ASP.net website with LocalDB deployment to IIS7

Question

First of all I would like to apologize because I have found many topics with similar problem but none solved mine.

I have developed a ASP.net website (C#) in Visual Studio 2012 Ultimate. I created the App_Data folder and created a SQL Sever Database. When all the development was done, I decided to deploy the website to IIS7 on Windows Server 2008 R2. After deployment, most of the webpages work just fine, except the ones with data from the database.

I have selected the .Net FrameWork version in IIS to v4.0

This is the error I am getting when accessing the pages with a gridview for example.

Server Error in '/' Application.

The system cannot find the file specified 
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.ComponentModel.Win32Exception: The system cannot find the file specified

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:

[Win32Exception (0x80004005): The system cannot find the file specified]
[SqlException (0x80131904): A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessible. Verify that the instance name is correct and that SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. (provider: SQL Network Interfaces, error: 52 - Unable to locate a Local Database Runtime installation. Verify that SQL Server Express is properly installed and that the Local Database Runtime feature is enabled.)]
   System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionPool.TryGetConnection(DbConnection owningObject, UInt32 waitForMultipleObjectsTimeout, Boolean allowCreate, Boolean onlyOneCheckConnection, DbConnectionOptions userOptions, DbConnectionInternal& connection) +414
   System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionPool.TryGetConnection(DbConnection owningObject, TaskCompletionSource`1 retry, DbConnectionOptions userOptions, DbConnectionInternal& connection) +78
   System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionFactory.TryGetConnection(DbConnection owningConnection, TaskCompletionSource`1 retry, DbConnectionOptions userOptions, DbConnectionInternal oldConnection, DbConnectionInternal& connection) +196
   System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionInternal.TryOpenConnectionInternal(DbConnection outerConnection, DbConnectionFactory connectionFactory, TaskCompletionSource`1 retry, DbConnectionOptions userOptions) +146
   System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionClosed.TryOpenConnection(DbConnection outerConnection, DbConnectionFactory connectionFactory, TaskCompletionSource`1 retry, DbConnectionOptions userOptions) +16
   System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection.TryOpenInner(TaskCompletionSource`1 retry) +94
   System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection.TryOpen(TaskCompletionSource`1 retry) +110
   System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection.Open() +96
   System.Data.Common.DbDataAdapter.FillInternal(DataSet dataset, DataTable[] datatables, Int32 startRecord, Int32 maxRecords, String srcTable, IDbCommand command, CommandBehavior behavior) +121
   System.Data.Common.DbDataAdapter.Fill(DataTable[] dataTables, Int32 startRecord, Int32 maxRecords, IDbCommand command, CommandBehavior behavior) +160
   System.Data.Common.DbDataAdapter.Fill(DataTable dataTable) +108
   dsNotificaTableAdapters.pessoasEnvolvidasTableAdapter.getPessoasEnvolvidas() +101
   notificar.fillrblPessoas() +41
   notificar.Page_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e) +327
   System.Web.Util.CalliEventHandlerDelegateProxy.Callback(Object sender, EventArgs e) +51
   System.Web.UI.Control.OnLoad(EventArgs e) +92
   System.Web.UI.Control.LoadRecursive() +54
   System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint) +772


Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:4.0.30319; ASP.NET Version:4.0.30319.18446 

Thanks for your help in advance!

Answer 1

You need to set a value in appPool config to enable your site to reach your .mdf file:

in C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\config\applicationHost.config

set etProfileEnvironment=“true“ like that:

<add name=“ASP.NET v4.0“ autoStart=“true“ managedRuntimeVersion=“v4.0“ managedPipelineMode=“Integrated“>
<processModel identityType=“ApplicationPoolIdentity“ loadUserProfile=“true“ setProfileEnvironment=“true“ />
</add>

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/sqlexpress/2011/12/08/using-localdb-with-full-iis-part-1-user-profile/

Answer 2

[SqlException (0x80131904): A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessible. Verify that the instance name is correct and that SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. (provider: SQL Network Interfaces, error: 52 - Unable to locate a Local Database Runtime installation. Verify that SQL Server Express is properly installed and that the Local Database Runtime feature is enabled.)]

LocalDB (SQL Database inside App_Data) is primarily intended for developing and testing purpose only. When you publish to production, it will not be copied with your source code.

You need a real SQL Server when your application goes to live. So you need to install SQL Server either in the same server that the application is hosted or a dedicated SQL server. Then attach that database.

Answer 3

LocalDB still has to be installed on the computer to make it work, it isn't a free version of SQL Server that gets included in your application deployment automatically. On your local workstation, LocalDB was installed when you installed Visual Studio.

So in the end, you still need a database server that the server running your application can connect to. LocalDB is meant to be used locally by developers, so in a server situation you may want to look into SQL Server Express.