IIS7/Win7 - App Pool is failing suddenly - iis-7

After nearly 5 months with this configuration I am now getting a series of:
"A process serving application pool 'Classic .NET AppPool' suffered a fatal communication error with the Windows Process Activation Service. The process id was '1640'."
This leads to:
Application pool 'Classic .NET AppPool' is being automatically disabled due to a series of failures in the process(es) serving that application pool.
I cannot, for the life of me, figure out what changed to start causing this nor can I figure out how to possibly dig in deeper to find out what is causing it to fail.
I recently (2 weeks ago) started adding Entity Frameworks to my solution. Right before this happened I did get an "out of stack space" error due to a reported self-referenced call. I cannot find any calls like that in the code I wrote and am suspecting EF may have added a join in my simple (3 table) model that is wrong.
Any ideas on where to start looking? What would cause the AppPool to fail?
TIA
NOTE:
An unhandled exception of type 'System.StackOverflowException' occurred in mscorlib.dll
I have an outside object that calls this method to get a single record:
public static AutoNegotiationDetails GetAutoNegotiationByCompany(Guid companyId)
{
return RivWorks.Controller.Negotiation.GetAutoNegotiationByCompany(companyId);
}
That method calls into:
internal static AutoNegotiationDetails GetAutoNegotiationByCompany(Guid companyId)
{
var autoNeg = from a in _dbRiv.AutoNegotiationDetails where a.CompanyId == companyId select a;
var ret = autoNeg.FirstOrDefault();
return ret;
}
In stepping through it I can set a break point inside the first method, step into the second method, see the record populated, return to the first method then finally exit the method. At that point my IDE locks up for a few seconds until I get the StackOverflow error.
For a more accurate picture of the whole system:
Running WebOrb30 on the IIS machine.
In the VS IDE -> Attach to Process (INETINFO.exe)
Log into WebOrb30 -> Management Console -> Drill down to service entry point -> Enter CompanyID into input box -> Click Invoke
Hit break point in VS IDE -> (See above)
NOTE:
Looks like it may be caused by another issue in EF. See C# - Entity Framework - An unhandled exception of type 'System.StackOverflowException' occurred in mscorlib.dll for further clarification.

I may be that you have two apps/sites using one app pool, but the apps/sites are running different .net versions.
This might not be the case, but its the only similar recurring problem i've ever had with iis.

Because of a bug in my Entity Framework I was getting a cyclic call into one of my relationships. This was causing a stack overflow which was reported to WebOrb as a general error and WebOrb would halt causing the App Pool to crash. (I still don't quite understand all the specifics). When I rebuilt my EF Model without the relationships the behavior went away. (sigh/)
EF will be another question (or series of questions).

Related

Asp.net unhandled exception in timer callback crashes w3wp and error not logged

I am experiencing some randomly happening unhandled exception causing w3wp to crash. I want to trace the cause of that exception. I already have a global Application_Error handler override in my MvcApplication class, so the crash must be caused by some out-of-http-context exception. In order to replicate the problem I genereate one myself in a timer callback, and try to trace it. Simplified code like
public static class MonitorTimers
{
public static Timer _taskMonitorTimer = new Timer(state: null, dueTime: 1000, period: 1000, callback: (state) =>
{
throw new Exception("Ouch! Me dead.");
});
}
In my local development environment (iisexpress launched by VS2017) and test environment (IIS 8.5), when the app starts and then crashes, the following can be seen in event viewer:
The most useful Event 1325 and 1026 sourced from ASP.NET and .NET Runtime shows the stack trace - just the thing I need.
My problem is, in my production machine (also IIS 8.5) I can't find the useful event 1325. Only a crash report, bearing no more information than I know. So I don't know what caused the error. I could surround my timer callback with try...catch block but the error could well be caused by something else (unmanaged libraries, error in static class initialization) then I still can't trace.
So suggestions on why event 1325 is missing or some tools that can show the log and analyse the stack trace is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
So, in your case you generate Exception diring Loading of application domain.
When CLR load application domain it firstly init static fields. So, if your code has problem with static fields, then exception will throw until it specifies Application_Error handler.
One more point, Is your application take a lot of memory? There are 2 cases when application can not write logs and execute code in catch block: StackOverflowException and OutOfMemoryException. Can you check is it has some memory leaks or infinite recursion?
One more point: set in visual studion setting to break when any exception throwed.
One more point: It is better to move your initialization logic from static constructors to ApplicationStart or something like this. You can do it temporary, for catch the bag and then move it to previous state.

