NetDebug

Garry's Mod lua debugger for VSCode

This allows you to debug (place breakpoints, step through code, ..) a Garry's Mod server using the debugger interface in VSCode.

The following information is not fool-proof and assumes a basic understanding of some concepts

Building

There are 3 main parts to this project:

The VSCode extension that'll interface between the debugging tools and the game.
The GMod binary module, used to obtain blocking sockets to pause execution.
The GMod lua code that implements to protocol to talk to the extension.

VSCode extension

This is my first attempt at making a VSCode extension so these instructions may not work for you.

Open uo a terminal in the cloned directory, cd into extension
Type npm install (I'm not sure this is necessary)
Type npm run package, it should create a *.vsix file in that directory
In VSCode, in the extension menu, select the 3 dots at the top and choose Install from VSIX
Select the *.vsix file that you just created and it should install it.

Binary module

I can't give a complete set of instructions on this one as I always have to fiddle with stuff when I make one, so I'll have to redirect you to this page: https://wiki.garrysmod.com/page/Creating_Binary_Modules There are a couple of things to note:

I used premake5, not premake4 like those instructions say. I don't know how big of an impact this has.
You'll need to add the OpenSSL headers and libs to your project (I used it for the auth and may later do more with it).
You'll need to put libcrypto-1_1.dll next to the server executable as a result.
This module may work on the client, I have not tested this. But you'll have to rename the module to gmcl_blocksocket_win32.dll for it to load properly.

Lua code

Now this is the easiest one, you just need to put the lua/autorun/gm_netdebug.lua in a place where it will be executed automatically. Or just clone the project in the addons folder, the folder structure is already correct. (should be addons/netdebug/lua/autorun/gm_netdebug.lua)

Running

Edit the lua file and change the config there to suit your setup before launching the server.
Launch the Garry's Mod server.
Start a new debugging session in VSCode (F5) and choose GLua Debug (one the first run this will not launch but instead show the config)
Modify the new launch configuration to suit your setup.
- garrysmod should point to the garrysmod directory of the server (or a local copy). (This is the directory that contains addons, gamemodes and so on.) BUG: This must end with a / or \\
- host is a string in 2 parts seperated by a colon, the address and the port. Use the same as in the config of the lua file.
- key is the key used in the config of the lua file
Place breakpoints and start debugging in vscode.

Notes

The server uses a timer to listen for new requests. As such you will need to have a player (or a bot) on the server or set sv_hibernate_think 1 for it to run.