How to access SQLite DB from IIS hosted WCF Service? - asp.net

I am trying to deploy a WCF service that uses a SQLite DB to read some data as well as connecting to another Database (MS SQL). The service itself is consumed by a ASP Web site running on the same server.
The problem is that only my user is able to fully use the website and service. Every other user can't seem to open the sqlite database file.
What kind of permissions or special access do you need to access a sqlite database from IIS?
The Application pool is setup with a domain account so that access to the MS SQL Database can be granted (Integrated Security).
The folder where the database is stored is accessible by the account. And I've even tried to make it accessible by Everyone and all users with no luck.
I feel I'm missing something obvious but I can't figure out what...
Update: The error is as follows:
System.Data.Entity.Core.EntityException
An exception of type 'System.Data.Entity.Core.EntityException' occurred in EntityFramework.dll but was not handled in user code
Additional information: The underlying provider failed on Open.
Inner Exception:
System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteException
Unable to open database file.

I was able to resolve the issue, I'm going to document it here for posterity. I took a few steps to do so, and I currently don't have the environment set up to be able to reproduce the issue consistently and quickly, so I'm not entirely sure which was the actual solution.
Disclaimer aside, here are my changes:
I created a new Application Pool and Website on IIS, on another directory entirely, not on "C:\inetpub\wwwroot". I used "C:\Sites\MySite" to deploy both my WCF service and the website which consumed it.
I changed the application pool identity account to a new AD Service account.
I placed the database inside of the Service Web App directory, within a directory called data. I removed all inherited permissions from the directory and the database file, and gave the both the service account and Everyone Full Control of the directory and database file.
I edited the connection string for sqlite to have the setting "Journal Mode=Off;".
I stopped and started both the Application Pool and the WebSite on IIS.
After this the service worked correctly, and I was able to access both the database file and the connection to SQL Server. If I get the opportunity, I would set up some kind of virtual network to replicate this and see if I could figure out exactly what caused the error in the first place.

Related

ASP.NET Core - Application not connecting to database after publishing

I created a simple ASP.Net Core application with user authentication (so all the Entity Framework has been preloaded into the web app template). It is connecting to my database with the connectionString that is located in my appsettings.json file, with "data source = {computerName}\\{serverName}" setup.
The database instance and Visual Studio are located on the same machine. This works fine in returning data to the web api while within development and debugging mode. When I publish it and try to go to the site from a domain name it does allow me to view the webpages that are not needing database connection but the rest that need data from the database returns pages like this:
Error.
An error occurred while processing your request.
Development Mode
Swapping to Development environment will display more detailed information about the error that occurred.
Development environment should not be enabled in deployed
applications, as it can result in sensitive information from
exceptions being displayed to end users. For local debugging,
development environment can be enabled by setting the
ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT environment variable to Development, and
restarting the application.
I have tried to change the Environment Variables for ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT from Development to Production to no success.
I have tried adding appsettings.Production.json to publishOptions in my project.json file, even though there is no file appsettings.Production.json, and this did not help. dotnet publish
Adding the evironment variable in the web.config file did not work Deployment
I need help getting the published web api to connect to my SQL Server database from outside the development Visual Studio setup.
The last thing I can think of is that maybe I am incorrect in how I understand the connection string. If the web api uses the connection string to connect to the database from the server-side then it should work just fine like it does when in development calling to http://localhost:port# since it's all on the same machine. But, if the database string needs to be based on a client-side call then it would have to be with domain names and IP addresses.
Can someone tell me which one it is?
The only thing else that comes to mind is that there is something I am not doing, and need to do, inside of IIS Manager. I see connect string there as well but unsure what that is for our does since the connection string is inside the application. Also maybe I am suppose to give the app some kind of authorization to communicate with the database server even though they are on the same machine???
After much research, finally googling "how to deploy a web api in iis" I was able to learn from Host ASP.NET Web API in IIS using Visual Studio Publish that I needed to add the security entity BUILTIN\IIS_IUSRS. Then placing a mapping to my database tables and giving db_datareader (and possibly db_datawriter) for the database to the IUSER to allow access from my self hosted IIS web api. This from the above mentioned link with the part stating
Accessing Database under IIS APPPOOL\ASP.NET v4.0
As we are using ASP.NET v4.0 App Pool make sure IIS APPPOOL\ASP.NET v4.0 is added to your Database Server -> Security -> Logins.

