MCBDSHost - Professional Minecraft Bedrock Server Management

IIS Troubleshooting

Deployment deployment-packages/IIS-TROUBLESHOOTING.md

IIS 500 Error Troubleshooting Guide for MCBDSHost Marketing Site

Common Causes & Solutions

1. Missing ASP.NET Core Hosting Bundle

Problem: IIS doesn't have the ASP.NET Core Runtime installed.

Solution:

# Download and install the .NET 10 Hosting Bundle
# Visit: https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download/dotnet/10.0
# Download: "Hosting Bundle" installer

# After installation, restart IIS
iisreset

# Verify installation
dotnet --list-runtimes
# Should show: Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 10.x.x

2. Application Pool Configuration

Problem: Wrong application pool settings.

Solution:

# Open IIS Manager
# Select your site's Application Pool
# Click "Basic Settings"

# Set these values:
# - .NET CLR Version: No Managed Code
# - Managed Pipeline Mode: Integrated
# - Start Mode: AlwaysRunning (optional)

# In Advanced Settings:
# - Enable 32-Bit Applications: False
# - Identity: ApplicationPoolIdentity (or specific user with permissions)

3. Enable Detailed Error Messages

Update web.config (already done in the new web.config):

<aspNetCore processPath="dotnet" 
            arguments=".\MCBDS.Marketing.dll" 
            stdoutLogEnabled="true" 
            stdoutLogFile=".\logs\stdout" 
            hostingModel="inprocess">
  <environmentVariables>
    <environmentVariable name="ASPNETCORE_DETAILEDERRORS" value="true" />
  </environmentVariables>
</aspNetCore>

4. Check Application Event Log

# View recent errors in Event Viewer
Get-EventLog -LogName Application -Source "IIS AspNetCore Module V2" -Newest 10 | Format-List

# Or open Event Viewer manually:
# eventvwr.msc  Windows Logs  Application
# Filter by: IIS AspNetCore Module V2

5. Check stdout Logs

The web.config is configured to write logs to .\logs\stdout.

# Navigate to your deployment folder
cd C:\inetpub\wwwroot\mcbdshost-marketing

# Check if logs folder exists
if (-not (Test-Path "logs")) {
    New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path "logs"
}

# Grant permissions to the logs folder
icacls "logs" /grant "IIS_IUSRS:(OI)(CI)F" /T

# Check for log files
Get-ChildItem logs\*.log | Sort-Object LastWriteTime -Descending | Select-Object -First 5

6. File Permissions

Problem: IIS doesn't have permission to read files.

Solution:

# Set permissions on the deployment folder
icacls "C:\inetpub\wwwroot\mcbdshost-marketing" /grant "IIS_IUSRS:(OI)(CI)RX" /T
icacls "C:\inetpub\wwwroot\mcbdshost-marketing" /grant "IUSR:(OI)(CI)RX" /T

# Specific for logs folder (write permission)
icacls "C:\inetpub\wwwroot\mcbdshost-marketing\logs" /grant "IIS_IUSRS:(OI)(CI)F" /T

7. Missing DLL Files

Problem: Dependent DLLs not published correctly.

Solution:

# Rebuild and republish
cd C:\Users\joshua\source\repos\JoshuaBylotas\MCBDSHost\MCBDS.Marketing

# Clean previous build
dotnet clean

# Publish with all dependencies
dotnet publish -c Release -o publish --self-contained false

# Copy to IIS
Copy-Item -Path "publish\*" -Destination "C:\inetpub\wwwroot\mcbdshost-marketing" -Recurse -Force

# Restart IIS
iisreset

8. Port Conflicts

Problem: Port 80/443 already in use.

Solution:

# Check what's using port 80
netstat -ano | findstr :80

# If needed, stop conflicting service
Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.Status -eq "Running"} | Select-Object Name, DisplayName

# Configure site to use different port temporarily
# In IIS Manager  Sites  Your Site  Bindings
# Add binding for port 8080 (HTTP) for testing

Quick Fix Checklist

Run these commands in PowerShell (as Administrator):

# 1. Ensure .NET 10 Hosting Bundle is installed
dotnet --list-runtimes

# 2. Create logs directory
$sitePath = "C:\inetpub\wwwroot\mcbdshost-marketing"
New-Item -Path "$sitePath\logs" -ItemType Directory -Force

