Thanks for all of your suggestions, but none seems to work.
I was doing this in steps to find out where the process went awry. It seems that any upgrade to 4.6.x or higher fails, all in the way I originally described.
Here is my web.config file:
<configuration>
<!-- register local configuration handlers -->
<configSections>
<sectionGroup name="dotnetnuke">
<!-- the requirePermission attribute will cause a syntax warning - please ignore - it is required for Medium Trust support-->
<section name="data" requirePermission="false" type="DotNetNuke.Framework.Providers.ProviderConfigurationHandler, DotNetNuke"/>
<section name="logging" requirePermission="false" type="DotNetNuke.Framework.Providers.ProviderConfigurationHandler, DotNetNuke"/>
<section name="scheduling" requirePermission="false" type="DotNetNuke.Framework.Providers.ProviderConfigurationHandler, DotNetNuke"/>
<section name="htmlEditor" requirePermission="false" type="DotNetNuke.Framework.Providers.ProviderConfigurationHandler, DotNetNuke"/>
<section name="navigationControl" requirePermission="false" type="DotNetNuke.Framework.Providers.ProviderConfigurationHandler, DotNetNuke"/>
<section name="searchIndex" requirePermission="false" type="DotNetNuke.Framework.Providers.ProviderConfigurationHandler, DotNetNuke"/>
<section name="searchDataStore" requirePermission="false" type="DotNetNuke.Framework.Providers.ProviderConfigurationHandler, DotNetNuke"/>
<section name="friendlyUrl" requirePermission="false" type="DotNetNuke.Framework.Providers.ProviderConfigurationHandler, DotNetNuke"/>
<section name="caching" requirePermission="false" type="DotNetNuke.Framework.Providers.ProviderConfigurationHandler, DotNetNuke"/>
<section name="authentication" requirePermission="false" type="DotNetNuke.Framework.Providers.ProviderConfigurationHandler, DotNetNuke" />
<section name="members" requirePermission="false" type="DotNetNuke.Framework.Providers.ProviderConfigurationHandler, DotNetNuke" />
<section name="roles" requirePermission="false" type="DotNetNuke.Framework.Providers.ProviderConfigurationHandler, DotNetNuke" />
<section name="profiles" requirePermission="false" type="DotNetNuke.Framework.Providers.ProviderConfigurationHandler, DotNetNuke" />
</sectionGroup>
</configSections>
<connectionStrings>
<!-- Connection String for SQL Server 2005 Express
<add
name="SiteSqlServer"
connectionString="Data Source=.\SQLExpress;Integrated Security=True;User Instance=True;AttachDBFilename=|DataDirectory|Database.mdf;"
providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />
-->
<!-- Connection String for SQL Server 2000/2005 -->
<add
name="SiteSqlServer"
connectionString="Server=Tigger;Database=Finder_Website;uid=xx;pwd=yyyyyy"
providerName="System.Data.SqlClient"/>
</connectionStrings>
<appSettings>
<!-- Connection String for SQL Server 2005 Express - kept for backwards compatability - legacy modules
<add key="SiteSqlServer" value="Data Source=.\SQLExpress;Integrated Security=True;User Instance=True;AttachDBFilename=|DataDirectory|Database.mdf;"/>
-->
<!-- Connection String for SQL Server 2000/2005 - kept for backwards compatability - legacy modules -->
<add key="SiteSqlServer" value="Server=Tigger;Database=Finder_Website;uid=xxx;pwd=yyyyyy"/>
<add key="InstallTemplate" value="DotNetNuke.install.config" />
<add key="AutoUpgrade" value="false" />
<add key="UseInstallWizard" value="false"/>
<add key="InstallMemberRole" value="true" />
<add key="ShowMissingKeys" value="false" />
<add key="EnableWebFarmSupport" value="false" />
<add key="EnableCachePersistence" value="false"/>
<add key="HostHeader" value="" /><!-- Host Header to remove from URL so "www.mydomain.com/johndoe/Default.aspx" is treated as "www.mydomain.com/Default.aspx" -->
<add key="RemoveAngleBrackets" value="false" /><!--optionally strip angle brackets on public login and registration screens-->
<add key="PersistentCookieTimeout" value="0" /><!--use as persistent cookie expiration. Value is in minutes, and only active if a non-zero figure-->
<add key="Anthem.ResponseType" value="application/x-anthem"/>
<add key="Anthem.EnableDotNetNukeFriendlyUrls" value="True"/>
<add key="EFVersion" value="3.21"/>
</appSettings>
<system.codedom>
<compilers>
<compiler
language="vb"
type="Microsoft.VisualBasic.VBCodeProvider, System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=B77A5C561934E089"
