Enable the .NET Profiler for Azure App Service apps in Linux

By using Application Insights Profiler for .NET, you can track how much time is spent in each method of your live ASP.NET Core web apps. This article focuses on web apps hosted in Linux. You can also experiment by using Windows and Mac development environments.

In this article, you:

Set up an ASP.NET Core web application hosted on Linux on your local computer.
Create an App Service using the Azure portal.
Deploy your local ASP.NET Core project to Azure using local Git.
Add the Profiler to the ASP.NET Core web application.

Note

Review the Application Insights SDK support guidance for the Classic API SDK support policy.

Caution

For new applications, use the Azure Monitor OpenTelemetry Distro. It provides a similar experience and comparable functionality to the Application Insights SDK. To migrate to an OpenTelemetry based offering, review the migration guidance.

Install the latest .NET Core SDK.
Install Git by following the instructions at Getting started: Installing Git.
Review the Enable Azure Monitor Profiler for an ASP.NET Core Web API sample for context.

Set up the project locally

Open a command prompt window on your computer.
Create an ASP.NET Core MVC web application:
```
dotnet new mvc -n LinuxProfilerTest
```
Change the working directory to the root folder for the project.

Add the NuGet packages to collect the Profiler traces:

OpenTelemetry Profiler
Application Insights SDK (legacy)

dotnet add package Azure.Monitor.OpenTelemetry.AspNetCore --prerelease
dotnet add package Azure.Monitor.OpenTelemetry.Profiler --prerelease

dotnet add package Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.Profiler.AspNetCore

Enable the .NET Profiler

OpenTelemetry Profiler
Application Insights SDK (legacy)

In your preferred code editor, verify that you added the two packages for the Azure Monitor OpenTelemetry Profiler for .NET to Program.cs. Add custom Profiler settings, if applicable.

In your project's .csproj file, verify that you added the following lines:

<ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="Azure.Monitor.OpenTelemetry.AspNetCore" Version="[1.*-*, 2.0.0)" />
    <PackageReference Include="Azure.Monitor.OpenTelemetry.Profiler" Version="[1.*-*, 2.0.0)" />
</ItemGroup>

In your Program.cs file, verify that you added the following lines:

using Azure.Monitor.OpenTelemetry.AspNetCore;
using Azure.Monitor.OpenTelemetry.Profiler;

///

builder.Services.AddOpenTelemetry()
    .UseAzureMonitor()          // Enable Azure Monitor OpenTelemetry distro for ASP.NET Core
    .AddAzureMonitorProfiler(); // Add Azure Monitor Profiler

Save and commit your changes to the local repository:
```
git init
git add .
git commit -m "first commit"
```

In your preferred code editor, verify that you added Application Insights and the .NET Profiler by using the SDK in Program.cs. Add custom Profiler settings, if applicable.

For WebAPI

// Add services to the container.
builder.Services.AddApplicationInsightsTelemetry();
builder.Services.AddServiceProfiler();

For Worker

IHost host = Host.CreateDefaultBuilder(args)
    .ConfigureServices(services =>
    {
        services.AddApplicationInsightsTelemetryWorkerService();
        services.AddServiceProfiler();

        // Assuming Worker is your background service class.
        services.AddHostedService<Worker>();
    })
    .Build();

await host.RunAsync();

Save and commit your changes to the local repository:
```
git init
git add .
git commit -m "first commit"
```

Create the Linux web app to host your project

In the Azure portal, search for and select App Services, and then select Create > Web App.
Create a web app environment by using App Service on Linux.
Go to your new web app resource. In the left menu, select Deployment > Deployment Center, and then select FTPS Credentials to create the deployment credentials. Make a note of your credentials to use later.
Select Save.
Select the Settings tab.
To set up a local Git repository in the web app, select Source, and then select Local Git.
Select Save to create a Git repository with a Git clone URI.

For more deployment options, see the App Service documentation.

Deploy your project

You can deploy code to Azure App Service in various ways. The simplest way is to deploy by using local Git. For more information, see Deploy to Azure App Service by using local Git.

In your command prompt window, browse to the root folder for your project. Add a Git remote repository to point to the repository on App Service:
```
git remote add azure https://<username>@<app_name>.scm.azurewebsites.net:443/<app_name>.git
```
For this value, go to the Overview page for your web app. Copy Git clone url.
Deploy the project by pushing the changes to Azure:
```
git push azure main
```

Add Application Insights to monitor your web app

You can enable Application Insights while creating an App Service, which sets the connection string automatically.

OpenTelemetry Profiler
Application Insights SDK (legacy)

Copy and paste your connection string from your Application Insights resource to monitor your web app.

You have three options to add Application Insights to your web app. Expand the option you want to use.

Application Insights pane

Open your web app in the Azure portal. In the left menu, select Monitoring > Application Insights.
Select Turn on Application Insights.
Under Application Insights, select Enable.
Under Link to an Application Insights resource, either create a new resource or select an existing resource. For this example, create a new resource.
Select Apply, then Yes to apply and confirm.

Environment variables pane

Create an Application Insights resource in the same Azure subscription as your App Service instance.
Go to the Application Insights resource.
Copy the Connection String.
Open your web app in the Azure portal.
In the left menu, select Settings > Environment variables. Then select Add.
Add your connection string as a new setting in the Add/Edit application setting pane:

Name Value

APPLICATIONINSIGHTS_CONNECTION_STRING [YOUR_CONNECTION_STRING]
Select OK.
Select Save.

Name	Value
APPLICATIONINSIGHTS_CONNECTION_STRING	[YOUR_CONNECTION_STRING]

Web app settings (appsettings.json)

Create an Application Insights resource in the same Azure subscription as your App Service instance.
Go to the Application Insights resource.
Copy the Connection String.
In your preferred code editor, go to your ASP.NET Core project's appsettings.json file.

Add the following code and paste your connection string:

"ApplicationInsights":
{
  "ConnectionString": "<your-connection-string>"
}

Save appsettings.json to apply the settings change.

Troubleshooting

OpenTelemetry Profiler
Application Insights SDK (legacy)

If you can't find traces from your app, try the steps in this troubleshooting guide.

If you are unable to find traces from your app, consider following the steps in this troubleshooting guide.

Next step

Generate load and view the .NET Profiler traces

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Last updated on 2026-03-26