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System.TypeLoadException for System.ServiceModel.Activation.HttpModule in ASP.NET 4

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Symptoms

Getting the below error while browsing the website running on ASP.NET 4 application pool.

Server Error in '/myVDir' Application.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Could not load type 'System.ServiceModel.Activation.HttpModule' from assembly 'System.ServiceModel, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089'.
Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.
Exception Details: System.TypeLoadException: Could not load type 'System.ServiceModel.Activation.HttpModule' from assembly 'System.ServiceModel, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089'.

You will run into this problem only if you install the .NET 3.5.1 WCF HTTP Activation feature after the installation of .NET 4 framework on your server.

Cause

Installation of .NET 3.5.1 WCF HTTP activation feature adds a global module for the 3.0 framework’s 'System.ServiceModel’ assembly for the type 'System.ServiceModel.Activation.HttpModule'. Since the application pool’s runtime version is v4.0, this assembly is tried to be loaded from the .NET 4 assemblies folder. Since, the definition of the 'System.ServiceModel.Activation.HttpModule’ is now moved to the “System.ServiceModel.Activation” assembly, it fails.

This problem doesn’t occur if you run your application pool under classic mode. You can resolve the problem by following any of the following:

  1. Re-register the .NET 4 framework of ASP.NET with IIS
  2. Force this module to be loaded only inside a 2.0 application pool by changing the configuration manually
  3. Remove this 2.0 version Module from the list of modules if you are planning to run only ASP.NET 4 application pools.

Resolution #1

To re-register the ASP.NET 4 assemblies with IIS, open a command prompt (as an admin), and navigate to the .NET 4 framework folder (%windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319). Type aspnet_regiis -iru, and press enter. This command will re-register the ASP.NET 4 framework with IIS which will modify the ‘ServiceModel’ configuration to be loaded only inside a .NET 2.0 application pools. For some reason, you choose not to re-register the ASP.NET 4 version assemblies with IIS, you can follow the resolution #2 explained below, which will do the same configuration change, but manually.

Resolution #2

The worker process tries to load the assembly since it passes the pre-condition. Its pre-condition is just “managedHandler” which doesn’t specify the runtimeVersion information. By default it is loaded inside the application pools running with any version of .NET framework.

To resolve the problem, change the configuration of the module to be loaded only if the runtime version is 2.0, so that it doesn't interfere with .NET framework 4 application pool:

<add name="ServiceModel" type="System.ServiceModel.Activation.HttpModule, System.ServiceModel, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" preCondition="managedHandler,runtimeVersionv2.0" />

AppCmd syntax:

appcmd.exe set config -section:system.webServer/modules /[name='ServiceModel'].preCondition:"managedHandler,runtimeVersionv2.0" /commit:apphost

Resolution #3

Alternatively, you can uninstall the .NET 3.5.1 WCF HTTP activation if you are not planning to use this feature. This would simply remove the module ‘ServiceModel’ from the list of modules. Remember, this is going to affect all the application pools, so if you have any application pool which might use this module, then do not proceed with the uninstallation. Alternatively, you can remove it from the global modules list, and add it specifically to the application needing it.

You can also simply remove the module from the modules list. Below is the appcmd to remove the module from the global list.

AppCmd to remove the module:

appcmd.exe set config -section:system.webServer/modules /-"[name='ServiceModel']" /commit:apphost

Below is the AppCmd to add the module to the application needing it.

appcmd.exe set config "Default Web Site" -section:system.webServer/modules /+"[name='ServiceModel',type='System.ServiceModel.Activation.HttpModule, System.ServiceModel, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089',preCondition='managedHandler,runtimeVersionv2.0']"

Hope this helps!