Can't Access SQLite DB on Azure Web App

I have created an ASP.NET MVC web app which uses an SQLite database under EF6.
The app works fine in VS. The database is included in the project in the App_Data folder. When I publish to Azure (or an IIS test server on the LAN) I get an error. The Azure instance is showing an HTTP 500 error, and it only happens on views which require database access to load. Other than that it works fine. The IIS test server shows an error saying unable to open database file. I tried loosening file permissions on the .db file on the IIS instance, but nothing changed. I'm not sure how to go about doing anything on the Azure instance.
Can someone please assist me with debugging a SQLite connection problem on Azure/IIS?
Details
VS 2015 Enterprise
Azure app services (free tier, production server)
SQLite3 database
IIS on Windows Server 2012R2 (test server)
I have tried all sorts of combinations of connection strings:
setting a connection string to the D:/xxx/xxx path in Azure Portal
modifying the connection string in the deployment profile in VS (replaces value in web.config upon deployment)
just leaving it all the same
Nothing has worked or even changed the error. Perhaps one of those configurations is able to access the file but simply can't open it (which is sort of what the IIS error suggests, I think). Even then, how do I go about finding out?
EDIT
On the IIS test server I discovered that the entire problem was that the connection string in Web.config was wrong. I manually edited it on the server and it fired right up. I'm still not sure how to correct the path on the Azure server, nor how to correct my deployment settings in VS to inject the correct path. Thoughts along those lines are still appreciated.
EDIT 2
I've also found that each time I hit a page requiring DB access, I see this error show up in the application logs on Azure:
2017-01-03T20:25:32
System.ApplicationException: The trace listener AzureBlobTraceListener is disabled. ---> System.InvalidOperationException: The SAS URL for the cloud storage account is not specified. Use the environment variable 'DIAGNOSTICS_AZUREBLOBCONTAINERSASURL' to define it.
at Microsoft.WindowsAzure.WebSites.Diagnostics.AzureBlobTraceListener.RefreshConfig()
--- End of inner exception stack trace ---
After some abysmally slow debugging sessions, I finally remembered that in toying around I had set a connection string value in the Azure portal.
Apparently whatever value is set in the Azure Portal overrides (at runtime?) the values in the Web.config file
I simply deleted the connection string from the Azure Portal (your app/Application Settings/Connection Strings) and it worked. The final connection string looks like this:
<add name="yourThingEntities" connectionString="metadata=res://*/cadb_SQLite.csdl|res://*/cadb_SQLite.ssdl|res://*/cadb_SQLite.msl;provider=System.Data.SQLite.EF6;provider connection string="data source=D:\home\site\wwwroot\App_Data\yourSQLiteDBFile.db"" providerName="System.Data.EntityClient" />
To get the Web Deploy working in VS, you'll need to edit the publish profile to have a connection string matching the format
data source=D:\home\site\wwwroot\App_Data\yourSQLiteDBFile.db
Apparently not many people use SQLite for web apps, and most people should not. If you ever expect more than one user for your website at a time, you shouldn't fix SQLite, you should convert to SQL Server CE or just full-blown SQL Server which Azure will take care of for a paltry $5/mo. Choose wisely!

Connections issues with MS Access to ASP.NET web application

I have hit a wall and can't figure out the heads from the tails. I am working with a team and we have developed an asp.net web application. There is a feature on the application that delivers directions from a database. The database is an MS Access database. I have published the application to an IIS7 Windows server. I also uploaded via FTP the Access database. We have tried all manner of connection string variants. We did not import the database in any way into Visual Studio but prefer to connect to where ever we decide to place it.
Now, I am wondering if using Access was a bad idea. Its a given that it was a rookie mistake since we are students working on our capstone project. Is there any other installs for the Access database that need to be installed on the server other than the driver for Access? Should my connection string be structured any other way that what it is presently? I will post the string below. Please note, I did not write this particular section of coding so if an error should be thrown it may be handled somewhere as to prevent the application from crashing on the user. Side note: Yes it does work fine on my local computer although the connection must be altered.
sConnection = #"Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=C:\inetpub\wwwroot\kioskApplication\www\Waypoints.accdb";
Thanks in advance for all the support and help with this issue.
Usually a WEB Application stores a file based database like MS-Access in its APP_DATA folder under the root of the site where every permission is granted to the IIS Service.
Then in your connection string you refer to this location using
Connection = #"Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;
Data Source=|DataDirectory|\Waypoints.accdb";
See Where is DataDirectory
On the server side there is no need to install anything apart from the Microsoft Database Access Engine appropriate for the bitness of your web application. (32bit or 64bit)

SQL Database error generated during IIS deployment

my asp.net application runs successfully in development server of visual studio. but when i deploy my application in IIS it generates the error as follows
Failed to generate a user instance of SQL Server due to failure in
retrieving the user's local application data path. Please make sure
the user has a local user profile on the computer. The connection will
be closed.
what are the necessary changes that i should do in my application. also guide me how to deploy my database on IIS.
What is your connection string?
More specifically, I am wondering if you are using a .mdf file as your database.
If this is the case, you need to ensure that your web application has write-permissions within the App_Data folder of your website.
It is hard to say exactly without seeing your connection string, but possibly this KB article will help. It relates to SQLExpress and the error you are seeing.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2002980

How to effectively set up MySQL Users and Roles in the production server WITHOUT Visual Studio?

So far I have been using the WebSite Administration Tool built in Visual Studio 2010 to manage Users and Roles along with MySQL Membership and Roles Provider.
Now, I have deployed the application to the production server and I am getting the following error:
Even if I tried to copy one of the roles and one of the users from my local DB to the one used by the production server, it didn't quite work and I keep getting the same error. At least, I'm sure that's the cause of the error because I did a remote debugging which led me to find it.
At this point I am very confused on how to get it working properly. So, any help or guidance would be really appreciated.
EDIT: At this point the User has been already authenticated in the login page using the connectionString to the production DB server. For that reason, I have dismissed any kind of problems related to the connectionString. I get this error while loading the masterPage where the role is needed in order to choose which menu to display.
The exception message says it all: It cannot connect to the database. Verify that your production DB server is running, that the connection string is correct and that you have network connectivity (including name resolution) from the web server to the DB server.
The solution for this problem was to create the mysql_aspnet_membership provider by granting full access through the machine.config and autogenerating the schema, instead of manually creating the membership tables in the database, which I though there could have been a valid way to create the db.
Afterwards, this didn't break anymore.

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