extension=".VB" />
</compilers>
</system.codedom>
<system.web>
<machineKey
validationKey="5772FD7F7F44AD57CE11E7CC85B2D4F7908C6100"
decryptionKey="EC5B43E681AB94FD60EA98B0E3F8F123C8DEFEFEA9ED2C69"
decryption="3DES"
validation="SHA1"/>
<!-- HttpModules for Common Functionality -->
<httpModules>
<!-- add name="Authentication" type="DotNetNuke.HttpModules.AuthenticationModule, DotNetNuke.HttpModules.Authentication" / -->
<add name="Compression" type="DotNetNuke.HttpModules.Compression.CompressionModule, DotNetNuke.HttpModules" />
<add name="RequestFilter" type="DotNetNuke.HttpModules.RequestFilter.RequestFilterModule, DotNetNuke.HttpModules" />
<add name="UrlRewrite" type="DotNetNuke.HttpModules.UrlRewriteModule, DotNetNuke.HttpModules" />
<add name="Exception" type="DotNetNuke.HttpModules.Exceptions.ExceptionModule, DotNetNuke.HttpModules" />
<add name="UsersOnline" type="DotNetNuke.HttpModules.UsersOnline.UsersOnlineModule, DotNetNuke.HttpModules" />
<add name="DNNMembership" type="DotNetNuke.HttpModules.Membership.MembershipModule, DotNetNuke.HttpModules" />
<add name="Personalization" type="DotNetNuke.HttpModules.Personalization.PersonalizationModule, DotNetNuke.HttpModules" />
<add name="ScriptModule" type="System.Web.Handlers.ScriptModule, System.Web.Extensions, Version=1.0.61025.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35" />
</httpModules>
<httpHandlers>
<!-- This is for CAPTCHA support -->
<add verb="*" path="*.captcha.aspx" type="DotNetNuke.UI.WebControls.CaptchaHandler, DotNetNuke" />
<!-- This is for Serving files, secure, insecure, from database -->
<add verb="*" path="LinkClick.aspx" type="DotNetNuke.Services.FileSystem.FileServerHandler, DotNetNuke"/>
<!-- This adds syndication support -->
<add verb="*" path="RSS.aspx" type="DotNetNuke.Services.Syndication.RssHandler, DotNetNuke"/>
<!-- ASP.NET AJAX support -->
<remove verb="*" path="*.asmx"/>
<add verb="*" path="*.asmx" validate="false" type="System.Web.Script.Services.ScriptHandlerFactory, System.Web.Extensions, Version=1.0.61025.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35"/>
<add verb="*" path="*_AppService.axd" validate="false" type="System.Web.Script.Services.ScriptHandlerFactory, System.Web.Extensions, Version=1.0.61025.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35"/>
<add verb="GET,HEAD" path="ScriptResource.axd" type="System.Web.Handlers.ScriptResourceHandler, System.Web.Extensions, Version=1.0.61025.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35" validate="false"/>
</httpHandlers>
<!-- set code access security trust level - this is generally set in the machine.config
<trust level="Medium" originUrl=".*" />
-->
<!-- set debugmode to false for running application -->
<compilation debug="false" strict="false">
<buildProviders>
<remove extension=".resx"/>
<remove extension=".resources"/>
</buildProviders>
<assemblies>
<add assembly="Microsoft.VisualBasic, Version=8.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=B03F5F7F11D50A3A"/>
<add assembly="System.DirectoryServices, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=B03F5F7F11D50A3A"/>
<add assembly="System.Design, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=B03F5F7F11D50A3A"/>
<add assembly="System.Management, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=B03F5F7F11D50A3A"/>
<add assembly="System.Web.Extensions, Version=1.0.61025.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35"/>
</assemblies>
<!-- register your app_code subfolders to generate granular assemblies during compilation
<codeSubDirectories>
<add directoryName="sub-directory name"/>
</codeSubDirectories>
-->
</compilation>
<!-- permits errors to be displayed for remote clients -->
<customErrors mode="RemoteOnly"/>
<!-- Forms or Windows authentication -->
<authentication mode="Forms">
<forms name=".DOTNETNUKE" protection="All" timeout="60" cookieless="UseCookies"/>
</authentication>
<!--
<identity impersonate="true"/>
<authentication mode="Windows">
</authentication>
-->
<!-- allow large file uploads -->
<httpRuntime useFullyQualifiedRedirectUrl="true" maxRequestLength="8192" requestLengthDiskThreshold="8192"/>
<httpCookies httpOnlyCookies="true" requireSSL="false" domain="" />
<!-- GLOBALIZATION
This section sets the globalization settings of the application.
