Hello,

I have tried to upgrade an existing DNN installation from version 4.3.6 to 4.5.5, following the known procedure. The "Install.aspx?mode=Upgrade" page gave 1 error on upgrading to 4.4 (Error:HelpUrl), but in the end gave the message "Upgrade Complete" (more details below). When I click on "Click Here To Access Your Portal" however, I am redirected to "/Default.aspx?tabid=36&error=Object+reference+not+set+to+an+instance+of+an+object.&content=0" and receive this error message:

DotNetNuke Error: - Version 04.05.05 An error has occurred. An error has occurred.

Return to Site

In other words: I cannot access the portal anymore, in no way.
I have found very recent messages in this forum regarding a message "An unhandled error has occurred" after installing DNN 4.5.5 from scratch. Maybe this is the same problem.

FYI: The used database is SQL Server 2005 and I connect to it using the backwards compatible 2000/2005 connection string in web.config.

Here's the step-by-step process I have followed to upgrade my DNN installation:

1. Set AutoUpgrade to "false" in the existing web.config.

2. Merged the release.config of the DNN 4.5.5 Upgrade package with my existing one (connection strings, machine/validation key, code sub directories, installation date, etc.).

3. Copied all files from the DNN 4.5.5 Upgrade package over my existing installation directory.

4. Went to "/Install/Install.aspx?mode=Upgrade"

5. Then I receive the following message, which is not normal already?

This site is currently Unavailable

Please check back later

 6. I press F5 to call the page again and the upgrade takes place:

Upgrading DotNetNuke

Current Assembly Version: 04.05.05

Current Database Version: 04.03.06

Upgrade Status Report

00:00:00.046 - Upgrading to Version: 4.5.5
00:00:00.078 -   Executing Script: 04.03.07.SqlDataProvider Success
00:00:00.265 -   Executing Script: 04.04.00.SqlDataProvider Error! (see 04.04.00.log for more information)
00:00:00.687 -   Executing Script: 04.04.01.SqlDataProvider Success
00:00:00.765 -   Executing Script: 04.05.00.SqlDataProvider Success
00:00:01.437 -   Executing Script: 04.05.01.SqlDataProvider Success
00:00:01.812 -   Executing Script: 04.05.02.SqlDataProvider Success
00:00:03.218 -   Executing Script: 04.05.03.SqlDataProvider Success
00:00:03.296 -   Executing Script: 04.05.04.SqlDataProvider Success
00:00:03.343 -   Executing Script: 04.05.05.SqlDataProvider Success
00:00:03.375 - Performing General Upgrades

Upgrade Complete

7. When viewing "/Providers/DataProviders/SqlDataProvider/04.04.00.log", I see only 1 line: Error:HelpUrl
I had this error before when upgrading a DNN installation and then found out it wasn't harmful because it was corrected in a later update script.

8. I then clicked on "Click Here To Access Your Portal" and that's when I see the following message:

DotNetNuke Error: - Version 04.05.05 An error has occurred. An error has occurred.

Return to Site

9. I have tried this 2 times on the production server and then restored my back-up of the running DNN 4.3.6 website and DB.

10. I then put an exact copy of the production site on a staging server (files and DB of course) and tried 3 more times there (once with explicitly adding user ASPNET with Full Control on the directory, once with a more stripped down web.config, etc.), but always had the same result.

Can someone tell me what causes this problem and point me in a direction to solve it please?

Thanks a lot in advance!

Best regards,
Stijn