Getting exception when running Sitefinity application in Azu

Hi

I deployed a Sitefinity 7.3 application to Azure Cloud Services using Azure SDK 2.2 version. The application is successfully deployed and the web role instance is in running status. When I ran the application I am getting the following exception

Please help in resolving this error.

 

Server Error in '/' Application.

Unable to cast object of type 'System.String' to type 'System.Type'.

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.InvalidCastException: Unable to cast object of type 'System.String' to type 'System.Type'.

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:

[InvalidCastException: Unable to cast object of type 'System.String' to type 'System.Type'.]
Telerik.Sitefinity.Configuration.ConfigElement.GetValueFromString(String stringValue, ConfigProperty property) +86
Telerik.Sitefinity.Configuration.ConfigElementDictionary`2.GetElementByKey(String key) +110
Telerik.Sitefinity.Configuration.Data.XmlConfigProvider.LoadCollectionElement(ConfigElementCollection collection, XmlReader reader, ConfigPolicyHandler policyHandler, String policyName, UpgradingInfo upgradingInfo) +931
Telerik.Sitefinity.Configuration.Data.XmlConfigProvider.LoadElement(ConfigElement element, XmlReader reader, ConfigPolicyHandler policyHandler, String policyName, UpgradingInfo upgradingInfo, Boolean isNew, Boolean validateTagName) +323
Telerik.Sitefinity.Configuration.Data.XmlConfigProvider.LoadPropertyElement(ConfigElement element, XmlReader reader, ConfigPolicyHandler policyHandler, String policyName, UpgradingInfo upgradingInfo) +545
Telerik.Sitefinity.Configuration.Data.XmlConfigProvider.LoadElement(ConfigElement element, XmlReader reader, ConfigPolicyHandler policyHandler, String policyName, UpgradingInfo upgradingInfo, Boolean isNew, Boolean validateTagName) +355
Telerik.Sitefinity.Configuration.Data.XmlConfigProvider.LoadSectionFromReader(ConfigSection section, XmlReader reader, ConfigPolicyHandler policyHandler, String policyName, Boolean checkForUpgrade, UpgradingInfo& upgradingInfo) +439
Telerik.Sitefinity.Configuration.Data.XmlConfigProvider.LoadSectionFromFile(ConfigSection section, ConfigPolicyHandler policyHandler, String policyName, Boolean withUpgrade) +137
Telerik.Sitefinity.Configuration.Data.XmlConfigProvider.LoadSection(ConfigSection section, ConfigPolicyHandler policyHandler, String policyName) +82
Telerik.Sitefinity.Configuration.ConfigSection.Initialize(ConfigProvider provider, ConfigPolicyHandler policyHandler, String policyName, Boolean singlePolicy) +315
Telerik.Sitefinity.Configuration.ConfigSection.Initialize(ConfigProvider provider) +30
Telerik.Sitefinity.Configuration.Config.GetSectionInternal(Type sectionType, Boolean safeMode, String sectionName) +541
Telerik.Sitefinity.Configuration.Config.GetSectionPrivate(Boolean safeMode) +291
Telerik.Sitefinity.Web.UI.ControlUtilities..cctor() +18