Utf-8 is not supported on Netscape 4.x
If you need netscape compatiblity leave iso-8859-1.
UTF-8 is recommended for complex languages
-->
<globalization
culture="en-US"
uiCulture="en"
requestEncoding="UTF-8"
responseEncoding="UTF-8"
fileEncoding="UTF-8"/>
<!--<globalization culture="en-US" uiCulture="en" fileEncoding="iso-8859-1" requestEncoding="iso-8859-1" responseEncoding="iso-8859-1"/>-->
<!-- page level options -->
<pages validateRequest="false" enableViewStateMac="true" enableEventValidation="false">
<controls>
<add tagPrefix="asp" namespace="System.Web.UI" assembly="System.Web.Extensions, Version=1.0.61025.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35"/>
</controls>
<namespaces>
<add namespace="System.ComponentModel"/>
<add namespace="System.Data"/>
<add namespace="System.Data.SqlClient"/>
<add namespace="System.Drawing"/>
<add namespace="Microsoft.VisualBasic"/>
<add namespace="System.Globalization"/>
<add namespace="DotNetNuke.Services.Localization"/>
<add namespace="DotNetNuke.Entities.Users"/>
<add namespace="DotNetNuke"/>
<add namespace="DotNetNuke.Common"/>
<add namespace="DotNetNuke.Data"/>
<add namespace="DotNetNuke.Framework"/>
<add namespace="DotNetNuke.Modules"/>
<add namespace="DotNetNuke.Security"/>
<add namespace="DotNetNuke.Services"/>
<add namespace="DotNetNuke.UI"/>
<add namespace="DotNetNuke.Entities.Portals"/>
<add namespace="DotNetNuke.Common.Utilities"/>
<add namespace="DotNetNuke.Services.Exceptions"/>
<add namespace="DotNetNuke.Entities.Tabs"/>
</namespaces>
</pages>
<!-- ASP.NET 2 Membership/Profile/Role and AnonymousAuthentication Providers -->
<!-- anonymousIdentification configuration:
enabled="[true|false]" Feature is enabled?
cookieName=".ASPXANONYMOUS" Cookie Name
cookieTimeout="100000" Cookie Timeout in minutes
cookiePath="/" Cookie Path
cookieRequireSSL="[true|false]" Set Secure bit in Cookie
cookieSlidingExpiration="[true|false]" Reissue expiring cookies?
cookieProtection="[None|Validation|Encryption|All]" How to protect cookies from being read/tampered
domain="[domain]" Enables output of the "domain" cookie attribute set to the specified value
-->
<anonymousIdentification
enabled="true"
cookieName=".ASPXANONYMOUS"
cookieTimeout="100000"
cookiePath="/"
cookieRequireSSL="false"
cookieSlidingExpiration="true"
cookieProtection="None" domain=""/>
<membership
defaultProvider="AspNetSqlMembershipProvider"
userIsOnlineTimeWindow="15">
<providers>
<clear/>
<!-- Configuration for DNNSQLMembershipProvider:
connectionStringName="string" Name corresponding to the entry in <connectionStrings> section where the connection string for the provider is specified
passwordAttemptThreshold="int" The number of failed password attempts, or failed password answer attempts that are allowed before locking out a user?s account
passwordAttemptWindow="int" The time window, in minutes, during which failed password attempts and failed password answer attempts are tracked
enablePasswordRetrieval="[true|false]" Should the provider support password retrievals
enablePasswordReset="[true|false]" Should the provider support password resets
requiresQuestionAndAnswer="[true|false]" Should the provider require Q & A
minRequiredPasswordLength="int" The minimum password length
minRequiredNonalphanumericCharacters="int" The minimum number of non-alphanumeric characters
applicationName="string" Optional string to identity the application: defaults to Application Metabase path
requiresUniqueEmail="[true|false]" Should the provider require a unique email to be specified
passwordFormat="[Clear|Hashed|Encrypted]" Storage format for the password: Hashed (SHA1), Clear or Encrypted (Triple-DES)
description="string" Description of what the provider does
-->
<add name="AspNetSqlMembershipProvider"
