Trouble with membership providers - asp.net

Question

I'm having a spot of trouble with ASP.NET 4.0 memberships. I want to have all my membership configuration in my web.config file and not use machine.config. I am storing the membership in a remote SQL Server 2008 R2 database server called MYSERVER\A. Here's the relevant sections of web.config
<connectionStrings>
<clear/>
<add name="MarksDB" connectionString="Server=MYSQLSERVER\A;Database=test_d; Trusted_Connection=Yes; Application Name=MarksDB"/>
</connectionStrings>
<system.web>
<authorization>
<allow roles="Admins" />
<deny users="?" />
</authorization>
<authentication mode="Forms">
<forms name="MarksDB" />
</authentication>
<membership defaultProvider="MarksDBMembershipProvider">
<providers>
<clear/>
<add
name="MarksDBMembershipProvider"
type="System.Web.Security.SqlMembershipProvider, System.Web, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a"
connectionStringName="MarksDB"
enablePasswordRetrieval="false"
enablePasswordReset="true"
requiresQuestionAndAnswer="true"
applicationName="MarksDBMembershipProvider"
requiresUniqueEmail="false"
passwordFormat="Hashed"
maxInvalidPasswordAttempts="5"
minRequiredPasswordLength="7"
minRequiredNonalphanumericCharacters="1"
passwordAttemptWindow="10"
passwordStrengthRegularExpression=""/>
</providers>
</membership>
<roleManager enabled="true" defaultProvider="MarksDBRoleProvider">
<providers>
<clear/>
<add
name="MarksDBRoleProvider"
type="System.Web.Security.SqlRoleProvider, System.Web, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a"
connectionStringName="MarksDB"
applicationName="MarksDBRoleProvider"
/>
</providers>
</roleManager>
In Visual Studio 2010, when I go to WebSite->ASP.NET Configuration, and click Add User on the Security tab, I get this error:
An error was encountered. Please return to the previous page and try again.
The following message may help in diagnosing the problem: The connection name 'MarksDB' was not found in the applications configuration or the connection string is empty. at System.Web.Util.SecUtility.GetConnectionString(NameValueCollection config) at System.Web.Security.SqlMembershipProvider.Initialize(String name, NameValueCollection config) at System.Web.Configuration.ProvidersHelper.InstantiateProvider(ProviderSettings providerSettings, Type providerType)
I am not sure how to troubleshoot this problem. Any ideas?

Answer 1

You should use the applicationName attribute both in membership provider and in role manager to specify your application (because you could have another application using the same database). But you are specifying the Application Name in the connection string.
I believe you would remove the applicationName from membership provider and from role provider.