allowDefinition='MachineToApplication' error when publishing from VS2010 (but only after a previous build)

Question

I can run my Asp.Net MVC 2 application without an issue on my local computer. Just Run / Debug.

But if I have already built it, I can't publish it! I have to clean the solution and publish it again. I know this is not system critical, but it's really annoying. "One Click Publish" is not "Clean solution and then One click publish"

The exact error is as follows:

Error 11 It is an error to use a section registered as allowDefinition='MachineToApplication' beyond application level. This error can be caused by a virtual directory not being configured as an application in IIS.

I suspect it's something to do with the Web.Config in the Views folder, but then why only after I build once previously. And just to note, the app works fine once published.

Answer 1

i had the same problem with my MVC apps. it was frustrating because i still wanted my views to be checked, so i didn't want to turn off MvcBuildViews

luckily i came across a post which gave me the answer. keep the MvcBuildViews as true, then you can add the following line underneath in your project file:

<BaseIntermediateOutputPath>[SomeKnownLocationIHaveAccessTo]</BaseIntermediateOutputPath>

And make that folder not in your project's folder. Works for me. It's not a perfect solution, but it's good for the moment. Make sure you remove the package folder (located inside the obj\Debug and/or obj\Release folder) from your project folder otherwise you'll keep getting the error.

FWIW, MS know about this error...

Answer 2

I deleted everything out of my obj/Debug folder and it fixed this error. This allowed me to leave in the

<MvcBuildViews>true</MvcBuildViews>

option in my project file (which comes in handy with the T4MVC T4 template).

Edit: This can be achieved much easier by simply using the "Build" -> "Rebuild Solution" menu (because what rebuild actually does is clear the obj/Debug folder and then build solution).

Answer 3

I'm using this workaround on the MS Connect page for this error. It cleans all obj and temp files under your project (all configurations) before running AspNetCompiler.

Modify the MvcBuildViews target in your project file so that it depends on the targets that clean up the packaging files that Visual Studio has created. These targets are included in web application projects automatically.

All packaging files will be deleted every time that the MvcBuildViews target executes.

<Target Name="MvcBuildViews" AfterTargets="AfterBuild" Condition="'$(MvcBuildViews)'=='true'" DependsOnTargets="CleanWebsitesPackage;CleanWebsitesPackageTempDir;CleanWebsitesTransformParametersFiles;">
    <AspNetCompiler VirtualPath="temp" PhysicalPath="$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)" />
</Target>

Answer 4

This problem occurs when there is web project output (templated web.config or temporary publish files) in the obj folder. The ASP.NET compiler used isn't smart enough to ignore stuff in the obj folder, so it throws errors instead.

Another fix is to nuke the publish output right before calling <AspNetCompiler>. Open your .csproj and change this:

<Target Name="MvcBuildViews" AfterTargets="AfterBuild" Condition="'$(MvcBuildViews)'=='true'">
  <AspNetCompiler VirtualPath="temp" PhysicalPath="$(WebProjectOutputDir)" />
</Target>

to this:

<Target Name="MvcBuildViews" AfterTargets="AfterBuild" Condition="'$(MvcBuildViews)'=='true'">
  <ItemGroup>
    <ExtraWebConfigs Include="$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)\**\web.config" />
    <ExtraPackageTmp Include="$([System.IO.Directory]::GetDirectories(&quot;$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)&quot;, &quot;PackageTmp&quot;, System.IO.SearchOption.AllDirectories))" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <Delete Files="@(ExtraWebConfigs)" />
  <RemoveDir Directories="@(ExtraPackageTmp)" />
  <AspNetCompiler VirtualPath="temp" PhysicalPath="$(WebProjectOutputDir)" />
</Target>

That will delete all web.configs under \obj, as well as all PackageTmp folders under \obj.