Revealing detailed error messages

If you're getting a "HTTP 500" error when opening the on-premises helpdesk app on your server, you'd probably want to see the actual underlying error text, that will help you debug it.

You have two options:

1.  Check the server's log - launch "eventvwr.exe", choose the "Application" log - look for any errors or warnings from the helpdesk app.

2. Temporarily set your ASP.NET environment to "Development", so you see the exception message in the browser right away. WARNING: this exposes the error message to the world, remember to change it back after investigating

The trick is to set the "ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT" environment variable to "Development".

This can be done via GUI, or via the command line:

>setx ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT "Development"

SUCCESS: Specified value was saved.

After that recycle the application pool and refresh the page in the browser.