type="System.Web.Security.SqlMembershipProvider"
connectionStringName="SiteSqlServer"
enablePasswordRetrieval="true"
enablePasswordReset="true"
requiresQuestionAndAnswer="false"
minRequiredPasswordLength="7"
minRequiredNonalphanumericCharacters="0"
requiresUniqueEmail="false"
passwordFormat="Encrypted"
applicationName="DotNetNuke"
description="Stores and retrieves membership data from the local Microsoft SQL Server database" />
</providers>
</membership>
</system.web>
<runtime>
<assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
<probing privatePath="bin;bin\HttpModules;bin\Providers;bin\Modules;bin\Support;" />
</assemblyBinding>
</runtime>
<dotnetnuke>
<htmlEditor
defaultProvider="FckHtmlEditorProvider">
<providers>
<clear/>
<add name="FckHtmlEditorProvider"
type="DotNetNuke.HtmlEditor.FckHtmlEditorProvider.FckHtmlEditorProvider, DotNetNuke.FckHtmlEditorProvider"
providerPath="~/Providers/HtmlEditorProviders/Fck/"
CustomConfigurationPath="~/Providers/HtmlEditorProviders/Fck/custom/FCKConfig.js"
EnhancedSecurityDefault="false"
SecureConfigurationPath="~/Providers/HtmlEditorProviders/Fck/custom/FCKConfigSecure.js"
ImageGalleryPath="~/Providers/HtmlEditorProviders/Fck/fckimagegallery.aspx"
ImageUploadPath="~/Providers/HtmlEditorProviders/Fck/fckimagegallery.aspx"
ImageAllowedFileTypes="gif,png,bmp,jpg"
FlashGalleryPath="~/Providers/HtmlEditorProviders/Fck/fckimagegallery.aspx"
FlashUploadPath="~/Providers/HtmlEditorProviders/Fck/fckimagegallery.aspx"
FlashAllowedFileTypes="fla,swf"
LinksGalleryPath="~/Providers/HtmlEditorProviders/Fck/fcklinkgallery.aspx"
DynamicStylesGeneratorPath="~/Providers/HtmlEditorProviders/Fck/FCKStyles.aspx"
DynamicStylesCaseSensitive="true"
DynamicStylesGeneratorFilter="controlpanel|filemanager|mainmenu|wizard"
StaticStylesFile="~/Providers/HtmlEditorProviders/Fck/FCKeditor/fckstyles.xml"
StylesDefaultMode="Static"
DynamicCSSGeneratorPath="~/Providers/HtmlEditorProviders/Fck/FCKCSS.aspx"
StaticCSSFile="~/Providers/HtmlEditorProviders/Fck/FCKeditor/editor/css/fck_editorarea.css"
CSSDefaultMode="static"
spellCheck="ieSpell"
AvailableToolbarSkins="Office2003,Silver"
DefaultToolbarSkin="Office2003"
AvailableToolBarSets="DNNDefault,Default,NoGallery,Basic"
DefaultToolbarSet="DNNDefault"
DefaultImageGallerySkin="Default"
DefaultFlashGallerySkin="Default"
DefaultLinksGallerySkin="Default"
FCKDebugMode="false"
UseFCKSource="false"
OptionsOpenMode="ShowModalDialog"
CustomOptionsDialog="Admin" />
</providers>
</htmlEditor>
<navigationControl
defaultProvider="SolpartMenuNavigationProvider">
<providers>
<clear/>
<add
name="SolpartMenuNavigationProvider"
type="DotNetNuke.NavigationControl.SolpartMenuNavigationProvider, DotNetNuke.SolpartMenuNavigationProvider"
providerPath="~\Providers\NavigationProviders\SolpartMenuNavigationProvider\"/>
<add
name="DNNMenuNavigationProvider"
type="DotNetNuke.NavigationControl.DNNMenuNavigationProvider, DotNetNuke.DNNMenuNavigationProvider"
providerPath="~\Providers\NavigationProviders\DNNMenuNavigationProvider\"/>
<add
name="DNNTreeNavigationProvider"
type="DotNetNuke.NavigationControl.DNNTreeNavigationProvider, DotNetNuke.DNNTreeNavigationProvider"
providerPath="~\Providers\NavigationProviders\DNNTreeNavigationProvider\"/>
<add
name="DNNDropDownNavigationProvider"
type="DotNetNuke.NavigationControl.DNNDropDownNavigationProvider, DotNetNuke.DNNDropDownNavigationProvider"
providerPath="~\Providers\NavigationProviders\DNNDropDownNavigationProvider\"/>
<add
name="ASP2MenuNavigationProvider"
type="DotNetNuke.NavigationControl.ASP2MenuNavigationProvider, DotNetNuke.ASP2MenuNavigationProvider"
providerPath="~\Providers\NavigationProviders\ASP2MenuNavigationProvider\"/>
</providers>
</navigationControl>
<searchIndex
defaultProvider="ModuleIndexProvider">
