Debugging MVC application in VS2012 attempts to start IIS Express twice

Question

UPDATE

I\'m certain this is a Visual Studio bug with no obvious solution. I\'ve encountered a number of people who have the same exact issue. I ha

Answer 1

I had the same issue on Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 using my domain account. In my case changing the Documents folder path (Right click on the Documents folder -> Properties -> Location) from C:\Users\username\Documents to D:\Documents helped

Answer 2

w.Brian, I have followed this post since it's start and have had the exact same problem for quite a while now and I have just discovered what is causing the issue for me. I have been able to reproduce and fix the error for myself with this:

The reason VS2012 is starting iis express twice is related to being attached to a domain and being logged into a domain account. Once I logged into a completely local admin account I was able to launch and debug an MVC4 application without any issues. This is using Windows 8 Pro, VS2012 Update 1, attached to my domain, and no other software/extensions/configuration. Completely clean installation.

Answer 3

There are two instances of the site FrontEnd running of course, but notice that one instance is HTTP and the other HTTPS.

It's possible to get two instances when SSL Enabled is set to True in the web site properties but the Project Url on the Web tab is set to an HTTP address.

Make them both HTTP (or HTTPS) and that might fix it.

Answer 4

What worked in my situation was to unload the project, then to edit the csproj file. I removed all sections regarding IIS and IISEXPRESS. Then I reloaded the project and chose USE IIS EXPRESS from the project properties all over again. It then worked.

Answer 5

I might be a little late to the party - here's my two pennies:

a) http://saintgimp.org/2012/05/03/fixing-the-error-unable-to-launch-the-iis-express-web-server-failed-to-register-url-access-is-denied/

b) http://abhijitjana.net/2010/07/20/unable-to-start-web-site-on-iis-process-can-not-access-the-file-because-its-being-used-by-another-process-how-to-resolve/

Synopsis: There is a URL reservation for the current port (usually Skype)