The EventLogWebEventProvider provider failed to log an event with the error code 0x80070057

I am writing WebEvent in my asp.net Application and it is working fine in both my development and production region.However, When I analyze Event Logs in production server for past couple of months.I see below event
The following exception was thrown by the web event provider 'EventLogProvider' in the application '/(MyApplicationName)' (in an application lifetime a maximum of one exception will be logged per provider instance):
System.Web.HttpException (0x80004005): The EventLogWebEventProvider provider failed to log an event with the error code 0x80070057.
at System.Web.Management.EventLogWebEventProvider.ProcessEvent(WebBaseEvent eventRaised)
at System.Web.Management.WebBaseEvent.RaiseInternal(WebBaseEvent eventRaised, ArrayList firingRuleInfos, Int32 index0, Int32 index1)
Although Occurrence is very low, still I am curious to understand why this is happening.I tried to do some research and found below link
http://forums.iis.net/t/1201176.aspx?IIS+Keep+hanging
According to this link, I may be passing some invalid argument while writing event log.
But I double checked my EventLog.WriteEntry method and I am using it in my application only in couple of places and moreover, I am passing static string message. If argument is invalid then it should occur every time I try to write event.
Can anyone please help me understanding possible cause for this event.is there any known issue when working with EvenLog?
Check your code you may be trying to perform an invalid operation.
In my case i was writing a file to C Drive after changing Location to D Drive Problem Resolved

