The type initializer for System Data Entity Internal AppConfig threw an exception

Question

I m working with EF5 in a MVC 4 aspnet website  Locally  everything works just fine  but when I publish it to the IIS and try to enter  I get the error      The type initializer for  System Data Entity Internal AppConfig    threw an exception     Detailed exception     An error occurred creating the configuration section handler for   entityFramework  Configuration for DbContext type    GdpSoftware Server Data GdpSoftwareDbContext    GdpSoftware Server Data  is specified multiple times in the   application configuration  Each context can only be configured once     E  App web config line 104    I checked previous question in StackOverflow  and I already uninstalled and reinstalled through Nuget EntityFramework and checked that each reference to it in each project is EF5  I also checked that the selected framework in each project is 4 5   Any idea  What might be causing the issue  Thanks  Guillermo   web config   lt  xml version  1 0  encoding  utf-8   gt   lt  --   For more information on how to configure your ASP NET application  please visit   http   go microsoft com fwlink  LinkId 169433   -- gt   lt configuration gt     lt configSections gt       lt section name  entityFramework  type  System Data Entity Internal ConfigFile EntityFrameworkSection  EntityFramework  Version 5 0 0 0  Culture neutral  PublicKeyToken b77a5c561934e089  requirePermission  false    gt      lt  -- For more information on Entity Framework configuration  visit http   go microsoft com fwlink  LinkID 237468 -- gt  lt  configSections gt     lt connectionStrings gt       lt add name  GdpSoftwareConnectionString  connectionString  Persist Security Info False User ID user Password password Initial Catalog databasename Data Source server  providerName  System Data SqlClient    gt       lt add name  GdpSoftware Server Data GdpSoftwareDbContext  connectionString  GdpSoftware Server Data GdpSoftwareDbContext ConnectionString  providerName  System Data SqlClient   gt       lt add name  GdpSoftware Server Ui Web Models UsersContext  connectionString  GdpSoftware Server Ui Web Models UsersContext ConnectionString  providerName  System Data SqlClient   gt     lt  connectionStrings gt     lt appSettings gt       lt add key  webpages Version  value  2 0 0 0    gt       lt add key  webpages Enabled  value  false    gt       lt add key  PreserveLoginUrl  value  true    gt       lt add key  ClientValidationEnabled  value  true    gt       lt add key  UnobtrusiveJavaScriptEnabled  value  true    gt     lt  appSettings gt     lt system web gt       lt compilation debug  true  targetFramework  4 5    gt       lt httpRuntime targetFramework  4 5    gt       lt authentication mode  Forms  gt         lt forms loginUrl    Account Login  timeout  2880    gt       lt  authentication gt       lt pages gt         lt namespaces gt           lt add namespace  System Web Helpers    gt           lt add namespace  System Web Mvc    gt           lt add namespace  System Web Mvc Ajax    gt           lt add namespace  System Web Mvc Html    gt           lt add namespace  System Web Optimization    gt           lt add namespace  System Web Routing    gt           lt add namespace  System Web WebPages    gt         lt  namespaces gt       lt  pages gt       lt  -- BEGIN - TO SEE THE ERRORS ON THE DEPLOYMENT-- gt       lt customErrors mode  Off    gt       lt  -- END - TO SEE THE ERRORS ON THE DEPLOYMENT-- gt     lt  system web gt     lt system webServer gt       lt  -- BEGIN - TO SEE THE ERRORS ON THE DEPLOYMENT-- gt       lt httpErrors errorMode  Detailed    gt       lt asp scriptErrorSentToBrowser  true    gt       lt  -- END - TO SEE THE ERRORS ON THE DEPLOYMENT-- gt       lt validation validateIntegratedModeConfiguration  false    gt       lt handlers gt         lt remove name  ExtensionlessUrlHandler-ISAPI-4 0 32bit    gt         lt remove