ASP.NET Core 1.1 runs fine locally but when publis

Question

I've been developing an ASP.NET Core web app, based largely on the MVC template provided in Visual Studio 2017 RC2. It runs just fine in local debug mode, but when I try to publish it to an Azure hosted web app, I get this error:

An error occurred while starting the application.

.NET Core X86 v4.1.1.0 | Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting version 1.1.0-rtm-22752 | Microsoft Windows 6.2.9200

I've tried setting stdoutLogEnabled="true" in the web.config file, but it seems to have no effect, the error is the same.

Update:

With some help I managed to retrieve the log, and it says:

Application startup exception: System.TypeLoadException: Could not load type 'System.IO.File' from assembly 'mscorlib, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=7cec85d7bea7798e'.    
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyModel.FileWrapper.OpenRead(String path)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyModel.DependencyContextLoader.LoadEntryAssemblyContext(IDependencyContextReader reader)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyModel.DependencyContextLoader.Load(Assembly assembly)    
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyModel.DependencyContext.Load(Assembly assembly)    
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Internal.DefaultAssemblyPartDiscoveryProvider.DiscoverAssemblyParts(String entryPointAssemblyName)    
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.MvcCoreServiceCollectionExtensions.GetApplicationPartManager(IServiceCollection services)    
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.MvcCoreServiceCollectionExtensions.AddMvcCore(IServiceCollection services)    
   at Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.MvcServiceCollectionExtensions.AddMvc(IServiceCollection services)    
   at Bla.Api.Startup.ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services) in C:\Users\user\Source\Workspaces\Bla\Bla.Api\src\Bla.Api\Startup.cs:line 73
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.ConventionBasedStartup.ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost.EnsureApplicationServices()
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal.WebHost.BuildApplication()

Hosting environment: Production    
Content root path: D:\home\site\wwwroot    
Now listening on: http://localhost:1264    
Application started. Press Ctrl+C to shut down.

The line of code it refers to at line 73 is:

services.AddMvc();

Update:

My global.json file looks like this (where Bla.Api is the name of the project, and the file sits in the solution root folder).

{
  "projects": [ "Bla.Api" ],
  "sdk": {
    "version": "1.1.0"
  }
}

Answer 1

Since many different problems can cause this error page, I can strongly recommend the following in order to determine the root cause quickly and easily, without wrestling Azure (or any server/platform for that matter) to get logs.

You can enable extremely helpful developer friendly error messages at startup by setting the .UseSetting("detailedErrors", "true") and .CaptureStartupErrors(true) actions in your Program.cs file.

For ASP.NET Core 1.x

public static void Main(string[] args)
{
  var host = new WebHostBuilder()
      .UseKestrel()
      .UseContentRoot(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory())
      .UseSetting("detailedErrors", "true")
      .UseIISIntegration()
      .UseStartup<Startup>()
      .CaptureStartupErrors(true)
      .Build();

  host.Run();
}

(2018/07) Update for ASP.NET Core 2.1

public class Program  
{
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        BuildWebHost(args).Run();
    }

    public static IWebHost BuildWebHost(string[] args) =>
        WebHost.CreateDefaultBuilder(args)
            .CaptureStartupErrors(true)
            .UseSetting("detailedErrors", "true")
            .UseStartup<Startup>()
            .Build();
}

• These settings should be removed as soon as your troubleshooting is complete so as not to expose your application to malicious attacks.

Answer 2

In my case, it was because I was trying to publish user secrets for use with Fabook OAuth. I know that's a very situational specific answer, but OAuth seems pretty common these day. User Secrets, it turns out, are not meant to be published. Who knew.

So to test this I temporarily changed the following code in startup.cs. This data should be not hard coded as a part of best practice, as it would end up in clear text in source control.

Before

    app.UseFacebookAuthentication(new FacebookOptions()
    {
        AppId = Configuration["Authentication:Facebook:AppId"],
        AppSecret = Configuration["Authentication:Facebook:AppSecret"]
    });

After

    app.UseFacebookAuthentication(new FacebookOptions()
    {
        AppId = "0000000000000", // your value
        AppSecret = "0000000000000000000000000000000" // your value
    });

Then it worked.