Random w3wp.exe crashes in .net 4

I have a website which has been up and running absolutely fine for about 8 months now. It's running .net 4 intergrated mode.
Recently i've started to get some "random" w3wp.exe crashes, and after 5 of them, IIS rapid fail protection kicks in and I have to manually login to the server and start the application pool again.
Here's what the event viewer says for the Error:
Faulting application name: w3wp.exe, version: 7.5.7601.17514, time stamp: 0x4ce7afa2
Faulting module name: nlssorting.dll, version: 4.0.30319.296, time stamp: 0x504835c7
Exception code: 0xc00000fd
Fault offset: 0x000000000000191f
Faulting process id: 0x1998
Faulting application start time: 0x01ce6e6b9b80c949
Faulting application path: c:\windows\system32\inetsrv\w3wp.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\nlssorting.dll
Report Id: d9cf3164-da5e-11e2-8cc5-f46d0440f6d5
Straight after the crashes, i get an "Information" log in the event viewer which at the bottom gives me the location of a .wer file.
This is what the .wer files contains:
Version=1
EventType=APPCRASH
EventTime=130162847687759734
ReportType=2
Consent=1
ReportIdentifier=d7c5e520-da5e-11e2-8cc5-f46d0440f6d5
IntegratorReportIdentifier=d7c5e51f-da5e-11e2-8cc5-f46d0440f6d5
Response.type=4
Sig[0].Name=Application Name
Sig[0].Value=w3wp.exe
Sig[1].Name=Application Version
Sig[1].Value=7.5.7601.17514
Sig[2].Name=Application Timestamp
Sig[2].Value=4ce7afa2
Sig[3].Name=Fault Module Name
Sig[3].Value=nlssorting.dll
Sig[4].Name=Fault Module Version
Sig[4].Value=4.0.30319.296
Sig[5].Name=Fault Module Timestamp
Sig[5].Value=504835c7
Sig[6].Name=Exception Code
Sig[6].Value=c00000fd
Sig[7].Name=Exception Offset
Sig[7].Value=000000000000197d
DynamicSig[1].Name=OS Version
DynamicSig[1].Value=6.1.7601.2.1.0.1296.17
DynamicSig[2].Name=Locale ID
DynamicSig[2].Value=2057
DynamicSig[22].Name=Additional Information 1
DynamicSig[22].Value=6141
DynamicSig[23].Name=Additional Information 2
DynamicSig[23].Value=61419d6dee6cf74b8ac2b00b4c3b3373
DynamicSig[24].Name=Additional Information 3
DynamicSig[24].Value=c19b
DynamicSig[25].Name=Additional Information 4
DynamicSig[25].Value=c19b8acf029a3088171b1f5f3dd9dc77
UI[2]=c:\windows\system32\inetsrv\w3wp.exe
UI[5]=Check online for a solution (recommended)
UI[6]=Check for a solution later (recommended)
UI[7]=Close
UI[8]=IIS Worker Process stopped working and was closed
UI[9]=A problem caused the application to stop working correctly. Windows will notify you if a solution is available.
UI[10]=&Close
LoadedModule[0]=c:\windows\system32\inetsrv\w3wp.exe
LoadedModule[1]=C:\Windows\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll
LoadedModule[2]=C:\Windows\system32\kernel32.dll
LoadedModule[3]=C:\Windows\system32\KERNELBASE.dll
LoadedModule[4]=C:\Windows\system32\ADVAPI32.dll
LoadedModule[5]=C:\Windows\system32\msvcrt.dll
LoadedModule[6]=C:\Windows\SYSTEM32\sechost.dll
LoadedModule[7]=C:\Windows\system32\RPCRT4.dll
LoadedModule[8]=C:\Windows\system32\pcwum.DLL
LoadedModule[9]=C:\Windows\system32\USER32.dll
LoadedModule[10]=C:\Windows\system32\GDI32.dll
LoadedModule[11]=C:\Windows\system32\LPK.dll
LoadedModule[12]=C:\Windows\system32\USP10.dll
LoadedModule[13]=C:\Windows\system32\ole32.dll
LoadedModule[14]=c:\windows\system32\inetsrv\IISUTIL.dll
LoadedModule[15]=C:\Windows\system32\IMM32.DLL
LoadedModule[16]=C:\Windows\system32\MSCTF.dll
LoadedModule[17]=C:\Windows\system32\CRYPTBASE.dll
LoadedModule[18]=C:\Windows\system32\ntmarta.dll
LoadedModule[19]=C:\Windows\system32\WLDAP32.dll
LoadedModule[20]=c:\windows\system32\inetsrv\w3wphost.dll
LoadedModule[21]=C:\Windows\system32\OLEAUT32.dll
LoadedModule[22]=c:\windows\system32\inetsrv\nativerd.dll
LoadedModule[23]=C:\Windows\system32\CRYPT32.dll
LoadedModule[24]=C:\Windows\system32\MSASN1.dll
LoadedModule[25]=C:\Windows\system32\XmlLite.dll
LoadedModule[26]=C:\Windows\system32\ktmw32.dll
LoadedModule[27]=c:\windows\system32\inetsrv\IISRES.DLL
LoadedModule[28]=C:\Windows\system32\CRYPTSP.dll
LoadedModule[29]=C:\Windows\system32\rsaenh.dll
LoadedModule[30]=C:\Windows\system32\mscoree.dll
LoadedModule[31]=C:\Windows\system32\CLBCatQ.DLL