name  ExtensionlessUrlHandler-ISAPI-4 0 64bit    gt         lt remove name  ExtensionlessUrlHandler-Integrated-4 0    gt         lt add name  ExtensionlessUrlHandler-ISAPI-4 0 32bit  path      verb  GET HEAD POST DEBUG PUT DELETE PATCH OPTIONS  modules  IsapiModule  scriptProcessor   windir  Microsoft NET Framework v4 0 30319 aspnet isapi dll  preCondition  classicMode runtimeVersionv4 0 bitness32  responseBufferLimit  0    gt         lt add name  ExtensionlessUrlHandler-ISAPI-4 0 64bit  path      verb  GET HEAD POST DEBUG PUT DELETE PATCH OPTIONS  modules  IsapiModule  scriptProcessor   windir  Microsoft NET Framework64 v4 0 30319 aspnet isapi dll  preCondition  classicMode runtimeVersionv4 0 bitness64  responseBufferLimit  0    gt         lt add name  ExtensionlessUrlHandler-Integrated-4 0  path      verb  GET HEAD POST DEBUG PUT DELETE PATCH OPTIONS  type  System Web Handlers TransferRequestHandler  preCondition  integratedMode runtimeVersionv4 0    gt       lt  handlers gt       lt staticContent gt         lt mimeMap fileExtension   mustache  mimeType  text plain    gt       lt  staticContent gt       lt security gt         lt requestFiltering gt           lt fileExtensions gt             lt add fileExtension   mustache  allowed  true    gt           lt  fileExtensions gt         lt  requestFiltering gt       lt  security gt     lt  system webServer gt     lt runtime gt       lt assemblyBinding xmlns  urn schemas-microsoft-com asm v1  gt         lt dependentAssembly gt           lt assemblyIdentity name  System Web Helpers  publicKeyToken  31bf3856ad364e35    gt           lt bindingRedirect oldVersion  1 0 0 0-2 0 0 0  newVersion  2 0 0 0    gt         lt  dependentAssembly gt         lt dependentAssembly gt           lt assemblyIdentity name  System Web Mvc  publicKeyToken  31bf3856ad364e35    gt           lt bindingRedirect oldVersion  0 0 0 0-4 0 0 0  newVersion  4 0 0 0    gt         lt  dependentAssembly gt         lt dependentAssembly gt           lt assemblyIdentity name  System Web WebPages  publicKeyToken  31bf3856ad364e35    gt           lt bindingRedirect oldVersion  1 0 0 0-2 0 0 0  newVersion  2 0 0 0    gt         lt  dependentAssembly gt         lt dependentAssembly gt           lt assemblyIdentity name  Castle Windsor  publicKeyToken  407dd0808d44fbdc  culture  neutral    gt           lt bindingRedirect oldVersion  0 0 0 0-3 2 0 0  newVersion  3 2 0 0    gt         lt  dependentAssembly gt         lt dependentAssembly gt           lt assemblyIdentity name  Newtonsoft Json  publicKeyToken  30ad4fe6b2a6aeed  culture  neutral    gt           lt bindingRedirect oldVersion  0 0 0 0-4 5 0 0  newVersion  4 5 0 0    gt         lt  dependentAssembly gt         lt dependentAssembly gt           lt assemblyIdentity name  Microsoft Owin Host SystemWeb  publicKeyToken  31bf3856ad364e35  culture  neutral    gt           lt bindingRedirect oldVersion  0 0 0 0-1 0 0 0  newVersion  1 0 0 0    gt         lt  dependentAssembly gt         lt dependentAssembly gt           lt assemblyIdentity name  Castle Core  publicKeyToken  407dd0808d44fbdc  culture  neutral    gt           lt bindingRedirect oldVersion  0 0 0 0-3 2 0 0  newVersion  3 2 0 0    gt         lt  dependentAssembly gt       lt  assemblyBinding gt     lt  runtime gt     lt entityFramework gt       lt defaultConnectionFactory type  System Data Entity Infrastructure SqlConnectionFactory  EntityFramework    gt       lt contexts gt         lt context type  GdpSoftware Server Data GdpSoftwareDbContext  GdpSoftware Server Data  disableDatabaseInitialization  true  gt           lt databaseInitializer type  System Data Entity MigrateDatabaseToLatestVersion 2  GdpSoftware Server Data GdpSoftwareDbContext  GdpSoftware Server Data    GdpSoftware Server Data Migrations Configuration  GdpSoftware Server Data    EntityFramework    gt         lt  context gt       lt  contexts gt     lt  entityFramework gt   lt  configuration gt

