Running Mono 3.2.0 with .NET MVC 4

Question

I am trying to get Mono 3.0 setup to run MVC4 sites under .NET 4 and .NET 4.5. I\'ve been working through various errors, what can I do to get it up and running?

Answer 1

Success

If you want to run MVC4 on Mono, you need to use some Microsoft dlls which are not provided by Mono at this time.

A word of caution - Taking a cursory look at the Mono source, there appears to be methods and classes in the MC4 source that do not exist in the 3.2.0 build. There may be features that are broken. The site I am running is for all intents and purposes an MVC3 site built against the latest dlls.

Microsoft DLLs to copy

• System.Web.Abstractions - 4.0
• System.Web.Helpers - 2.0
• System.Web.Mvc - 4.0

Once you copy over the dlls, if you're still having problems you may have to do some detective work if the above fix doesn't work. If you get an error message saying that Mono can't find the DLL, it's usually one of three reasons:

Troubleshooting

1. Is doesn't have the dll - You can try using the Microsoft version of the DLL

2. It's looking for an older version of the DLL when the correct one is installed in the GAC or in your project folder - An assembly in your project is likely referencing that version somewhere. You can use a binding re-direct to force the specific version you have be used instead

3. It stil can't find the dll - Add the assembly in the compilation/assemblies section of your web.config

4. You're getting a 'can't find view searched...' message - if any of the views in that particular views folder have compile errors, then you'll receive this message.