I want a custom error page shown for 500, 404 and 403. Here\'s what I have done:
Enabled custom errors in the web.config as follows:
I've done pablo solution and I always had the error (MVC4)
The view 'Error' or its master was not found or no view engine supports the searched location.
To get rid of this, remove the line
filters.Add(new HandleErrorAttribute());
in FilterConfig.cs
I had everything set up, but still couldn't see proper error pages for status code 500 on our staging server, despite the fact everything worked fine on local development servers.
I found this blog post from Rick Strahl that helped me.
I needed to add Response.TrySkipIisCustomErrors = true;
to my custom error handling code.
Building on the answer posted by maxspan, I've put together a minimal sample project on GitHub showing all the working parts.
Basically, we just add an Application_Error
method to global.asax.cs to intercept the exception and give us an opportunity to redirect (or more correctly, transfer request) to a custom error page.
protected void Application_Error(Object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// See http://stackoverflow.com/questions/13905164/how-to-make-custom-error-pages-work-in-asp-net-mvc-4
// for additional context on use of this technique
var exception = Server.GetLastError();
if (exception != null)
{
// This would be a good place to log any relevant details about the exception.
// Since we are going to pass exception information to our error page via querystring,
// it will only be practical to issue a short message. Further detail would have to be logged somewhere.
// This will invoke our error page, passing the exception message via querystring parameter
// Note that we chose to use Server.TransferRequest, which is only supported in IIS 7 and above.
// As an alternative, Response.Redirect could be used instead.
// Server.Transfer does not work (see https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/320439 )
Server.TransferRequest("~/Error?Message=" + exception.Message);
}
}
Error Controller:
/// <summary>
/// This controller exists to provide the error page
/// </summary>
public class ErrorController : Controller
{
/// <summary>
/// This action represents the error page
/// </summary>
/// <param name="Message">Error message to be displayed (provided via querystring parameter - a design choice)</param>
/// <returns></returns>
public ActionResult Index(string Message)
{
// We choose to use the ViewBag to communicate the error message to the view
ViewBag.Message = Message;
return View();
}
}
Error page View:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Error</title>
</head>
<body>
<h2>My Error</h2>
<p>@ViewBag.Message</p>
</body>
</html>
Nothing else is involved, other than disabling/removing filters.Add(new HandleErrorAttribute())
in FilterConfig.cs
public class FilterConfig
{
public static void RegisterGlobalFilters(GlobalFilterCollection filters)
{
//filters.Add(new HandleErrorAttribute()); // <== disable/remove
}
}
While very simple to implement, the one drawback I see in this approach is using querystring to deliver exception information to the target error page.
I do something that requires less coding than the other solutions posted.
First, in my web.config, I have the following:
<customErrors mode="On" defaultRedirect="~/ErrorPage/Oops">
<error redirect="~/ErrorPage/Oops/404" statusCode="404" />
<error redirect="~/ErrorPage/Oops/500" statusCode="500" />
</customErrors>
And the controller (/Controllers/ErrorPageController.cs) contains the following:
public class ErrorPageController : Controller
{
public ActionResult Oops(int id)
{
Response.StatusCode = id;
return View();
}
}
And finally, the view contains the following (stripped down for simplicity, but it can conta:
@{ ViewBag.Title = "Oops! Error Encountered"; }
<section id="Page">
<div class="col-xs-12 well">
<table cellspacing="5" cellpadding="3" style="background-color:#fff;width:100%;" class="table-responsive">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left" id="tableProps">
<img width="25" height="33" src="~/Images/PageError.gif" id="pagerrorImg">
</td>
<td width="360" valign="middle" align="left" id="tableProps2">
<h1 style="COLOR: black; FONT: 13pt/15pt verdana" id="errortype"><span id="errorText">@Response.Status</span></h1>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="400" colspan="2" id="tablePropsWidth"><font style="COLOR: black; FONT: 8pt/11pt verdana">Possible causes:</font>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="400" colspan="2" id="tablePropsWidth2">
<font style="COLOR: black; FONT: 8pt/11pt verdana" id="LID1">
<hr>
<ul>
<li id="list1">
<span class="infotext">
<strong>Baptist explanation: </strong>There
must be sin in your life. Everyone else opened it fine.<br>
</span>
</li>
<li>
<span class="infotext">
<strong>Presbyterian explanation: </strong>It's
not God's will for you to open this link.<br>
</span>
</li>
<li>
<span class="infotext">
<strong> Word of Faith explanation:</strong>
You lack the faith to open this link. Your negative words have prevented
you from realizing this link's fulfillment.<br>
</span>
</li>
<li>
<span class="infotext">
<strong>Charismatic explanation: </strong>Thou
art loosed! Be commanded to OPEN!<br>
</span>
</li>
<li>
<span class="infotext">
<strong>Unitarian explanation:</strong> All
links are equal, so if this link doesn't work for you, feel free to
experiment with other links that might bring you joy and fulfillment.<br>
</span>
</li>
<li>
<span class="infotext">
<strong>Buddhist explanation:</strong> .........................<br>
</span>
</li>
<li>
<span class="infotext">
<strong>Episcopalian explanation:</strong>
Are you saying you have something against homosexuals?<br>
</span>
</li>
<li>
<span class="infotext">
<strong>Christian Science explanation: </strong>There
really is no link.<br>
</span>
</li>
<li>
<span class="infotext">
<strong>Atheist explanation: </strong>The only
reason you think this link exists is because you needed to invent it.<br>
</span>
</li>
<li>
<span class="infotext">
<strong>Church counselor's explanation:</strong>
And what did you feel when the link would not open?
</span>
</li>
</ul>
<p>
<br>
</p>
<h2 style="font:8pt/11pt verdana; color:black" id="ietext">
<img width="16" height="16" align="top" src="~/Images/Search.gif">
HTTP @Response.StatusCode - @Response.StatusDescription <br>
</h2>
</font>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</section>
It's just as simple as that. It could be easily extended to offer more detailed error info, but ELMAH handles that for me & the statusCode & statusDescription is all that I usually need.
You can get errors working correctly without hacking global.cs, messing with HandleErrorAttribute, doing Response.TrySkipIisCustomErrors, hooking up Application_Error, or whatever:
In system.web (just the usual, on/off)
<customErrors mode="On">
<error redirect="/error/401" statusCode="401" />
<error redirect="/error/500" statusCode="500" />
</customErrors>
and in system.webServer
<httpErrors existingResponse="PassThrough" />
Now things should behave as expected, and you can use your ErrorController to display whatever you need.