User · Answer

Old question but it just happened to me for different reasons mentioned in the other answers, so I thought I'd share my findings.

In my case, the problem was how I defined my connection string entry in the app.config. I edited it directly in Notepad++ and I must have hit a shortcut, and minimized the entire string which I didn't spot, and started to get this error. This is how I was defined it:

<add name="MyDb" connectionstring="data source=MyServer;
 initial catalog=MyDatabase;integrated security=true" 
 providername="System.Data.SqlClient" />

The second I changed the following parameters

connectionstring to connectionString

and

providername to providerName

Note: The problem was highlighted immediately In Visual Studio but clearly this isn't ideal if you're on a client site!

User · Answer

I have broken my head over this issue  and finally here s what worked for me -  Step1   Uninstall Entity framework using Nuget package manager  Step2  Delete Entityframework element from App config  Step3  Reinstall desired version of Entity Framework   Step4  delete Migrations table and Migrations folder   Step5  Enable Migrations and Add Migration and Update database

User · Answer

I faced similar issue and changing defaultConnectionFactory to be SqlConnectionFactory helped me solve it

User · Answer

I had same problem  After one day  I got it   Problem was from adding two smtp tags in mailSettings under  lt system net gt

User · Answer

I Found that removing the references to Entity Framework and installing the latest version of Entity Framework from NuGet fixed the issue  It recreates all the required entries for you during install

User · Answer

The general issue is just any issue involving Machine Web App configs   I had the same connection strings in Machine Config as in my App Config so I put  before my first connection string in my App Config

User · Answer

Check the C-drive inside C  inetpub wwwroot and remove all unnecessary folders from it  else remove unnecessary host files or folders from IIS

User · Answer

in my case    lt section name  entityFramework    must be updated from version 4 to 6  I mean a project was updated EntityFramework from  4 to 6 but web config was not updated

User · Answer

I had multiple providers specified in my web config     lt providers gt         lt provider invariantName  MySql Data MySqlClient  type  MySql Data MySqlClient MySqlProviderServices  MySql Data Entity EF6    gt         lt provider invariantName  MySql Data MySqlClient  type  MySql Data MySqlClient MySqlProviderServices  MySql Data Entity EF6  Version 6 9 6 0  Culture neutral  PublicKeyToken c5687fc88969c44d  gt  lt  provider gt       lt  providers gt    I simply removed one of those and it worked   I am using MySQL though  not TSQL

User · Answer

If you use ASP NET and IISExpress go to  C  Users  Documents IISExpress config applicationhost config   search for your Project and look if you have a faulty virtualDirectory entry

User · Answer

I needed to change by defaultConnectionFactory to be SqlConnectionFactory instead of the default   lt entityFramework gt     lt defaultConnectionFactory type  System Data Entity Infrastructure SqlConnectionFactory  EntityFramework  gt       lt parameters gt         lt parameter value   lt My Connection String gt     gt       lt  parameters gt     lt  defaultConnectionFactory gt   lt  entityFramework gt    http   blogs msdn com b davidobando archive 2012 08 14 changing-ef-s-default-provider-from-localdb-to-sql-server aspx

User · Answer

I solved this problem removing DbproviderFactory in the section system data of the file machine config  there was some dirty data when I installed fbclient dll  C  Windows Microsoft NET Framework64 v4 0 30319 Config machine config C  Windows Microsoft NET Framework v4 0 30319 Config machine config    lt system data gt       lt  --  lt DbProviderFactories gt  lt add name  quot FirebirdClient Data Provider quot  invariant  quot FirebirdSql Data FirebirdClient quot  description  quot  NET Framework Data Provider for Firebird quot  type  quot FirebirdSql Data FirebirdClient FirebirdClientFactory  FirebirdSql Data FirebirdClient  Version 4 10 0 0  Culture neutral  PublicKeyToken 3750abcc3150b00c quot   gt  lt add name  quot FirebirdClient Data Provider quot  invariant  quot FirebirdSql Data FirebirdClient quot  description  quot  NET Framework Data Provider for Firebird quot  type  quot FirebirdSql Data FirebirdClient FirebirdClientFactory  FirebirdSql Data FirebirdClient  Version 6 4 0 0  Culture neutral  PublicKeyToken 3750abcc3150b00c quot   gt  -- gt     lt  system data gt

User · Answer

I had the duplicit definition of connection string in my WCF service  I was able to debug the service and to see the inner error message  not displayed by default     ConfigurationErrorsException  The entry  xxxEntities  has  already been added   C  Users WcfService web config line 35      which was after web config transformation  note duplicit values    lt connectionStrings gt       lt add name  xxxEntities  connectionString  metadata res               lt add name  xxxEntities  connectionString  metadata res            Hence removing unwanted connection string solved my problem

User · Answer

This weird error happens  when you play around with different versions of EntityFramework versions in Nuget Packages like I did   First  Uninstall your Entity Framework DLL from NuGet packages and then Clean up app config  By removing the entry from configSections and entity framework element    Next  install the desired version  This should fix the problem