# 3. Set proper permissions
icacls "$sitePath" /grant "IIS_IUSRS:(OI)(CI)RX" /T
icacls "$sitePath\logs" /grant "IIS_IUSRS:(OI)(CI)F" /T

# 4. Copy updated web.config
Copy-Item -Path "C:\Users\joshua\source\repos\JoshuaBylotas\MCBDSHost\MCBDS.Marketing\web.config" -Destination "$sitePath\web.config" -Force

# 5. Restart IIS
iisreset

# 6. Test the site
Start-Process "http://localhost"

Diagnostic Script

Save this as diagnose-iis.ps1 and run it:

#Requires -RunAsAdministrator

Write-Host "=== IIS Diagnostics for MCBDSHost Marketing ===" -ForegroundColor Cyan

# Check .NET Runtime
Write-Host "`n1. Checking .NET Runtime..." -ForegroundColor Yellow
dotnet --list-runtimes | Where-Object { $_ -like "*AspNetCore*10*" }

# Check IIS Module
Write-Host "`n2. Checking AspNetCoreModuleV2..." -ForegroundColor Yellow
Get-WebGlobalModule | Where-Object { $_.Name -like "*AspNetCore*" }

# Check Application Pool
Write-Host "`n3. Checking Application Pool..." -ForegroundColor Yellow
$appPool = Get-IISAppPool | Where-Object { $_.Name -eq "MCBDSHostMarketing" -or $_.Name -eq "DefaultAppPool" }
if ($appPool) {
    Write-Host "   Pool: $($appPool.Name)" -ForegroundColor Green
    Write-Host "   State: $($appPool.State)" -ForegroundColor Green
    Write-Host "   .NET CLR: $($appPool.ManagedRuntimeVersion)" -ForegroundColor Green
} else {
    Write-Host "   Application pool not found!" -ForegroundColor Red
}

# Check Site
Write-Host "`n4. Checking Website..." -ForegroundColor Yellow
$site = Get-IISSite | Where-Object { $_.Name -like "*marketing*" -or $_.Name -eq "Default Web Site" }
if ($site) {
    Write-Host "   Site: $($site.Name)" -ForegroundColor Green
    Write-Host "   State: $($site.State)" -ForegroundColor Green
    Write-Host "   Physical Path: $($site.Applications['/'].VirtualDirectories['/'].PhysicalPath)" -ForegroundColor Green
}

# Check Files
Write-Host "`n5. Checking Deployment Files..." -ForegroundColor Yellow
$sitePath = "C:\inetpub\wwwroot\mcbdshost-marketing"
if (Test-Path "$sitePath\MCBDS.Marketing.dll") {
    Write-Host "    MCBDS.Marketing.dll found" -ForegroundColor Green
} else {
    Write-Host "    MCBDS.Marketing.dll NOT found!" -ForegroundColor Red
}

if (Test-Path "$sitePath\web.config") {
    Write-Host "    web.config found" -ForegroundColor Green
} else {
    Write-Host "    web.config NOT found!" -ForegroundColor Red
}

if (Test-Path "$sitePath\wwwroot") {
    Write-Host "    wwwroot folder found" -ForegroundColor Green
    $fileCount = (Get-ChildItem "$sitePath\wwwroot" -Recurse -File).Count
    Write-Host "   Files in wwwroot: $fileCount" -ForegroundColor Green
} else {
    Write-Host "    wwwroot folder NOT found!" -ForegroundColor Red
}

# Check Logs
Write-Host "`n6. Checking Logs..." -ForegroundColor Yellow
if (Test-Path "$sitePath\logs") {
    $logFiles = Get-ChildItem "$sitePath\logs\*.log" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Sort-Object LastWriteTime -Descending | Select-Object -First 3
    if ($logFiles) {
        Write-Host "   Recent log files:" -ForegroundColor Green
        foreach ($log in $logFiles) {
            Write-Host "   - $($log.Name) ($($log.LastWriteTime))" -ForegroundColor Gray
        }
    } else {
        Write-Host "   No log files found (may indicate permissions issue)" -ForegroundColor Yellow
    }
} else {
    Write-Host "   Logs folder doesn't exist. Creating..." -ForegroundColor Yellow
    New-Item -Path "$sitePath\logs" -ItemType Directory -Force | Out-Null
    icacls "$sitePath\logs" /grant "IIS_IUSRS:(OI)(CI)F" /T | Out-Null
}

