Unable to Start Debugging on the Web Server

One of the error you'll probably run into when setting up a new ASP.net project is the "Unable to Start Debugging on the Web Server". Most of the time, this error can be fixed by enabling Integrated Windows Authentication. You can do this by:

1. Launch IIS Management Console.
2. Right click on the website and select Properties.
3. Click on the Directory Security Tab.
4. Check the box that reads "Integrated Windows authentication".

If that doesn't work, you'll need to make sure that Keep HTTP-Alives Enabled option is checked. And if all fails, register the .net framework again and check your permission settings.

Good Luck!

Troubleshooting ASP.net Application with CustomErrors

There are many ways to troubleshoot IIS application errors. Here I will discuss a simple yet effective way to troubleshoot your IIS applications.

In the Web.config, under System.web node, there's one section called customErrors. By default this is commented out and the mode set to

<system.web>
<customerrors mode="RemoteOnly">
<system.web>

With this setting in place, if you run into some error, chances are you will only see a generic runtime error that reads:

An application error occurred on the server. The current custom error settings for this application prevent the details of the application error from being viewed remotely (for security reasons). It could, however, be viewed by browsers running on the local server machine.

In order to see what's going on, you will need to modify the Web.config file so the customErrors tag read:

<system.web>
<customerrors mode="Off">
<system.web>

Note that this should only be done on development workstations as the detailed error message could expose information you don't want users to see like identity impersonation information... As for production, try to run the application on the server to see the error.

Now that you can see what's actually causing the error, it should be easy to narrow the problem to a particular line number and take corrective action.

Fixing Fail To Access IIS Metabase Error

I often run into this error message for various reasons like doing a reinstallation, machine upgrade or preparing a workstation for a new co-worker...

This error is fairly simple to fix but if you don't know how, it could drive one crazy. You often run into this error after you install Visual Studio 2005 and then try to run a webpage on your machine. The error you encounter will read something like this:

Failed to access IIS metabase.

If so, you may have installed IIS after the .NET framework has been installed. To fix this, try to repair your ASP.NET installation and set up all of the appropriate ISAPI extension mappings using the aspnet_regiss utility in the .NET framework folder.

aspnet_regiis -i

This utility is found in the .NET framework version number under your Windows installation folder.