User · Answer

I ran into this issue when I forgot to set my Connections config file to  copy always   BareMessage    Unable to open configSource file  Connections config

User · Answer

Change this part in your Web config  according to the below code  try this  it works to me     lt entityFramework gt       lt defaultConnectionFactory type  System Data Entity Infrastructure SqlConnectionFactory  EntityFramework  gt         lt parameters gt           lt parameter value  Data Source    Integrated Security True  MultipleActiveResultSets True    gt            lt  parameters gt       lt  defaultConnectionFactory gt     lt  entityFramework gt

User · Answer

I think the problem is from this line    lt context type  GdpSoftware Server Data GdpSoftwareDbContext  GdpSoftware Server Data  disableDatabaseInitialization  true  gt    I don t know why you are using this approach and how it works      Maybe it s better to try to get it out from web config and go another way

User · Answer

Do the following in the App config file    Put the connectionStrings element is after the configSections element  Put the startup element after the connectionStrings element     lt  xml version  1 0  encoding  utf-8   gt    lt configuration gt      lt configSections gt            lt section name  entityFramework  type  System Data Entity Internal ConfigFile EntityFrameworkSection  EntityFramework  Version 4 3 0 0  Culture neutral  PublicKeyToken b77a5c561934e089    gt      lt  configSections gt      lt connectionStrings gt            lt add name  SchedulingContext  connectionString  Data Source XXX SQL2008R2DEV Initial Catalog YYY Persist Security Info True User ID sa Password XXX    providerName  System Data SqlClient   gt      lt  connectionStrings gt      lt startup gt           lt supportedRuntime version  v4 0  sku   NETFramework Version v4 5    gt     lt  startup gt           lt  configuration gt

User · Answer

In connection string  the first string is the base in web config   SchedulingContext is the base parameter of Entity file    lt connectionStrings gt        lt add name  SchedulingContext  connectionString  Data Source XXX SQL2008R2DEV Initial Catalog YYY Persist Security Info True User ID sa Password XXX    providerName  System Data SqlClient   gt

User · Answer

Search in your web config or App Config if you have some tags that are not used in your project or you don t have in your references

User · Answer

actual error thrown Message Unrecognized element  providers  in web config so from the web config file remove the providers section

User · Answer

I  had the duplicate definition of connection string in my Project Cms And the Context class is named CmsContext In my case  the problem was solved  as I changed the connectionsting in Web config as follow in first one name is CmsContext and it s related to main project  in second one name is DefaultConnection and it s related to Identity  lt add name  quot CmsContext quot  providerName  quot System Data SqlClient quot  connectionString  quot Data Source DESKTOP-2NQSP1P SQLEXPRESS   Initial Catalog CmsDB Integrated Security True  quot    gt   lt  connectionStrings gt

User · Answer

in my case adding  lt clear   gt  just after  lt connectionStrings gt  worked like charm

User · Answer

If you are maintaining one more cinfiguration file for app config   Don t include any key in parent page   Parent Page   app config   lt appSettings configSource  appSettings config  gt       lt add key  ClientSettings  value  venice    gt   lt  -- Don t add Key Here -- gt   lt  appSettings gt    Child Page   appSettings config   lt appSettings gt     lt add key  ClientSettings  value  venice   gt   lt  -- add Here -- gt   lt  appSettings gt

User · Answer

I had this error today on a nested MVC application running as virtual folder in onother MVC application  In my case the InnerException was more informative than the main one  It was stating   - The entry  DbContextMain  has already been added   C  inetpub     web config line x    After fixing the duplicate connection strings in the nested apps everything worked fine

User · Answer

I also faced the same issue  however in my case my solution has a console application and  EF class library which mainly interacts with database  I removed Config settings related to EF from the Console Application Config  I maintained the following configuration settings in EF class library i e only at one place   This worked for me           lt section name  entityFramework  type  System Data Entity Internal ConfigFile EntityFrameworkSection  EntityFramework  Version 6 2 61023 0  Culture neutral  PublicKeyToken b77a5c561934e089  requirePermission  false    gt          lt add name  EntityModel  connectionString  Server Localhost SQLEXPRESS Database SampleEntities Trusted Connection True   providerName  System Data EntityClient    gt

[asp.net] The type initializer for 'System.Data.Entity.Internal.AppConfig' threw an exception

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