# Check Event Log
Write-Host "`n7. Checking Event Log (last 5 errors)..." -ForegroundColor Yellow
$events = Get-EventLog -LogName Application -Source "IIS AspNetCore Module V2" -EntryType Error -Newest 5 -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
if ($events) {
    foreach ($event in $events) {
        Write-Host "   [$($event.TimeGenerated)] $($event.Message.Substring(0, [Math]::Min(100, $event.Message.Length)))..." -ForegroundColor Red
    }
} else {
    Write-Host "   No recent errors in Event Log" -ForegroundColor Green
}

# Check Permissions
Write-Host "`n8. Checking Permissions..." -ForegroundColor Yellow
$acl = Get-Acl "$sitePath"
$hasIISPermissions = $acl.Access | Where-Object { 
    $_.IdentityReference -like "*IIS_IUSRS*" -or $_.IdentityReference -like "*IUSR*" 
}
if ($hasIISPermissions) {
    Write-Host "    IIS users have permissions" -ForegroundColor Green
} else {
    Write-Host "    Missing IIS user permissions!" -ForegroundColor Red
    Write-Host "   Run: icacls '$sitePath' /grant 'IIS_IUSRS:(OI)(CI)RX' /T" -ForegroundColor Yellow
}

Write-Host "`n=== Diagnostics Complete ===" -ForegroundColor Cyan
Write-Host "If issues persist, check the stdout logs in: $sitePath\logs\" -ForegroundColor Yellow

Deployment Steps (Correct Order)

  1. Build the application:
cd C:\Users\joshua\source\repos\JoshuaBylotas\MCBDSHost\MCBDS.Marketing
dotnet publish -c Release -o publish
  1. Stop IIS site:
Stop-IISSite -Name "Your Site Name" -Confirm:$false
  1. Copy files:
$source = "publish\*"
$dest = "C:\inetpub\wwwroot\mcbdshost-marketing"
Copy-Item -Path $source -Destination $dest -Recurse -Force
  1. Copy updated web.config:
Copy-Item -Path "web.config" -Destination "$dest\web.config" -Force
  1. Set permissions:
icacls $dest /grant "IIS_IUSRS:(OI)(CI)RX" /T
New-Item -Path "$dest\logs" -ItemType Directory -Force
icacls "$dest\logs" /grant "IIS_IUSRS:(OI)(CI)F" /T
  1. Start IIS site:
Start-IISSite -Name "Your Site Name"
  1. Test:
Start-Process "http://localhost"

Testing Checklist

  • .NET 10 Hosting Bundle installed
  • Application Pool set to "No Managed Code"
  • web.config has stdout logging enabled
  • Logs folder exists with write permissions
  • All files copied to IIS folder
  • IIS_IUSRS has read permissions on site folder
  • Site binding configured (port 80/443)
  • Site started in IIS Manager
  • No errors in Event Viewer
  • Can browse to http://localhost

Still Getting 500 Error

  1. View the actual error:

    • Open C:\inetpub\wwwroot\mcbdshost-marketing\logs\stdout_*.log
    • Look for the most recent file
    • Check for stack traces or error messages

  2. Enable browser error details:

    • Add to web.config: 
      <aspNetCore ... >
  <environmentVariables>
    <environmentVariable name="ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT" value="Development" />
  </environmentVariables>
</aspNetCore>
    • Restart IIS
    • Browse site to see detailed error page
    • Remember to change back to "Production" after debugging!

  3. Check for missing dependencies:

    # Ensure all required runtimes are installed
dotnet --list-runtimes
dotnet --list-sdks

  4. Manual test:

    # Try running the app directly
cd C:\inetpub\wwwroot\mcbdshost-marketing
dotnet MCBDS.Marketing.dll
# If it works, the issue is IIS-specific

Support

If you're still experiencing issues after trying these solutions:

  1. Check stdout logs: C:\inetpub\wwwroot\mcbdshost-marketing\logs\
  2. Check Event Viewer: Application logs with source "IIS AspNetCore Module V2"
  3. Run the diagnostic script above
  4. Share the error messages for further assistance

Updated: December 2024
For: MCBDSHost Marketing Site on IIS

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