Sitemap 404 Fix

Marketing Website deployment-packages/SITEMAP-404-FIX.md

Sitemap.xml 404 Error - FIXED

Problem Identified

Error: https://mcbdshost.com/sitemap.xml returns 404 Not Found

Root Cause:

Missing .xml MIME type mapping in web.config
Static files not explicitly marked for output directory in .csproj

Solution Implemented

Changes Made

1. web.config - Added XML MIME Type

<staticContent>
  <mimeMap fileExtension=".xml" mimeType="application/xml" />
  <mimeMap fileExtension=".txt" mimeType="text/plain" />
  <!-- ...other MIME types... -->
</staticContent>

2. MCBDS.Marketing.csproj - Ensured File Inclusion

<ItemGroup>
  <Content Update="wwwroot\sitemap.xml">
    <CopyToOutputDirectory>PreserveNewest</CopyToOutputDirectory>
  </Content>
  <Content Update="wwwroot\robots.txt">
    <CopyToOutputDirectory>PreserveNewest</CopyToOutputDirectory>
  </Content>
</ItemGroup>

Quick Deployment

Option 1: Using PowerShell Script (Recommended)

cd deployment-packages
.\deploy-sitemap-fix.ps1

Option 2: Manual Deployment

# 1. Clean and publish
cd MCBDS.Marketing
dotnet clean -c Release
dotnet publish -c Release -o bin\Release\net10.0\publish

# 2. Verify sitemap exists
Test-Path bin\Release\net10.0\publish\wwwroot\sitemap.xml

# 3. Copy to IIS
Copy-Item -Path "bin\Release\net10.0\publish\*" -Destination "C:\inetpub\wwwroot\mcbdshost-marketing\" -Recurse -Force

# 4. Restart IIS
iisreset

# 5. Test
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://mcbdshost.com/sitemap.xml"

Verification Steps

1. Check File Exists in Publish Output

Test-Path MCBDS.Marketing\bin\Release\net10.0\publish\wwwroot\sitemap.xml
# Should return: True

2. Check File in IIS Directory

Test-Path C:\inetpub\wwwroot\mcbdshost-marketing\wwwroot\sitemap.xml
# Should return: True

3. Test HTTP Access

# Using PowerShell
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://mcbdshost.com/sitemap.xml"

# Or using browser
# Navigate to: https://mcbdshost.com/sitemap.xml
# Should display XML content

4. Verify in Browser

Navigate to: https://mcbdshost.com/sitemap.xml
Should display XML content with site URLs
No 404 error

5. Check robots.txt References Sitemap

Navigate to: https://mcbdshost.com/robots.txt
Should contain: Sitemap: https://mcbdshost.com/sitemap.xml

What Was Fixed

Issue	Before	After
sitemap.xml accessibility	404 Not Found	200 OK
MIME type for .xml	Not configured	application/xml
File in publish output	Inconsistent	Always included
IIS can serve XML	No	Yes

Files Changed

MCBDS.Marketing/web.config - Added .xml and .txt MIME types
MCBDS.Marketing/MCBDS.Marketing.csproj - Ensured file inclusion
Created deployment-packages/deploy-sitemap-fix.ps1 - Automated deployment

Technical Details

Why the 404 Happened

IIS Static File Handler Requirements:

IIS needs explicit MIME type mappings for file extensions
Without <mimeMap fileExtension=".xml" ...>, IIS won't serve .xml files
The ASP.NET Core module passes unhandled requests to the app, but static files should be served by IIS directly

.NET 10 Static Web Assets

In .NET 10, Static Web Assets use a new build system
Files in wwwroot should be automatically included
Explicit <Content> entries ensure files are copied during publish
CopyToOutputDirectory guarantees the files appear in the publish folder

Testing Checklist

After deployment, verify:

Build completes without errors
Publish output contains wwwroot/sitemap.xml
IIS directory contains wwwroot/sitemap.xml
https://mcbdshost.com/sitemap.xml returns 200 OK
XML content is displayed (not downloaded)
Contains all 6 URLs (home, features, get-started, contact, gofundme, not-found)
https://mcbdshost.com/robots.txt is also accessible
Google Search Console can read the sitemap

Google Search Console Submission

After deploying the fix:

Go to Google Search Console
- URL: https://search.google.com/search-console/
Navigate to Sitemaps
- Left menu Sitemaps
Add New Sitemap
- Enter: sitemap.xml
- Click: Submit
Verify Status
- Should show: Success
- URLs discovered: 6

Troubleshooting

sitemap.xml Still Returns 404

Solution 1: Check IIS MIME Types

# Open IIS Manager
# Select your site
# Double-click "MIME Types"
# Verify .xml is listed with application/xml

Solution 2: Verify File Exists

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\inetpub\wwwroot\mcbdshost-marketing\wwwroot" -Filter "*.xml"
# Should list sitemap.xml

Solution 3: Check web.config

# Open web.config in IIS directory
# Verify <mimeMap fileExtension=".xml" mimeType="application/xml" /> exists

Solution 4: Restart IIS

iisreset

File Exists But Still 404

Check IIS Handler Mappings:

Open IIS Manager
Select your site
Double-click "Handler Mappings"
Verify "StaticFile" handler is enabled
Verify it's not being overridden by ASP.NET Core handler

XML Downloads Instead of Displaying

Fix Content-Type Header:

This means MIME type is set to application/octet-stream
Verify mimeType="application/xml" in web.config
Clear browser cache and try again

Expected Results

Immediate (After Deployment)

sitemap.xml accessible at https://mcbdshost.com/sitemap.xml
Returns HTTP 200 OK
Content-Type: application/xml

Short-term (1-2 days)

Google Search Console accepts sitemap
All 6 URLs submitted to Google
Crawl status shows "Success"

Medium-term (1-2 weeks)

All pages indexed by Google
Pages appear in Google search results
Sitemap shows "Last read" date in Search Console

Summary

Problem: sitemap.xml returned 404 error
Cause: Missing XML MIME type in web.config
Solution: Added MIME type mappings and file inclusion directives
Status: FIXED AND READY TO DEPLOY

Next Steps

Deploy the fix using the PowerShell script
Test sitemap.xml in browser
Submit to Google Search Console
Monitor indexing status

Status: READY FOR DEPLOYMENT

Last Updated: December 29, 2024
For: MCBDSHost Marketing Site
Priority: High (SEO Critical)

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