LoadedModule[32]=C:\Windows\system32\mlang.dll
LoadedModule[33]=C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\webengine4.dll
LoadedModule[34]=C:\Windows\system32\MSVCR100_CLR0400.dll
LoadedModule[35]=C:\Windows\system32\USERENV.dll
LoadedModule[36]=C:\Windows\system32\profapi.dll
LoadedModule[37]=C:\Windows\system32\PSAPI.DLL
LoadedModule[38]=C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\mscoreei.dll
LoadedModule[39]=C:\Windows\system32\SHLWAPI.dll
LoadedModule[40]=C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\clr.dll
LoadedModule[41]=C:\Windows\system32\inetsrv\iiscore.dll
LoadedModule[42]=c:\windows\system32\inetsrv\W3TP.dll
LoadedModule[43]=c:\windows\system32\inetsrv\w3dt.dll
LoadedModule[44]=C:\Windows\system32\HTTPAPI.dll
LoadedModule[45]=C:\Windows\system32\slc.dll
LoadedModule[46]=C:\Windows\system32\WS2_32.dll
LoadedModule[47]=C:\Windows\system32\NSI.dll
LoadedModule[48]=C:\Windows\system32\Normaliz.dll
LoadedModule[49]=C:\Windows\system32\faultrep.dll
LoadedModule[50]=C:\Windows\system32\Secur32.dll
LoadedModule[51]=C:\Windows\system32\SSPICLI.DLL
LoadedModule[52]=C:\Windows\system32\NLAapi.dll
LoadedModule[53]=C:\Windows\system32\napinsp.dll
LoadedModule[54]=C:\Windows\System32\mswsock.dll
LoadedModule[55]=C:\Windows\system32\DNSAPI.dll
LoadedModule[56]=C:\Windows\System32\winrnr.dll
LoadedModule[57]=C:\Windows\System32\wshtcpip.dll
LoadedModule[58]=C:\Windows\System32\wship6.dll
LoadedModule[59]=C:\Windows\system32\IPHLPAPI.DLL
LoadedModule[60]=C:\Windows\system32\WINNSI.DLL
LoadedModule[61]=C:\Windows\system32\rasadhlp.dll
LoadedModule[62]=C:\Windows\System32\fwpuclnt.dll
LoadedModule[63]=C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\cachuri.dll
LoadedModule[64]=C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\cachfile.dll
LoadedModule[65]=C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\cachtokn.dll
LoadedModule[66]=C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\cachhttp.dll
LoadedModule[67]=C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\compdyn.dll
LoadedModule[68]=C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\compstat.dll
LoadedModule[69]=C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\defdoc.dll
LoadedModule[70]=C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\protsup.dll
LoadedModule[71]=C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\redirect.dll
LoadedModule[72]=C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\static.dll
LoadedModule[73]=C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\authanon.dll
LoadedModule[74]=C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\authbas.dll
LoadedModule[75]=C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\authsspi.dll
LoadedModule[76]=C:\Windows\system32\NETAPI32.dll
LoadedModule[77]=C:\Windows\system32\netutils.dll
LoadedModule[78]=C:\Windows\system32\srvcli.dll
LoadedModule[79]=C:\Windows\system32\wkscli.dll
LoadedModule[80]=C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\iprestr.dll
LoadedModule[81]=C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\modrqflt.dll
LoadedModule[82]=C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\logcust.dll
LoadedModule[83]=C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\custerr.dll
LoadedModule[84]=C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\loghttp.dll
LoadedModule[85]=C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\isapi.dll
LoadedModule[86]=C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\filter.dll
LoadedModule[87]=C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\validcfg.dll
LoadedModule[88]=c:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\aspnet_filter.dll
LoadedModule[89]=C:\Windows\system32\inetsrv\wbhst_pm.dll
LoadedModule[90]=C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\webengine.dll
LoadedModule[91]=C:\Windows\assembly\NativeImages_v4.0.30319_64\mscorlib\4f52500ab48877b85e71430f4f46670f\mscorlib.ni.dll
LoadedModule[92]=C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\nlssorting.dll
