Problems publishing a website on smarterasp.net with csc.exe file included?

Question

I am using Microsoft Visual Studio 2015, I built a simple website with a C# contact form. When I compile and run on localhost it works perfectly fine. However, when I try to

Answer 1

We encountered this due to a 3rd party application. MalwareBytes Anti-Ransomeware was actually the culprit that was blocking access. Resolved this with:

• Right-click systray icon for MalwareBytes Anti-Ransomeware (not anti-exploit)
• Stop Protection

Answer 2

tl;dr: Ensure that csc.exe is not zero bytes in size.

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Longer answer

To add yet another cause and solution: In my case, I got this Yellow Screen Of Death in my browser:

Server Error in '/' Application.

Compilation Error

Description: An error occurred during the compilation of a resource required to service this request. Please review the following specific error details and modify your source code appropriately.

Compiler Error Message: The compiler failed with error code 255.

c:\windows\system32\inetsrv>C:\inetpub\wwwroot\bin\roslyn\csc.exe /t:library /utf8output /nostdlib+ ...

Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:4.0.30319; ASP.NET Version:4.7.2558.0

Upon investigation, I isolated the call to csc.exe by executing it inside a CMD window:

c:\inetpub\wwwroot\bin\roslyn\csc.exe

I got this message box:

followed by this line in the CMD window:

Access is denied.

Upon inspecting the files in Windows File Explorer I found out that csc.exe had a size of zero bytes.

I'm unsure at which stage of my deployment script this happens, but after replacing the 0-byte-sized csc.exe with an actual working one, everything works correctly.

Answer 3

Here's how I got it working:

1. In your control panel, navigate to Security Manager > Allow .EXE Files
2. Set the value to On (this will let you upload .exe files)

3. In your Web.config, set full trust (this will let you run them)

   <configuration> 
     <system.web> 
       <trust level="Full" /> 
     </system.web> 
   </configuration> 
   

4. In your publish settings, enable "Precompile during publishing", but in the Advanced Precompile Settings (the Configure link next to this option), disable "Allow precompiled site to be updateable".

Answer 4

If you need SmarterAsp.Net to allow the uploading of an .exe file to support the features and functionality of your website, you can. Just go to the control panel and turn on "Allow .Exe Files" See below:

In my case I had to do this because I wanted to host an Asp.Net Core website and that absolutely requires an .exe file :-)

Answer 5

If you actually want to keep the roslyn codegen, you just need to set the permissions on the application's bin folder to allow the ApplicationPool user Read & Execute.

I did this using the explorer Security tab on the folder properties dialog, but you should also be able to do something like:

icacls PATH_TO_SERVICE_BIN /grant "ApplicationPoolUser":(OI)(CI)RX

Answer 6

I found the solution as unchecking "Allow precompiled site to be updatable", on publish window.