Unable to cover unit tests that use Microsoft SQL Server

Problem

Running coverage for unit tests that use Microsoft SQL Server may finish with one of the following errors:

Coverage session finished with errors: Can't set event mask (COM error 0x80131377).

Coverage session finished with errors: Can't profile the application because the host protection is applied. Probably it relates with Microsoft SQL Server.

Cause

Microsoft SQL Server protects its process from access by profilers. If dotCover attempts to instrument the SQL Server process, the coverage session fails.

Resolution

Exclude the SQL Server process from coverage with --exclude-processes option. Sample:

dotCover cover --exclude-processes sqlservr.exe -- test

For more information, refer to the dotCover command reference.