[TypeInitializationException: The type initializer for 'Telerik.Sitefinity.Web.UI.ControlUtilities' threw an exception.]
Telerik.Sitefinity.Abstractions.VirtualPath.Configuration.VirtualPathSettingsConfig.OnPropertiesInitialized() +60
Telerik.Sitefinity.Configuration.ConfigSection.InitializeProperties() +27
Telerik.Sitefinity.Configuration.ConfigElement.EnsurePropertiesInitialized() +130
Telerik.Sitefinity.Configuration.ConfigElement.get_Properties() +21
Telerik.Sitefinity.Configuration.Data.XmlConfigProvider.LoadPropertyElement(ConfigElement element, XmlReader reader, ConfigPolicyHandler policyHandler, String policyName, UpgradingInfo upgradingInfo) +49
Telerik.Sitefinity.Configuration.Data.XmlConfigProvider.LoadElement(ConfigElement element, XmlReader reader, ConfigPolicyHandler policyHandler, String policyName, UpgradingInfo upgradingInfo, Boolean isNew, Boolean validateTagName) +355
Telerik.Sitefinity.Configuration.Data.XmlConfigProvider.LoadSectionFromReader(ConfigSection section, XmlReader reader, ConfigPolicyHandler policyHandler, String policyName, Boolean checkForUpgrade, UpgradingInfo& upgradingInfo) +439
Telerik.Sitefinity.Configuration.Data.XmlConfigProvider.LoadSectionFromFile(ConfigSection section, ConfigPolicyHandler policyHandler, String policyName, Boolean withUpgrade) +137
Telerik.Sitefinity.Configuration.Data.XmlConfigProvider.LoadSection(ConfigSection section, ConfigPolicyHandler policyHandler, String policyName) +82
Telerik.Sitefinity.Configuration.ConfigSection.Initialize(ConfigProvider provider, ConfigPolicyHandler policyHandler, String policyName, Boolean singlePolicy) +315
Telerik.Sitefinity.Configuration.ConfigSection.Initialize(ConfigProvider provider) +30
Telerik.Sitefinity.Configuration.Config.GetSectionInternal(Type sectionType, Boolean safeMode, String sectionName) +541
Telerik.Sitefinity.Configuration.Config.GetSectionPrivate(Boolean safeMode) +291
Telerik.Sitefinity.Abstractions.VirtualPath.VirtualPathManager.Initialize() +243
Telerik.Sitefinity.Abstractions.VirtualPath.VirtualPathManager.FileExists(String virtualPath) +98
System.Web.WebPages.BuildManagerWrapper.IsNonUpdatablePrecompiledApp() +106
System.Web.WebPages.BuildManagerWrapper..ctor(VirtualPathProvider vpp, IVirtualPathUtility virtualPathUtility) +48
System.Web.WebPages.VirtualPathFactoryManager.<.cctor>b__6() +56
System.Lazy`1.CreateValue() +14276560
System.Lazy`1.LazyInitValue() +476
System.Web.WebPages.ApplicationStartPage.ExecuteStartPage(HttpApplication application) +167
System.Web.WebPages.WebPageHttpModule.StartApplication(HttpApplication application, Action`1 executeStartPage, EventHandler applicationStart) +119
System.Web.WebPages.WebPageHttpModule.InitApplication(HttpApplication application) +75
System.Web.WebPages.WebPageHttpModule.Init(HttpApplication application) +292
System.Web.HttpApplication.RegisterEventSubscriptionsWithIIS(IntPtr appContext, HttpContext context, MethodInfo[] handlers) +530
System.Web.HttpApplication.InitSpecial(HttpApplicationState state, MethodInfo[] handlers, IntPtr appContext, HttpContext context) +304
System.Web.HttpApplicationFactory.GetSpecialApplicationInstance(IntPtr appContext, HttpContext context) +404
System.Web.Hosting.PipelineRuntime.InitializeApplication(IntPtr appContext) +475

[HttpException (0x80004005): The type initializer for 'Telerik.Sitefinity.Web.UI.ControlUtilities' threw an exception.]
System.Web.HttpRuntime.FirstRequestInit(HttpContext context) +12979380
System.Web.HttpRuntime.EnsureFirstRequestInit(HttpContext context) +159
System.Web.HttpRuntime.ProcessRequestNotificationPrivate(IIS7WorkerRequest wr, HttpContext context) +12818973

Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:4.0.30319; ASP.NET Version:4.0.30319.34212

Thanks

Mani

Hi Mani,

Judging by the error message you are getting it seems that Sitefinity is trying to read the configurations from the file system. Can you please check if you are storing the configuration files in the database?

In order to check if the configurations are moved to the database, please open your web.config file and then check if the following lines are not commented:

You may refer to the following article for more details on this.

Please make sure that the above lines are not commented out, in order to make sure that Sitefinity gets the configuration files from the database and not from the file system.

Regards,
Sabrie Nedzhip
Telerik

I am facing a similar problem. Only difference is I have received a Sitefinity project from a client. This project was being developed by someone else. He may have deployed it on Azure. I have not. I just deployed it on Local IIS 7+ with DB on MSSqlServer2012(local). When I try to run the site I see the same error. The snippet you have mentioned in the web.config were commented out already. And because I have not deployed it on Azure, I think they should remain that way. What to do in this case. I don't know whether the settings should be fetched from file system or db. I only have a DB and a Sitefinity Project. The web.config contains commented sections of windows azure. When I run the application I get the same error as : "Unable to cast object of type 'System.String' to type 'System.Type' ..." .

I tried uncommenting the config sections as described in this post(even though I have not deployed the app on Azure, Its just deployed on local IIS & Local MSSqlServer2012), When I uncommented the config file and ran the application, I get this error: "Could not load file or assembly 'msshrtmi, Version=2.6.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=xxxxxxxx' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified."

 

What is the solution here. In my scenario I just want to run the application, We don't have direct access to the previous developer. How can I make my application run considering my constraints.

 

Hi Zepp

The web.config section has to be commented because you are not deploying to Azure. 

Are you using visual studio to manage your sitefinity project? If yes which version?

 

Thanks

Mani

 

Mani, 

In my case the config sections were already commented out. With commented sections I get this error : "Unable to cast object of type 'System.String' to type 'System.Type'"

 Also note that my DataConfig contains this section: 
<databaseMappingOptions>
<azureOptions useMsSqlIdentifierLimitations="False" />
</databaseMappingOptions>

I am using Visual Studio 2013 to build and run the project. Complete details regarding my scenario are defined in this thread:

www.sitefinity.com/.../having-issues-building-running-a-sitefinity-project