LoadedModule[93]=C:\Windows\assembly\NativeImages_v4.0.30319_64\System\a91f32875cb3ba779f1b3ceff1690251\System.ni.dll
LoadedModule[94]=C:\Windows\assembly\NativeImages_v4.0.30319_64\System.Core\0a8d99339ffe6b25debb8f8201c27664\System.Core.ni.dll
LoadedModule[95]=C:\Windows\assembly\NativeImages_v4.0.30319_64\System.Web\5b905bd7b71f9fd6bea2d05cc1ae85f8\System.Web.ni.dll
LoadedModule[96]=C:\Windows\system32\sxs.dll
LoadedModule[97]=C:\Windows\system32\RpcRtRemote.dll
LoadedModule[98]=C:\Windows\assembly\NativeImages_v4.0.30319_64\System.Configuration\fa65f89fd682c459fc5e7bcbd0418317\System.Configuration.ni.dll
LoadedModule[99]=C:\Windows\assembly\NativeImages_v4.0.30319_64\System.Xml\f4afb233f160b8e55aad4660e45b374c\System.Xml.ni.dll
LoadedModule[100]=C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\clrjit.dll
LoadedModule[101]=C:\Windows\assembly\NativeImages_v4.0.30319_64\Microsoft.Build.Uti#\14e16d61fae3cd1d9a1fa79b789f8438\Microsoft.Build.Utilities.v4.0.ni.dll
LoadedModule[102]=C:\Windows\assembly\NativeImages_v4.0.30319_64\System.Runtime.Cach#\8fdbe304abab0631b8a4310b35f3d93a\System.Runtime.Caching.ni.dll
LoadedModule[103]=C:\Windows\system32\shfolder.dll
LoadedModule[104]=C:\Windows\system32\SHELL32.dll
LoadedModule[105]=C:\Windows\assembly\NativeImages_v4.0.30319_64\Microsoft.JScript\85204dde340780329b569b025e249c23\Microsoft.JScript.ni.dll
LoadedModule[106]=C:\Windows\system32\version.dll
LoadedModule[107]=C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\Temporary ASP.NET Files\root\587f6661\a99d8ff8\App_Code.cgixlnxh.dll
LoadedModule[108]=C:\Windows\assembly\NativeImages_v4.0.30319_64\System.Data.Linq\feaa494ad67542d2060b31b9eeb6458b\System.Data.Linq.ni.dll
LoadedModule[109]=C:\Windows\assembly\NativeImages_v4.0.30319_64\System.Data\b928128fca867546a858a1a39240d85c\System.Data.ni.dll
LoadedModule[110]=C:\Windows\Microsoft.Net\assembly\GAC_64\System.Data\v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089\System.Data.dll
LoadedModule[111]=C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\Temporary ASP.NET Files\root\587f6661\a99d8ff8\assembly\dl3\595a888a\f26c0653_7f81cd01\HtmlAgilityPack.dll
LoadedModule[112]=C:\Windows\assembly\NativeImages_v4.0.30319_64\System.Drawing\5ae853f556290da9399b15b3619f7e15\System.Drawing.ni.dll
LoadedModule[113]=C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\Temporary ASP.NET Files\root\587f6661\a99d8ff8\assembly\dl3\85ba5013\f0c8f388_706bce01\TweetSharp.dll
LoadedModule[114]=C:\Windows\assembly\NativeImages_v4.0.30319_64\System.Web.Extensio#\0180a2d993d2a9699cf07f7163524fff\System.Web.Extensions.ni.dll
LoadedModule[115]=C:\Windows\assembly\NativeImages_v4.0.30319_64\System.Transactions\7b2099a1386e38ff198a51939304ce6e\System.Transactions.ni.dll
LoadedModule[116]=C:\Windows\Microsoft.Net\assembly\GAC_64\System.Transactions\v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089\System.Transactions.dll
LoadedModule[117]=C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\Temporary ASP.NET Files\root\587f6661\a99d8ff8\App_global.asax.yxdky-qn.dll
LoadedModule[118]=C:\Windows\assembly\NativeImages_v4.0.30319_64\System.ServiceModel#\7a5a5ff4a0b3bb4ba4bcc13166918e36\System.ServiceModel.Activation.ni.dll
LoadedModule[119]=C:\Windows\system32\bcrypt.dll
LoadedModule[120]=C:\Windows\assembly\NativeImages_v4.0.30319_64\System.Runtime.Dura#\799274e49455d0fe4ca563f42143bef2\System.Runtime.DurableInstancing.ni.dll
LoadedModule[121]=C:\Windows\assembly\NativeImages_v4.0.30319_64\System.Numerics\a66416296451fe6d2d8a5506ca41b23d\System.Numerics.ni.dll
LoadedModule[122]=C:\Windows\assembly\NativeImages_v4.0.30319_64\System.ServiceModel\15834d73d2846fc01ed54488ccfff5c8\System.ServiceModel.ni.dll
LoadedModule[123]=C:\Windows\assembly\NativeImages_v4.0.30319_64\SMDiagnostics\31f93b6be386908ff2727bcd825de0ca\SMDiagnostics.ni.dll
LoadedModule[124]=C:\Windows\assembly\NativeImages_v4.0.30319_64\System.Xaml.Hosting\cf8401f4952deb5303e0d7fd459ce530\System.Xaml.Hosting.ni.dll
LoadedModule[125]=C:\Windows\system32\inetsrv\gzip.dll
LoadedModule[126]=C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\Temporary ASP.NET Files\root\587f6661\a99d8ff8\assembly\dl3\3d63b311\fe7c9b8a_706bce01\Hammock.ClientProfile.dll
