How to see SOAP request data sent by C# ASP.NET app that gets sent over network?

Question

I have a C# ASP.NET application that is sending a post request to a WSDL based SOAP client and I would like to see the body of that request. The request is sent from the backend, not a browser. Plot twist: I lack permissions to install any network traffic sniffing software. What is a good way to see the XML being sent in the request? I am using visual studio 2010.

Answer 1

Can you modify the application? If so, a couple thoughts:

1. Install Glimpse with a SOAP plugin .

or

2. Add some logging capability you can switch on/off via an appSetting . Use that to trigger dumping it to a log file/database table. If you're already using Elmah you can piggy-back off it and dump it there.

or

3. You mentioned you couldn't install Fiddler, but what about on a different PC? Fiddler supports r emote connections , so if you have it on another PC you could run it there and simply change the web.config in your app to use that as the proxy .

Answer 2

Can you install any software? If so give fiddler a try, it's an http debugging proxy that does not require admin rights to install.

Without installing any software this question, specifically this answer looks like it would do the trick. It contains the configuration to enable the System.Net tracing mechanism in the web.config.

For an auto generated client from a service reference one of the answers to this question should work. It's very similar to the answers above but specifically for a client generated from a service reference.