"Kernel' does not exist in the namespace 'Sitecore'

Question

Coming across a weird Sitecore error. Applied a layout in Sitecore 6.6 using MVC to a couple of different content items and I am getting this error:

c:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\Temporary ASP.NET Files\root\95ad0ba4\20f230f7\App_Web__sitecorelayout.cshtml.5d96958d.682ppzj_.0.cs(24): error CS0234: The type or namespace name 'Kernel' does not exist in the namespace 'Sitecore' (are you missing an assembly reference?)

System.Web.HttpCompileException (0x80004005): c:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\Temporary ASP.NET Files\root\95ad0ba4\20f230f7\App_Web__sitecorelayout.cshtml.5d96958d.682ppzj_.0.cs(24): error CS0234: The type or namespace name 'Kernel' does not exist in the namespace 'Sitecore' (are you missing an assembly reference?)
at System.Web.Compilation.AssemblyBuilder.Compile()
at System.Web.Compilation.BuildProvidersCompiler.PerformBuild()
at System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.CompileWebFile(VirtualPath virtualPath)
at System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.GetVPathBuildResultInternal(VirtualPath virtualPath, Boolean noBuild, Boolean allowCrossApp, Boolean allowBuildInPrecompile, Boolean throwIfNotFound, Boolean ensureIsUpToDate)
at System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.GetVPathBuildResultWithNoAssert(HttpContext context, VirtualPath virtualPath, Boolean noBuild, Boolean allowCrossApp, Boolean allowBuildInPrecompile, Boolean throwIfNotFound, Boolean ensureIsUpToDate)
at System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.GetVirtualPathObjectFactory(VirtualPath virtualPath, HttpContext context, Boolean allowCrossApp, Boolean throwIfNotFound)
at System.Web.Mvc.BuildManagerWrapper.System.Web.Mvc.IBuildManager.FileExists(String virtualPath)
at System.Web.Mvc.VirtualPathProviderViewEngine.GetPathFromSpecificName(ControllerContext controllerContext, String name, String cacheKey, String[]& searchedLocations)
at System.Web.Mvc.VirtualPathProviderViewEngine.GetPath(ControllerContext controllerContext, String[] locations, String[] areaLocations, String locationsPropertyName, String name, String controllerName, String cacheKeyPrefix, Boolean useCache, String[]& searchedLocations)
at System.Web.Mvc.VirtualPathProviderViewEngine.FindPartialView(ControllerContext controllerContext, String partialViewName, Boolean useCache)
at System.Web.Mvc.ViewEngineCollection.Find(Func`2 lookup, Boolean trackSearchedPaths)
at System.Web.Mvc.HtmlHelper.FindPartialView(ViewContext viewContext, String partialViewName, ViewEngineCollection viewEngineCollection)
at System.Web.Mvc.HtmlHelper.RenderPartialInternal(String partialViewName, ViewDataDictionary viewData, Object model, TextWriter writer, ViewEngineCollection viewEngineCollection)
at System.Web.Mvc.Html.PartialExtensions.Partial(HtmlHelper htmlHelper, String partialViewName, Object model, ViewDataDictionary viewData)
at Sitecore.Mvc.Presentation.ViewRenderer.Render(TextWriter writer)
at Sitecore.Mvc.Pipelines.Response.RenderRendering.ExecuteRenderer.Render(Renderer renderer, TextWriter writer, RenderRenderingArgs args)
at Sitecore.Mvc.Pipelines.Response.RenderRendering.ExecuteRenderer.Process(RenderRenderingArgs args)
at (Object , Object[] )
at Sitecore.Pipelines.CorePipeline.Run(PipelineArgs args)
at Sitecore.Mvc.Pipelines.PipelineService.RunPipeline[TArgs](String pipelineName, TArgs args)
at Sitecore.Mvc.Presentation.RenderingView.Render(ViewContext viewContext, TextWriter writer)
at System.Web.Mvc.ViewResultBase.ExecuteResult(ControllerContext context)
at System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.<>c__DisplayClass1c.b__19()
at System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultFilter(IResultFilter filter, ResultExecutingContext preContext, Func`1 continuation)
at System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultFilter(IResultFilter filter, ResultExecutingContext preContext, Func`1 continuation)
at System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultWithFilters(ControllerContext controllerContext, IList`1 filters, ActionResult actionResult)
at System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeAction(ControllerContext controllerContext, String actionName)

Things are set to the 4 framework for the build and the application pool within IIS. I'm at a loss. Has this happened to anyone within the same scenario?

Answer 1

The issue was a result of having the Sitecore.Kernel namespace added in the namespaces portion of the web.config file in the Views directory. Removing that solved the problem.

Worked with Sitecore support to resolve the issue. Just figured it out about a half-hour ago.

Answer 2

My issue was the Target Framework. I was on .NET 4.5 when I was getting this issue. I upgraded to .NET 4.6 and the issue went away.