.NET CF Remote Performance Monitoring

The first step for learning about .NET CF Remote Performance Monitoring is Steven Pratschner’s excellent post, Analyzing Device Application Performance with the .Net Compact Framework Remote Performance Monitor, which provide straight forward walk through of using RPM.

Install .NET Compact Framework 2.0 SP 2 on the Workstation.

Download and install .NET Compact Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2 Redistributable to get the Remote Performance Monitor and a bunch of other useful tools and updates.

Prepare the device for Performance Monitoring

Install the components from the workstation to the device and configure the device to enable Performance Monitoring.

1. Install .NET CF 2 SP2 on the device.
   Copy the .NET CF 2 SP2 CAB file to the device.  The file can be found at C:\Program Files\Microsoft.NET\SDK\CompactFramework\v2.0\WindowsCE\wce500\armv4i (change your OS version and processor if needed). Then choose NETCFv2.wce5.armv4i.cab for CE or NETCFv2.wm.armv4i.cab for the WM version.  Copy the CAB file to the device with ActiveSync and run to install.
2. Install Device Side Files
   There are two device files netcfrtl.dll and netcflaunch.exe that need to be copied to the \Windows directory on the device. They can also be found in the directory above.
3. Configure the registry to enable performance monitoring on the Device
   Set the registry to allow Performance Monitoring on the device.  This is detailed in David Klines post on Enabling Performance Counters.
   [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETCompactFramework\PerfMonitor]
   “Counters”=dword:00000001

To verify that everything is configured correctly fun the program \Windows\netcflaunch.exe.  If you get the following display, everything is working.

Now to better understand all of the various settings and attributes, take a look at David Kline’s detailed walk through of RPM, Monitoring Application Performance on the .NET Compact Framework.