LoadedModule[127]=C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\Temporary ASP.NET Files\root\587f6661\a99d8ff8\assembly\dl3\6a128bd2\c184e08a_706bce01\Newtonsoft.Json.dll
LoadedModule[128]=C:\Windows\system32\rasapi32.dll
LoadedModule[129]=C:\Windows\system32\rasman.dll
LoadedModule[130]=C:\Windows\system32\rtutils.dll
LoadedModule[131]=C:\Windows\system32\winhttp.dll
LoadedModule[132]=C:\Windows\system32\webio.dll
LoadedModule[133]=C:\Windows\system32\credssp.dll
LoadedModule[134]=C:\Windows\system32\dhcpcsvc6.DLL
LoadedModule[135]=C:\Windows\system32\dhcpcsvc.DLL
LoadedModule[136]=C:\Windows\system32\security.dll
LoadedModule[137]=C:\Windows\system32\schannel.DLL
LoadedModule[138]=C:\Windows\system32\ncrypt.dll
LoadedModule[139]=C:\Windows\system32\bcryptprimitives.dll
LoadedModule[140]=C:\Windows\system32\GPAPI.dll
FriendlyEventName=Stopped working
ConsentKey=APPCRASH
AppName=IIS Worker Process
AppPath=c:\windows\system32\inetsrv\w3wp.exe
That nlssorting.dll seems to crop up a lot but I can't seem to find anything online related. The only thing I can find which matches my error is here, but that doesn't really help me.
I'm completely stumped as to where to go from here to fix this. Here's what I've tried:
Loading up IIS log files and trying every request from about 30 minutes before a crash, and none of the pages cause any errors.
Searching my code for any recursion which might cause a stackoverflow, but there isn't any
trawling online for ANYTHING that might help
Has anyone else ever had any problems with nlssorting.dll ? Can i get some more information from the .wer file that might help me pin point where this is happening?
Thanks in advance for any help!
UPDATE
I was using a 3rd party DLL, which was causing a stack overflow exception (0xc00000fd)
After more investigation, it was only happening after a certain chain of events happened - hence the "random" in the title. Removing the DLL fixed the problem.
We had the same problem with one of our sites. Using SVN we tracked it down to a method that was scaning for images within a folder.
I modified the code as follows:
Checking array length of scan results to be > 0 instead of == 1
Adding CultureInfo.InvariantCulture to all Int32.ToString() calls
After this we no longer experienced the error. The exact reason is still unknown.
I believe that none of the above points should make a difference in our environment. I believe that the problem could have been, people modifying image files and folders while the image scanning method was called.
I hope this helps somebody.
For anyone who's curious, this is a PITA to debug. Here are three reasons rumored for this to happen:
(1) Stack overflows, as in the original post.
(2) Too much CPU / memory usage, which becomes obvious and rapid fail protection closes the process.
(3) Unable to respond to pings / requests due to application hogging resources, but in a way that rapid fail protection deems appropriate to end the process, not explicitly because of either (1) or (2).
Our solution was to add manual log tracing in the production environment until we eventually found recursion which was leading the application to be stopped by reliability services (for inability to respond to pings, or process randomly crashing) rather than throwing an in-application exception.
I had the issue where w3p would throw an unhandled error as soon I spun up the site\api URI from the web browser, then it would crash.
I was able to pinpoint what part of my code was causing it in my case it was in the Owin Startup class and I was reading some configuration records from a database but prior to that it gets the connection string from a configuration file outside of the web app directory.
I checked the ownership of the folder it showed my account but apparently the subfolders were not owned by me so I set ownership to me again, clicked OK to allow permissions to traverse the objects and voila bye bye w3p error and the API loaded.
So in my case it was an access denied error on the folder \ file that contained the connection string.

