how to solve Error cannot add duplicate collection entry of type add with unique key attribute 'value' in iis 7

Question

I created a asp.net website and published it in iis 7. I deleted the default website option in the iis 7 and created the new website in the iis 7. When i click the default document I got the error like "Error cannot add duplicate collection entry of type add with unique key attribute 'value' set to index.aspx". I used the following code in my web.config file.

<?xml version="1.0"?><configuration>
<configSections>
    <sectionGroup name="system.web.extensions" type="System.Web.Configuration.SystemWebExtensionsSectionGroup, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35">
        <sectionGroup name="scripting" type="System.Web.Configuration.ScriptingSectionGroup, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35">
            <section name="scriptResourceHandler" type="System.Web.Configuration.ScriptingScriptResourceHandlerSection, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35" requirePermission="false" allowDefinition="MachineToApplication"/>
            <sectionGroup name="webServices" type="System.Web.Configuration.ScriptingWebServicesSectionGroup, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35">
                <section name="jsonSerialization" type="System.Web.Configuration.ScriptingJsonSerializationSection, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35" requirePermission="false" allowDefinition="Everywhere"/>
                <section name="profileService" type="System.Web.Configuration.ScriptingProfileServiceSection, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35" requirePermission="false" allowDefinition="MachineToApplication"/>
                <section name="authenticationService" type="System.Web.Configuration.ScriptingAuthenticationServiceSection, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35" requirePermission="false" allowDefinition="MachineToApplication"/>
                <section name="roleService" type="System.Web.Configuration.ScriptingRoleServiceSection, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35" requirePermission="false" allowDefinition="MachineToApplication"/>
            </sectionGroup>
        </sectionGroup>
    </sectionGroup>
</configSections>
<appSettings/>
<connectionStrings/>
<system.web>
    <!-- 
        Set compilation debug="true" to insert debugging 
        symbols into the compiled page. Because this 
        affects performance, set this value to true only 
        during development.
    -->
    <compilation debug="true">
        <assemblies>
            <add assembly="System.Core, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=B77A5C561934E089"/>
            <add assembly="System.Data.DataSetExtensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=B77A5C561934E089"/>
            <add assembly="System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35"/>
            <add assembly="System.Xml.Linq, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=B77A5C561934E089"/>

            <add assembly="System.Web.Extensions.Design, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35"/>
            <add assembly="System.Design, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=B03F5F7F11D50A3A"/>
            <add assembly="System.Windows.Forms, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=B77A5C561934E089"/></assemblies>
    </compilation>
    <!--
        The <authentication> section enables configuration 
        of the security authentication mode used by 
        ASP.NET to identify an incoming user. 
    -->
    <authentication mode="Windows"/>
    <!--
        The <customErrors> section enables configuration 
        of what to do if/when an unhandled error occurs 
        during the execution of a request. Specifically, 
        it enables developers to configure html error pages 
        to be displayed in place of a error stack trace.

