Good morning,

I've been attempting to upgrade 1.9.1.8 to 1.9.3 (the .NET 3.5 version) and have run into an issue.

I followed the instructions to copy and rename /webconfigs/v191-upgrade-web.config to be the web.config. I continued with the rest of the instructions, and when attempting to access the site I get:

Could not load file or assembly 'System.Web.Extensions, Version=1.0.61025.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.

This might be because I have .NET 3.5 installed, and the only version of System.Web.Extensions that I have on the server is v3.5.

So I thought I'd try using the /webconfigs/recommended-NETv3.5-web.config instead of the upgrade one (going against the instructions).

Upon hitting the install/default.aspx, it asks me for a configuration password, and on the next screen gives me this:

There has been a serious error loading the forum. No further information is available.

Please contact the administrator if this message persists.

That has a "Try Again" link that points back to /default.aspx (not /install/default.aspx), which fails to load of course since we aren't upgraded yet.

When I revert back to the 1.9.1.8 code and check Admin => Error Log, there's a ton of "Failure Initializing User/Page" with "Could not find stored procedure 'dbo.yaf_prov_getuser'" that corresponds to the timestamps that I hit the "Try Again" link.

I don't believe the latter to be relevant to the former.

I believe the issue lies in the /webconfigs/v191-upgrade-web.config not being set up to handle a .NET 3.5 server, but I am not savvy enough to know why, or what changes to make.

Could someone advise a successful path to upgrading?

For now, we're back on 1.9.1.8 without any issues.

As there were no answers, I went back to look at using /webconfigs/recommended-NETv3.5-web.config again rahter than the "v191-upgrade" version, turning errors on to see what the "There has been a serious error loading the forum. No further information is available." was all about.

Turns out the error related to not being able to write the configuration passcode to app.config. I added it manually, and the install scripts upgraded me successfully.

I looked at the instructions again - Step 5 (optional) says to edit app.config to change root directory or board ID if necessary - might want to add a blurb about that configuration passcode.

I wish I had a solution for why your "v191-upgrade" web.config failed for me, but I'm content with it running properly under 1.9.3 now.

Only issue seems to be that the board theme isn't changing - I'll have to poke it and see why.

The only real difference between the web.config's is the .net version references; and the membership providers (Upgrading requires difference password hash settings; whilst if your starting from scratch the password & salt method is recommended).
So your not loosing anything as long as you have copied the membership provider settings from the 191-upgrade to your new web.config.

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