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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-17T17:02:16+00:00

I want to run my new web application with forms authentication under the ASP.NET

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I want to run my new web application with forms authentication under the ASP.NET Development WebServer (Cassini), but not at site root “/” (rather, at the path it will reside in production; “/New”).

However, the build process gives the error:

“It is an error to use a section
registered as
allowDefinition=’MachineToApplication’
beyond application level. This error
can be caused by a virtual directory
not being configured as an application
in IIS.
New.MvcWeb\obj\debug\csautoparameterize\original\web.config”

Now, I understand what it is saying. I have forms authentication enabled in my web.config in a virtual directory. The error goes away when I remove the web.config, or remove the “virtual path: /New” debugger configuration, or move debugging from Cassini to IIS and manually create an application at “/New”.

But it is only a ‘virtual’ directory in the mind of the Build System. The path IS application-enabled in a production IIS setting. Also, if I remove the web.config, Cassini will happily publish “http://localhost/New” as an application (for example, Server.MapPath(“~”) returns my project directory without the “/New” suffix); however I need forms authentication (an application-level web.config parameter) enabled in it.

How I can avoid this build error while retaining my desired features?

More Details

The project is currently configured for “file-system” site development. This and Cassini are supposed to make it easier for my content creators to participate in development and testing with their local copy of VS2010, without having to install IIS on their Windows PCs. I will also one-click publish to my local IIS for testing, then package/publish/deploy to public test, then finally publish to production. In my mind I imagine Cassini being a very helpful part of this whole process.

VS2010, MVC application, file-system site project

Project Settings:
 * ASP.NET 4.0
 * Use Visual Studio Development Server  
 * Virtual Path: /New

web.config snippet:
 <authentication mode="Forms">
   <forms loginUrl="~/../login.html" timeout="30"/>
 </authentication>
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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    So, having learned that Cassini actually does run paths as applications [i.e. Server.MapPath(“~”) returns the project root folder, and Server.MapPath(“/”) may not exist], it really becomes strictly a build error.

    With a better problem definition, I now see other people also have this error in MVC projects with MvcBuildViews and One-Click-Publish. Here are some articles on how to avoid it:

    allowDefinition='MachineToApplication' error when publishing from VS2010 (but only after a previous build)

    http://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/556312/mvcbuildviews-does-not-play-well-with-one-click-publish

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