How do I display custom error pages in Asp.Net Mvc 3?

Question

I want all 401 errors to be be redirected to a custom error page. I have initially setup the following entry in my web.config.

<customErrors defaultRedirect="ErrorPage.aspx" mode="On">   <error statusCode="401" redirect="~/Views/Shared/AccessDenied.aspx" /> </customErrors> 

When using IIS Express I receive the stock IIS Express 401 error page.

In the event when I do not use IIS Express a blank page is returned. Using Google Chrome's Network tab to inspect the response, I see that while the page is blank a 401 status is returned in the headers

What I have tried thus far is using suggestions from this SO answer since I am using IIS Express but to no avail. I have tried using a combination <custom errors> and <httpErrors> with no luck - the standard error or blank page is still displayed.

The httpErrors section looks like this at the moment based on the link from the above SO question ( I also found another very promising answer however no luck - blank response)

<system.webServer>   <httpErrors  errorMode="DetailedLocalOnly" existingResponse="PassThrough" >     <remove statusCode="401"  />     <error statusCode="401" path="/Views/Shared/AccessDenied.htm" />   </httpErrors>   <!--   <httpErrors  errorMode="Custom"               existingResponse="PassThrough"               defaultResponseMode="ExecuteURL">       <remove statusCode="401"  />   <error statusCode="401" path="~/Views/Shared/AccessDenied.htm"           responseMode="File" />  </httpErrors>  --> </system.webServer> 

I have even modified the applicationhost.config file and modified <httpErrors lockAttributes="allowAbsolutePathsWhenDelegated,defaultPath"> to <httpErrors lockAttributes="allowAbsolutePathsWhenDelegated"> based on information from iis.net. During the course of my endeavours I also managed to stumbled upon this error as described in another SO question.

How do I display custom error pages in Asp.Net Mvc 3?

Additional info

The following controller actions have been decorated with the Authorize attribute for a specific user.

[HttpGet] [Authorize(Users = "domain\\userXYZ")] public ActionResult Edit()  {    return GetSettings(); }  [HttpPost] [Authorize(Users = "domain\\userXYZ")] public ActionResult Edit(ConfigurationModel model, IList<Shift> shifts) {     var temp = model;     model.ConfiguredShifts = shifts;     EsgConsole config = new EsgConsole();      config.UpdateConfiguration(model.ToDictionary());     return RedirectToAction("Index"); } 

Answer 1

I use these steps:

// in Global.asax.cs:         protected void Application_Error(object sender, EventArgs e) {              var ex = Server.GetLastError().GetBaseException();              Server.ClearError();             var routeData = new RouteData();             routeData.Values.Add("controller", "Error");             routeData.Values.Add("action", "Index");              if (ex.GetType() == typeof(HttpException)) {                 var httpException = (HttpException)ex;                 var code = httpException.GetHttpCode();                 routeData.Values.Add("status", code);             } else {                 routeData.Values.Add("status", 500);             }              routeData.Values.Add("error", ex);              IController errorController = new Kavand.Web.Controllers.ErrorController();             errorController.Execute(new RequestContext(new HttpContextWrapper(Context), routeData));         }          protected void Application_EndRequest(object sender, EventArgs e) {             if (Context.Response.StatusCode == 401) { // this is important, because the 401 is not an error by default!!!                 throw new HttpException(401, "You are not authorised");             }         } 

AND:

// in Error Controller:     public class ErrorController : Controller {          public ActionResult  Index(int status, Exception error) {             Response.StatusCode = status;             return View(status);         }          protected override void Dispose(bool disposing) {             base.Dispose(disposing);         }     } 

AND the index view in Error folder:

@* in ~/Views/Error/Index.cshtml: *@  @model Int32     @{     Layout = null; }     <!DOCTYPE html>     <html> <head>     <title>Kavand | Error</title> </head> <body>     <div>         There was an error with your request. The error is:<br />         <p style=" color: Red;">         @switch (Model) {             case 401: {                     <span>Your message goes here...</span>                 }                 break;             case 403: {                     <span>Your message goes here...</span>                 }                 break;             case 404: {                     <span>Your message goes here...</span>                 }                 break;             case 500: {                     <span>Your message goes here...</span>                 }                 break;             //and more cases for more error-codes...             default: {                     <span>Unknown error!!!</span>                 }                 break;         }         </p>     </div> </body> </html> 

AND -the final step:

<!-- in web.config: -->  <customErrors mode="Off"/>