COMException: The handle is invalid after installing patches

Question

After installing Microsoft patches on a Windows Server 2008 R2 server hosting Adaxes 2014.1 we are experiencing the following COMException in the Application event log:

An error occurred while trying to start an integrated application instance.

Exception: System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException

Message: The handle is invalid. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80070006 (E_HANDLE))

StackTrace: at System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.ThrowExceptionForHRInternal(Int32 errorCode, IntPtr errorInfo)
at System.Web.Util.StopListeningWaitHandle..ctor()
at System.Web.Hosting.HostingEnvironment.SetupStopListeningHandler()
at System.Web.Hosting.PipelineRuntime.StartProcessing()
at System.Web.Hosting.ProcessHost.StartApplication(String appId, String appPath, Object& runtimeInterface)

Due to this error the AdaxesSelfService web application will not startup and IIS eventually shuts down the application pool. All other Adaxes* web applications will startup; however, they create the same error when trying to access the web application.

We have tried the following to resolve the error but nothing has worked.
1. Uninstall the Microsoft patch set that was applied. (KB3045171, KB3057839, KB3058515, KB3059317, KB3063858)
2. Uninstall/Install Adaxes 2014.1
3. Disable/Enable IIS 7.5

Any insight into how to fix this issue is greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Hello,

Judging by the detailed information from the Event Log, the error occurs at very early stages of initializing the generic ASP.NET environment for the IIS applications that represent Adaxes Web Interfaces. At such an early stage, IIS performs only general initialization tasks common for any IIS application, and none of Adaxes code is yet used, so this is definitely an environment issue. To fix the issue, you can try the following:

1. On the computer where Adaxes Web Interface is installed, launch Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager from Control Panel -> Administrative Tools.
2. In the Console Tree, expand the server that hosts the Adaxes Web Interface, and then expand Sites.
3. Expand the web site for the Adaxes Web Interface.
4. Select the web application for a Web Interface type that you are experiencing issues with (e.g. Self-Service).
5. In the right view pane click Basic Settings.
   
6. Click the Select button next to the Application pool field.
7. Check the .NET CLR version and the Pipeline mode of the current Application Pool (displayed on the Properties pane). The .NET CLR version must be 2.0, and the Pipeline mode must be Integrated. If the settings of the current Application Pool are different, select an Application Pool with the necessary settings in the Application pool drop-down list.
   
8. Click OK 2 times.
9. If necessary, repeat the same of the other Web Interfaces.
10. When done with all the Web interfaces, restart IIS.

If the above doesn't help, try registering ASP.NET for .NET Framework 2.0. To do this:

1. Launch the Windows Command Shell (cmd.exe).

2. Navigate to the Microsoft.NET Framework 2.0 directory. To do this:

   • on a 32-bit version of Windows, type cd %windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727;
   • on a 64-bit version of Windows, type cd %windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v2.0.50727.

3. Run the following command: aspnet_regiis -i.

Comments

The above steps did not solve the problem. We have decided to upgrade the server and reinstall Adaxes on a fresh server image.