ActivationManager Exception during build process?

Question

I\'m getting the following exception when building a website project in VS 2010:

The pre-application start initialization method Run on type WebActi         


        

Answer 1

I'd like to up-vote Xoltar's answer, but this is my first contribution to SO so I don't have the rep!

I had a very similar problem on our build-server (TeamCity), here's a clip from the build-log:

[00:10:39]: (MvcBuildViews target) -> 
[00:10:39]:   error ASPRUNTIME : The pre-application start initialization method Run on type WebActivator.ActivationManager threw an exception with the following error message: Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation.. [C:\TeamCity\buildAgent\work\1ee8c94c32e676ad\source\Project.Site\Project.Site.csproj]
[00:10:39]:     0 Warning(s)
[00:10:39]:     1 Error(s)
[00:10:39]: Time Elapsed 00:00:27.93

To diagnose the problem I ran ASPNET_COMPILER, using the -errorstack argument against what MSBUILD had generated for site. In this case:

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319>aspnet_compiler -p "C:\TeamCity\buildAgent\work\1ee8c94c32e676ad\source\Project.Site" -v anything -errorstack

Utility to precompile an ASP.NET application
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

error ASPRUNTIME: The pre-application start initialization method Run on type WebActivator.ActivationManager threw an exception with the following error message : Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation..

[FileNotFoundException]: Could not load file or assembly 'msshrtmi, Version=1.6.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.
   at Microsoft.WindowsAzure.ServiceRuntime.RoleEnvironment.InitializeEnvironment()
   at Microsoft.WindowsAzure.ServiceRuntime.RoleEnvironment..cctor()

error ASPRUNTIME: The pre-application start initialization method Run on type WebActivator.ActivationManager threw an exception with the following error message : Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation..

In my case a dependency on one of the Azure assemblies (which wasn't installed on the build server) was the root of the problem.