Rare System.NullReferenceException show up for a HttpContext.Current.Session["courseNameAssociatedWithLoggedInUser"] that was previously populated?

Our ASP.NET C# web application is used in the following environment
.NET Framework 4
Silverlight 4 / PivotViewer
IIS 7
Windows 2008
Visual Studio 2010 .NET IDE
C#
HTTPS ( SSL )
Our Silverlight 4 / PivotViewer controls are obviously embedded in
ASP.NET pages.
In rare cases we get the "Object reference not set to an instance of
an object. error when navigating around ASP.NET pages that host our
Silverlight 4 / PivotViewer modules on our standalone Windows 2008
server with IIS 7.
Also, there is number of very odd things about the error. First, it
occurs only sometimes on certain user computers. To elaborate, it
usually only occurs when a the user uses a computer that accesses our ASP.NET web application for the first time.
Moreover, once we clear the browser cache the error does Not occur
when navigating around ASP.NET pages that host our
Silverlight 4 / PivotViewer modules.
Another interesting aspect about the error is that it refers to
absolute path on my local development computer in the error stack
trace when it is in reality deployed to the standalone Windows 2008
server with IIS 7. That`s really strange because before I deploy to
the standalone Windows 2008 server with IIS 7, I ensure that all
configuration parameters in files such as web.config refer to the
standalone server environment. In other words, I remove any
references to configuration parameter values associated with my local
development computer.
Therefore, I am confused as to why it refers to absolute path on my
local development computer in the error stack trace.
It would be bad experience for the user to get the "Object reference
not set to an instance of an object.` while using the site. Also, it
would be bad user experience if we have to tell the user to clear
his/her browser cache everytime the error shows up.
Server Error in '/' Application.
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of
the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more
information about the error and where it originated in the code.
Exception Details: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not
set to an instance of an object.
Source Error:
An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the
current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of
the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below.
Stack Trace:
[NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.]
PivotServer.SectionBasedRelatedModules.SectionBasedPerlsViewer.tailorConfigurationDetailsOfPageElementsToFallInLineWithTutorialSelection()
in C:\VisualStudioWorkSpace\VisualCSharpProjects\PerlsPivot\PivotServer\SectionBasedRelatedModules\SectionBasedPerlsViewer.aspx.cs:160
PivotServer.SectionBasedRelatedModules.SectionBasedPerlsViewer.Page_Load(Object
sender, EventArgs e) in
C:\VisualStudioWorkSpace\VisualCSharpProjects\PerlsPivot\PivotServer\SectionBasedRelatedModules\SectionBasedPerlsViewer.aspx.cs:146
System.Web.Util.CalliHelper.EventArgFunctionCaller(IntPtr fp,
Object o, Object t, EventArgs e) +24
System.Web.UI.Control.LoadRecursive() +70
System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean
includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint)
+3063
Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:4.0.30319;
ASP.NET Version:4.0.30319.272
I looked at line 160 which contains the following code:
String coursename = HttpContext.Current.Session["courseNameAssociatedWithLoggedInUser"].ToString();
Obviously, this tells us that there is no value for the variable "courseNameAssociatedWithLoggedInUser" in the HttpContext.Current.Session.
However, I took the same steps on another computer but it all ran smoothly.
Also, I am sure that I am giving a value to the HttpContext.Current.Session["courseNameAssociatedWithLoggedInUser"] as soon as the user logs in.
Does the HttpContext.Current.Session["courseNameAssociatedWithLoggedInUser"] get corrupted for some reason? If so, why, and how do we prevent it?
Should I be using Page.Session instead of HttpContext.Current.Session? Would that help?
"Obviously, this tells us that there is no value for the variable"courseNameAssociatedWithLoggedInUser" in the
HttpContext.Current.Session."
Not exactly... given your code...
String coursename = HttpContext.Current.Session["courseNameAssociatedWithLoggedInUser"].ToString();
... the following items could be causing this
HttpContext - unlikely
HttpContext.Current - more often than you would think, but would be reproducible
HttpContext.Current.Session["courseNameAssociatedWithLoggedInUser"]
To find out the specific item in that chain, you could do something like this (pseudo code)
function string GetCourseNameThingie()
{
if HttpContext is null
throw new Exception("HttpContext is null")
if HttpContext.Current is null
throw new Exception("HttpContext.Current is null")
if HttpContext.Current.Session["courseNameAssociatedWithLoggedInUser"] is null
throw new Exception("HttpContext.Current.Session["courseNameAssociatedWithLoggedInUser"]is null")
return HttpContext.Current.Session["courseNameAssociatedWithLoggedInUser"].ToString()
}
This would tell you specifically what was missing. As we have pointed out, it is more likely the value is either being cleared by another page or an error is occurring that is severe enough to destroy session for that user (Do you have a Application_Error or Session_End handler in Global.asax?).
You can also try wrapping the original statement in a try/catch and if an exception occurs, immediately check another session variable you assume to be still working. This will also tell you for sure whether the other variables are OK or not.
First, sorry for my grammar-English.
I had a similar issue with my .net applications and the reason was the idle time expiration.
There are four time expiration settings "(Yes 4)" and the recycling process of the application pools. I did the following
A) From Application pool: Open the advance setting and change the "Idle Time out". By default is 20 minutes.
Also, set the "Regular Time Interval" to 0. so it wont be recycled. I do not know why microsoft decided to default this to 1740 minutes. This is not a time out setting, it is a setting for always recycling the appPool after a period of time, so if your users are in the middle of something they will loose everything or having exceptions like that one you are having. Setting it to 0 will disable this.
B) Authentication Time Out. if you are using it, for example Form Authentication, then go to the authentication feature of your virtual directory app, right click in "Form Authentication" and select "Edit". Change the authentication cookie-time out.
C) ASP.NET Session State. in ISS, open the .net session state feature and change the session time-out. It is also by default 20 minutes.
D) asp.net form authentication time out. This was confusing for me at the beginning because I had already modified the cookie-time out of the form authentication in IIS (Step B). So I still had some problems, when I realised that I also need to change the web.config form authentication tag in order to add a time out attribute for changing the default 20 minutes.
My tag is looking like that: ...forms name=".ASPXFORMSAUTH" path="/" loginUrl="frmLogin.aspx" timeout="1740" protection="All" ...
We have developed a javascript mechanism that take the session state time out setting so we warm users that the system is about to auto log off due to inactivity.
It works beautiful now, Basically I have set all the time out settings to "1740" minutes, except the session state that we set to 30 minutes. So at the minute 29 of inactivity we show the user that the system will auto log off in a minute unless that they do some activity so the idle time is beginning from 0 again. Brilliant, now we do not have any problem with sessions.
Anyway guys, I have told you our experience and how we solve a similar problem that you are having now. However, the reason why I ended here is because we also want to eliminate the references to the absolute path on my local development computer at the moment of any exception.
We have not figured out why it is showing the absolute path. We have compiled our DLL assemblies in released mode, but this does not change anything. Have someone of you sort it out this issue?????
Thanks guys
Referencing a Session Within a ViewModel
You may not be using ASP.net MVC, but this would be useful if someone were to be looking for an answer.
I was in exactly the same situation except I would receive the null exception every time, whereas my colleague didn't at all, even though we were running exactly the same code.
Our mistake was to reference a session variable from a ViewModel, which is apparently bad practice. The code was changed so that the ViewModel received the session contents via the controller then set it as a property of the ViewModel. The session data (my example is called ProcessingWeek) would use this.ProcessingWeek, and not look directly at the httpcontext.current.session["ProcessingWeek"].
EventMatchResult Match = new EventMatchResult(
(ImportedEventModel)SessionData.ImportedEventModel,
ref db,
SessionData.ProcessingWeek);
...
public EventMatchResult(ImportedEventModel Event, ref CFModel db,
int ProcessingWeek)
{
this.db = db;
this.MatchedField = new List<PlayerMatchResult>();
this.ImportedEvent = Event;
this.ProcessingWeek = ProcessingWeek;
}

