.18 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.All]
Microsoft.AspNetCore.All 2.2.8 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.All]
Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 2.1.18 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]
Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 2.2.8 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]
Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 3.0.0 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]
Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 3.1.0 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]
Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 3.1.2 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]
Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 3.1.4 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]
Microsoft.NETCore.App 2.1.18 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
Microsoft.NETCore.App 2.2.8 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
Microsoft.NETCore.App 3.0.0 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
Microsoft.NETCore.App 3.1.0 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
Microsoft.NETCore.App 3.1.2 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
Microsoft.NETCore.App 3.1.4 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App 3.0.0 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App]
Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App 3.1.2 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App]
Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App 3.1.4 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App]

VS Code

Version: 1.45.1 (system setup)
Commit: 5763d909d5f12fe19f215cbfdd29a91c0fa9208a
Date: 2020-05-14T08:27:35.169Z
Electron: 7.2.4
Chrome: 78.0.3904.130
Node.js: 12.8.1
V8: 7.8.279.23-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.18363

JavaScript Debugger (Nightly)

Version: 2020.6.317

Microsoft Edge

Version: 44.18362.449.0

cc: @captainsafia

[captainsafia]

The error dialog suggests setting the runtime executable for Edge (runtimeExecutable), but I don't think that's possible (not without hacks perhaps).

The error dialog is coming up from VS Code's JS debugger.

I just gave this a go on a Windows VM and I was able to get the Edge browser to launch so this isn't a generic issue.

I suspect that the JS debugger is looking for Edge in a certain location and unable to find it there based on the particular installation on your machine.

Where is Edge installed on your machine?

[guardrex]

😄 I'm glad u asked ...

C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe

... and I found my EXE! 🎉

That might permit me to enhance the Blazor security troubleshooting steps.

[captainsafia]

Yep! That would be it. The JS debugger looks for an edge installation on Windows in the local program data directory and under program files on Windows.

On macOS, it looks under the /Applications and /Contents/Mac OS directories for the executable.

[guardrex]

Are you saying that is or is not the right spot for the latest version of Windows 10?

Should I be taking steps to reinstall it ... or move it? 😨 ... which is a little scary.

[captainsafia]

@guardrex Actually, it looks like you can set an environment variable to set it to the correct path.

EDGE_PATH = "blah"
or
CHROME_PATH = "blah"

So what we should let users know that the debugger will look in the default installation directories and that EDGE_PATH and CHROME_PATH can be used indicate where the install is.

Can you try setting this environment variable to the location of your executable and see if that works?

[guardrex]

Done ...

Hummmmm 🤔 ... I didn't know that I wasn't on a stable release ...

I guess I can try setting the path explicitly in launch.json and see what happens.

[guardrex]

It doesn't like the syntax in the file, and it doesn't work ...

[guardrex]

... and I don't see anything in Edge that indicates that I'm not using a stable release.

[mkArtakMSFT]

This issue was moved to microsoft/vscode-js-debug#504