<providers>
<clear/>
<add
name="ModuleIndexProvider"
type="DotNetNuke.Services.Search.ModuleIndexer, DotNetNuke.Search.Index"
providerPath="~\Providers\SearchProviders\ModuleIndexer\"/>
</providers>
</searchIndex>
<searchDataStore
defaultProvider="SearchDataStoreProvider">
<providers>
<clear/>
<add
name="SearchDataStoreProvider"
type="DotNetNuke.Services.Search.SearchDataStore, DotNetNuke.Search.DataStore"
providerPath="~\Providers\SearchProviders\SearchDataStore\"/>
</providers>
</searchDataStore>
<data
defaultProvider="SqlDataProvider">
<providers>
<clear/>
<add
name="SqlDataProvider"
type="DotNetNuke.Data.SqlDataProvider, DotNetNuke.SqlDataProvider"
connectionStringName="SiteSqlServer"
upgradeConnectionString=""
providerPath="~\Providers\DataProviders\SqlDataProvider\"
objectQualifier=""
databaseOwner="dbo"/>
</providers>
</data>
<logging
defaultProvider="DBLoggingProvider">
<providers>
<clear/>
<add
name="XMLLoggingProvider"
type="DotNetNuke.Services.Log.EventLog.XMLLoggingProvider, DotNetNuke.XMLLoggingProvider"
configfilename="LogConfig.xml.resources"
providerPath="~\Providers\LoggingProviders\XMLLoggingProvider\"/>
<add
name="DBLoggingProvider"
type="DotNetNuke.Services.Log.EventLog.DBLoggingProvider.DBLoggingProvider, DotNetNuke.Provider.DBLoggingProvider"
providerPath="~\Providers\LoggingProviders\Provider.DBLoggingProvider\"/>
</providers>
</logging>
<scheduling
defaultProvider="DNNScheduler">
<providers>
<clear/>
<add
name="DNNScheduler"
type="DotNetNuke.Services.Scheduling.DNNScheduling.DNNScheduler, DotNetNuke.DNNScheduler"
providerPath="~\Providers\SchedulingProviders\DNNScheduler\"
debug="false"
maxThreads="1"/>
</providers>
</scheduling>
<friendlyUrl
defaultProvider="DNNFriendlyUrl">
<providers>
<clear/>
<add
name="DNNFriendlyUrl"
type="DotNetNuke.Services.Url.FriendlyUrl.DNNFriendlyUrlProvider, DotNetNuke.HttpModules"
includePageName="true"
regexMatch="[^a-zA-Z0-9 _-]" />
</providers>
</friendlyUrl>
<caching
defaultProvider="FileBasedCachingProvider">
<providers>
<clear/>
<add
name="FileBasedCachingProvider"
type="DotNetNuke.Services.Cache.FileBasedCachingProvider.FBCachingProvider, DotNetNuke.Caching.FileBasedCachingProvider"
providerPath="~\Providers\CachingProviders\FileBasedCachingProvider\"/>
<add
name="BroadcastPollingCachingProvider"
type="DotNetNuke.Services.Cache.BroadcastPollingCachingProvider.BPCachingProvider, DotNetNuke.Caching.BroadcastPollingCachingProvider"
providerPath="~\Providers\CachingProviders\BroadcastPollingCachingProvider\"/>
</providers>
</caching>
<authentication
defaultProvider="ADSIAuthenticationProvider">
<providers>
<clear />
<add name="ADSIAuthenticationProvider"
type="DotNetNuke.Authentication.ActiveDirectory.ADSI.ADSIProvider, DotNetNuke.Authentication.ActiveDirectory"
providerPath="~\Providers\AuthenticationProviders\ADSIProvider\" />
</providers>
</authentication>
<members defaultProvider="AspNetMembershipProvider">
<providers>
<clear/>
<add name="AspNetMembershipProvider"
type="DotNetNuke.Security.Membership.AspNetMembershipProvider, DotNetNuke.Provider.AspNetProvider"
providerPath="~\Providers\MembershipProviders\AspNetMembershipProvider\"/>
</providers>
</members>
<roles defaultProvider="DNNRoleProvider">
<providers>
<clear/>
<add name="DNNRoleProvider"
type="DotNetNuke.Security.Membership.DNNRoleProvider, DotNetNuke.Provider.DNNProvider"
providerPath="~\Providers\MembershipProviders\DNNMembershipProvider\"/>
</providers>
</roles>
<profiles defaultProvider="DNNProfileProvider">
<providers>
<clear/>
<add name="DNNProfileProvider"
type="DotNetNuke.Security.Profile.DNNProfileProvider, DotNetNuke.Provider.DNNProvider"
providerPath="~\Providers\MembershipProviders\DNNMembershipProvider\"/>
</providers>
</profiles>
</dotnetnuke>
</configuration>