    <customErrors mode="RemoteOnly" defaultRedirect="GenericErrorPage.htm">
        <error statusCode="403" redirect="NoAccess.htm" />
        <error statusCode="404" redirect="FileNotFound.htm" />
    </customErrors>
    -->
    <pages>
        <controls>
            <add tagPrefix="asp" namespace="System.Web.UI" assembly="System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35"/>
            <add tagPrefix="asp" namespace="System.Web.UI.WebControls" assembly="System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35"/>
        </controls>
    </pages>
    <httpHandlers>
        <remove verb="*" path="*.asmx"/>
        <add verb="*" path="*.asmx" validate="false" type="System.Web.Script.Services.ScriptHandlerFactory, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35"/>
        <add verb="*" path="*_AppService.axd" validate="false" type="System.Web.Script.Services.ScriptHandlerFactory, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35"/>
        <add verb="GET,HEAD" path="ScriptResource.axd" type="System.Web.Handlers.ScriptResourceHandler, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35" validate="false"/>
    </httpHandlers>
    <httpModules>
        <add name="ScriptModule" type="System.Web.Handlers.ScriptModule, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35"/>
    </httpModules>
</system.web>
<system.codedom>
    <compilers>
        <compiler language="c#;cs;csharp" extension=".cs" warningLevel="4" type="Microsoft.CSharp.CSharpCodeProvider, System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089">
            <providerOption name="CompilerVersion" value="v3.5"/>
            <providerOption name="WarnAsError" value="false"/>
        </compiler>
    </compilers>
</system.codedom>
<!-- 
    The system.webServer section is required for running ASP.NET AJAX under Internet
    Information Services 7.0.  It is not necessary for previous version of IIS.
-->
<system.webServer>
    <validation validateIntegratedModeConfiguration="false"/>
    <modules>
        <remove name="ScriptModule"/>
        <add name="ScriptModule" preCondition="managedHandler" type="System.Web.Handlers.ScriptModule, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35"/>
    </modules>
    <handlers>
        <remove name="WebServiceHandlerFactory-Integrated"/>
        <remove name="ScriptHandlerFactory"/>
        <remove name="ScriptHandlerFactoryAppServices"/>
        <remove name="ScriptResource"/>
        <add name="ScriptHandlerFactory" verb="*" path="*.asmx" preCondition="integratedMode" type="System.Web.Script.Services.ScriptHandlerFactory, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35"/>
        <add name="ScriptHandlerFactoryAppServices" verb="*" path="*_AppService.axd" preCondition="integratedMode" type="System.Web.Script.Services.ScriptHandlerFactory, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35"/>
        <add name="ScriptResource" preCondition="integratedMode" verb="GET,HEAD" path="ScriptResource.axd" type="System.Web.Handlers.ScriptResourceHandler, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35"/>
    </handlers>
<defaultDocument>
  <files>
    <remove value="default.aspx" />
    <remove value="index.html" />
    <remove value="iisstart.htm" />
    <remove value="index.htm" />
    <remove value="Default.asp" />
    <remove value="Default.htm" />
    <add value="index.aspx" />
  </files>
</defaultDocument>
<security>
  <requestFiltering>
    <requestLimits maxQueryString="5120"/>
  </requestFiltering>
</security>
</system.webServer>
<runtime>
    <assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
        <dependentAssembly>
            <assemblyIdentity name="System.Web.Extensions" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35"/>
            <bindingRedirect oldVersion="1.0.0.0-1.1.0.0" newVersion="3.5.0.0"/>
        </dependentAssembly>
        <dependentAssembly>
            <assemblyIdentity name="System.Web.Extensions.Design" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35"/>
            <bindingRedirect oldVersion="1.0.0.0-1.1.0.0" newVersion="3.5.0.0"/>
        </dependentAssembly>
    </assemblyBinding>
</runtime>

Can anyone able help for that means its will really useful for my project. Thank you..

Answer 1

IIS7 defines a defaultDocument section in its configuration files which can be found in the %WinDir%\System32\InetSrv\Config folder. Most likely, the file index.aspx is already defined as a default document in one of IIS7's configuration files and you are adding it again in your web.config.

I suspect that removing the line <add value="index.aspx" />

from the defaultDocument/files section will fix your issue.

The defaultDocument section of your config will look like:

<defaultDocument>
  <files>
    <remove value="default.aspx" />
    <remove value="index.html" />
    <remove value="iisstart.htm" />
    <remove value="index.htm" />
    <remove value="Default.asp" />
    <remove value="Default.htm" />
  </files>
</defaultDocument>

Note that index.aspx will still appear in the list of default documents for your site in the IIS manager.

For more information about IIS7 configuration, click here.

Answer 2

All you need is a <clear /> tag. Here's an example:

<configuration>
  <system.webServer>
    <defaultDocument>
      <files>
        <clear />
        <add value="default.aspx" />
      </files>
    </defaultDocument>
  </system.webServer>
</configuration>

Answer 3

The ideal scenario is to have <add value="default.aspx" /> in config so the application can be deployed to any server without having to reconfigure. IMHO I think the implementation within IIS is poor.

We've used the following to make our default document setup more robust and as a result more SEO friendly by using canonical URL's:

<configuration>
  <system.webServer>
    <defaultDocument>
      <files>
        <remove value="default.aspx" />
        <add value="default.aspx" />
      </files>
    </defaultDocument>
  </system.webServer>
</configuration>

Works OK for us.

Answer 4

Remove element should clear out such errors. The reason behind this is the inherited settings. Your application will inherit some settings from its parent's config file and machine's (server) config files.
You can either remove such duplicates with the remove tag before adding them or make these tags non-inheritable in the upper level config files.