Issue running ASPX page using Scheduled Task

I have a scheduled task set up to run Scan.aspx every 3 minutes in IE7. Scan.aspx reads data from 10 files in sequence. These files are constantly being updated. The values from the file are inserted into a database.
Sporadically, the value being read is truncated or distorted. For example, if the value in the file was "Hello World", random entries such as "Hello W", "Hel", etc. will be in the database. The timestamps on these entries appear completely random. Sometimes at 1:00 am, sometimes at 3:30 am. And some nights, this doesn't occur at all.
I'm unable to reproduce this issue when I debug the code. So I know under "normal" circumstances, the code executes correctly.
UPDATE:
Here is the aspx codebehind (in Page_Load) to read a text file (this is called for each of the 10 text files):
Dim filename As String = location
If File.Exists(filename) Then
Using MyParser As New FileIO.TextFieldParser(filename)
MyParser.TextFieldType = FileIO.FieldType.Delimited
MyParser.SetDelimiters("~")
Dim currentrow As String()
Dim valueA, valueB As String
While Not MyParser.EndOfData
Try
currentrow = MyParser.ReadFields()
valueA= currentrow(0).ToUpper
valueB = currentrow(1).ToUpper
//insert values as record into DB if does not exist already
Catch ex As Exception
End Try
End While
End Using
End If
Any ideas why this might cause issues when running multiple times throughout the day (via scheduled task)?
First implement a Logger such as Log4Net in your ASP.NET solution and Log method entry and exit points in your Scan.aspx as well as your method for updating the DB. There is a chance this may provide some hint of what is going on. You should also check the System Event Log to see if any other event is associated with your failed DB entries.
ASP.NET is not the best thing for this scenario especially when paired with a Windows scheduled task; this is not a robust design. A more robust system would run on a timer inside a Windows-Service-Application. Your code for reading the files and updating to the DB could be ported across. If you have access to the server and can install a Windows Service, make sure you also add Logging to the Windows Service too!
Make sure you read the How to Debug below
Windows Service Applications intro on MSDN: has further links to:
How to: Create Windows Services
How to: Install and Uninstall Services
How to: Start Services
How to: Debug Windows Service Applications]
Walkthrough: Creating a Windows Service
Application in the Component Designer
How to: Add Installers to Your Service Application
Regarding your follow up comment about the apparent random entries that sometimes occur at 1am and 3.30am: you should:
Investigate the IIS Log for the site when these occur and find out what hit(visited) the page at that time.
Check if there is an indexing service on the server which is visiting your aspx page.
Check if Anti-Virus software is installed and ascertain if this is visiting your aspx page or impacting the Asp.Net cache; this can cause compilation issues such as file-locks on the aspnet page in the aspnet cache; (a scenario for aspnet websites as opposed to aspnet web applications) which could give weird behavior.
Find out if the truncated entries coincide with the time that the files are updated: cross reference your db entries timestamp or logger timestamp with the time the files are updated.
Update your logger to log the entire contents of the file being read to verify you've not got a 'junk-in > junk-out' scenario. Be careful with diskspace on the server by running this for one night.
Find out when the App-Pool that your web app runs under is recycled and cross reference this with the time of your truncated entries; you can do this with web.config only via ASP.NET Health Monitoring.
Your code is written with a 'try catch' that will bury errors. If you are not going to do something useful with your caught error then do not catch it. Handle your edge cases in code, not a try catch.
See this try-catch question on this site.

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