VS2010 error: Unable to start debugging on the web server

Question

I get error message \"Unable to start debugging on the web server\" in Visual Studio 2010. I clicked the Help button and followed the related suggestions without success.

Answer 1

I tried every single solution put online to resolve this issue and nothing seems to work consistently.

I eventually solved it in both 2010 and 2012 by tracking it down to the following missing file in the Debug Source Files setting

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 11.0\VC\atlmfc\src\mfc\

Solution > Properties > Debug Source Files >

Check to ensure all the files are there then remove this entry and everything worked again.

Answer 2

Unable to start debugging on web server. the web server not configured correctly.

How to resolve this problem?

Step-1

open Command Prompt (Run as administrator)

Step-2

C:\Windows\system32>cd..

C:\Windows>cd Microsoft.NET

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET>cd Framework

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework>cd v4.0.30319

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319>aspnet_regiis.exe -i

Answer 3

Having tried all of the solutions above, I was still having this issue. Other projects were debugging without issue, so I knew it had to be something to do with this particular application's configuration.

Mine is an MVC app running under IIS 8. The issue was with URL Rewriting.

I had a rule to enforce trailing slashes. All I had to do was disable it (which can be done in IIS directly, or via the web.config below - just set enabled="false")

 <rewrite>
        <rules>
            <rule name="AddTrailingSlashRule1" enabled="false" stopProcessing="true">
                <match url="(.*[^/])$" />
                <conditions>
                    <add input="{REQUEST_FILENAME}" matchType="IsDirectory" negate="true" />
                    <add input="{REQUEST_FILENAME}" matchType="IsFile" negate="true" />
                </conditions>
                <action type="Redirect" url="{R:1}/" />
            </rule>
        </rules>
    </rewrite>

Answer 4

In IIS in the Directory Security TAB, if using SSL check "Ignore client certificate" if you are running it in your local PC.

Answer 5

Another thing to try (this is what worked for me):

In IIS, click Application Pools > (Your Site) > Advanced Settings, and change "Enable 32-Bit Applications" to True.

Answer 6

You can firstly deploy your web application/site with your iis, then open your visual studio 2010. Then click "File"->open->website->Local IIS Site, then select your website/application. Then you will find that the debug may works. This method works for my case.