Question

I am trying to secure elmah in an asp.net mvc 3 application.

I been searching around and found this to be the way to do it

<location path="elmah.axd">
    <system.web>
        <authorization>
            <allow roles="Admin" />
            <deny users="*" />
        </authorization>
    </system.web>
</location>

Yet when I do this resharper says “Location Element is unused no project item found at elmah.axd”

When I load my site up with the location surrounding my system.web I get

Server Error in '/' Application.
There is no build provider registered for the extension '.cshtml'. You can register one in the <compilation><buildProviders> section in machine.config or web.config. Make sure is has a BuildProviderAppliesToAttribute attribute which includes the value 'Web' or 'All'.
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.Web.HttpException: There is no build provider registered for the extension '.cshtml'. You can register one in the <compilation><buildProviders> section in machine.config or web.config. Make sure is has a BuildProviderAppliesToAttribute attribute which includes the value 'Web' or 'All'.

Source Error:

An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below.

Stack Trace:

[HttpException (0x80004005): There is no build provider registered for the extension '.cshtml'. You can register one in the <compilation><buildProviders> section in machine.config or web.config. Make sure is has a BuildProviderAppliesToAttribute attribute which includes the value 'Web' or 'All'.]
   System.Web.Compilation.CompilationUtil.GetBuildProviderTypeFromExtension(CompilationSection config, String extension, BuildProviderAppliesTo neededFor, Boolean failIfUnknown) +8753269
   System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.CreateBuildProvider(VirtualPath virtualPath, BuildProviderAppliesTo neededFor, CompilationSection compConfig, ICollection referencedAssemblies, Boolean failIfUnknown) +40
   System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.CompileWebFile(VirtualPath virtualPath) +281
   System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.GetVPathBuildResultInternal(VirtualPath virtualPath, Boolean noBuild, Boolean allowCrossApp, Boolean allowBuildInPrecompile, Boolean throwIfNotFound, Boolean ensureIsUpToDate) +320
   System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.GetVPathBuildResultWithNoAssert(HttpContext context, VirtualPath virtualPath, Boolean noBuild, Boolean allowCrossApp, Boolean allowBuildInPrecompile, Boolean throwIfNotFound, Boolean ensureIsUpToDate) +111
   System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.GetVirtualPathObjectFactory(VirtualPath virtualPath, HttpContext context, Boolean allowCrossApp, Boolean throwIfNotFound) +125
   System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.GetObjectFactory(String virtualPath, Boolean throwIfNotFound) +35
   System.Web.Mvc.BuildManagerWrapper.System.Web.Mvc.IBuildManager.FileExists(String virtualPath) +9
   System.Web.Mvc.BuildManagerViewEngine.FileExists(ControllerContext controllerContext, String virtualPath) +41
   System.Web.Mvc.VirtualPathProviderViewEngine.GetPathFromGeneralName(ControllerContext controllerContext, List`1 locations, String name, String controllerName, String areaName, String cacheKey, String[]& searchedLocations) +150
   System.Web.Mvc.VirtualPathProviderViewEngine.GetPath(ControllerContext controllerContext, String[] locations, String[] areaLocations, String locationsPropertyName, String name, String controllerName, String cacheKeyPrefix, Boolean useCache, String[]& searchedLocations) +304
   System.Web.Mvc.VirtualPathProviderViewEngine.FindView(ControllerContext controllerContext, String viewName, String masterName, Boolean useCache) +136
   System.Web.Mvc.<>c__DisplayClassc.<FindView>b__b(IViewEngine e) +24
   System.Web.Mvc.ViewEngineCollection.Find(Func`2 lookup, Boolean trackSearchedPaths) +127
   System.Web.Mvc.ViewEngineCollection.FindView(ControllerContext controllerContext, String viewName, String masterName) +181
   System.Web.Mvc.ViewResult.FindView(ControllerContext context) +138
   System.Web.Mvc.ViewResultBase.ExecuteResult(ControllerContext context) +129
   System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResult(ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionResult actionResult) +13
   System.Web.Mvc.<>c__DisplayClass1c.<InvokeActionResultWithFilters>b__19() +23
   System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultFilter(IResultFilter filter, ResultExecutingContext preContext, Func`1 continuation) +260
   System.Web.Mvc.<>c__DisplayClass1e.<InvokeActionResultWithFilters>b__1b() +19
   System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultFilter(IResultFilter filter, ResultExecutingContext preContext, Func`1 continuation) +260
   System.Web.Mvc.<>c__DisplayClass1e.<InvokeActionResultWithFilters>b__1b() +19
   System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultWithFilters(ControllerContext controllerContext, IList`1 filters, ActionResult actionResult) +177
   System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeAction(ControllerContext controllerContext, String actionName) +343
   System.Web.Mvc.Controller.ExecuteCore() +116
   System.Web.Mvc.ControllerBase.Execute(RequestContext requestContext) +97
   System.Web.Mvc.ControllerBase.System.Web.Mvc.IController.Execute(RequestContext requestContext) +10
   System.Web.Mvc.<>c__DisplayClassb.<BeginProcessRequest>b__5() +37
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c__DisplayClass1.<MakeVoidDelegate>b__0() +21
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c__DisplayClass8`1.<BeginSynchronous>b__7(IAsyncResult _) +12
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResult`1.End() +62
   System.Web.Mvc.<>c__DisplayClasse.<EndProcessRequest>b__d() +50
   System.Web.Mvc.SecurityUtil.<GetCallInAppTrustThunk>b__0(Action f) +7
   System.Web.Mvc.SecurityUtil.ProcessInApplicationTrust(Action action) +22
   System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.EndProcessRequest(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +60
   System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.System.Web.IHttpAsyncHandler.EndProcessRequest(IAsyncResult result) +9
   System.Web.CallHandlerExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute() +8841105
   System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean& completedSynchronously) +184

So it loses the ability to basically render razor views.

Answer 1

I had some luck with this

<location path="admin">
    <system.web>
      <httpHandlers>
        <add verb="POST,GET,HEAD" path="elmah.axd" type="Elmah.ErrorLogPageFactory, Elmah" />
      </httpHandlers>
      <authorization>
        <allow users="bzink" />
        <deny users="*" />
      </authorization>
    </system.web>
  </location>

I can access the elmah page from http://host/admin/elmah.axd now.

OHHHH just reread your question more carefully. You say… “When I load my site up with the location surrounding my system.web

That’s your problem. You need to keep system.web intact. Here’s how the structure should look.

Do all the important stuff like caching, authorization, http handlers, etc.. You shouldn’t need to touch this section.

</system.web>
<system.diagnostics>diagnostics was next, but i don't think that should matter</system.diagnostics>
<location path="admin">
        <system.web>
          <httpHandlers>
            <add verb="POST,GET,HEAD" path="elmah.axd" type="Elmah.ErrorLogPageFactory, Elmah" />
          </httpHandlers>
          <authorization>
            <allow users="bzink" />
            <deny users="*" />
          </authorization>
        </system.web>
      </location>

See you need the main system.web, and then an additional system.web goes inside each location tag.