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Common issues

Extended diagnostics for the most frequent Damsy ERP deployment and runtime problems. Start with the Troubleshooting overview table if you need a quick routing index.

Introduction​

These issues recur across VPS go-lives because ASP.NET MVC publish, IIS identity, SQL seed data, and Release transforms interact. This page explains root cause, verification, and fix for each cluster.

Sign-in failed​

Symptom​

Login page shows failure after entering credentials, or POST returns without dashboard redirect.

Checks​

  1. Company dropdown — select Damsy Technologies (CompID 1) for minimal seed.

  2. Password storage — DB holds encrypted value, not plaintext. Canonical hash for Admin@123:

    pnvwVaziAnZkG/KRvd7FLA==

  3. Login chain — GetLoginUser requires joins:

    UserAccounts → CompanyUser → CompanyMaster
    UserAccounts → UserRole
    UserAccounts → BranchMaster

  4. Run 04b-fix-admin-login.sql on DB_DAMSYERP.

  5. Execute EXEC dbo.GetLoginUser parameters matching Login_DAL (encrypted password, CompID, login ID).

  6. IsActive flags on company, user, role.

Fix​

  • Re-run Seed scripts.
  • Ensure MyConnectionString points to seeded database — not empty schema.
  • Recycle IIS app pool after connection string changes.
tip

If SSMS verify SELECT in 04-seed-minimal.sql returns a row but UI fails, compare encryption: app uses HashCryptography.Encrypt on POST before SP call.

Symptom​

  • Browser redirect loop on every request
  • Login appears to work; next navigation returns to login
  • Session cookie never sticks

Checks​

Inspect deployed Web.config:

<add key="ForceHttps" value="false"/>
<httpCookies httpOnlyCookies="true" requireSSL="false"/>

Global.asax.cs permanently redirects when ForceHttps == "true" and request is HTTP.

Fix​

  1. Set ForceHttps=false and requireSSL=false for HTTP deployments.
  2. Recycle app pool.
  3. Clear browser cookies for the site.
  4. When SSL certificate is installed: bind HTTPS in IIS, then set both to true — Release configuration.

Missing CSS after publish​

Symptom​

  • Dashboard and modules look unstyled or "legacy"
  • Browser network tab shows 404 for app-assets/css/*.css
  • Layout spacing and sidebar search broken

Checks​

  1. On publish output (before IIS copy):

    app-assets/css/shell-modern.css
    app-assets/css/sidebar-unified.css
    app-assets/css/administration-dashboard.css

  2. On IIS physical path — same files must exist.

  3. In DamsyERP.UI.csproj — each CSS file needs:

    <Content Include="app-assets\css\shell-modern.css" />

  4. Layout references may include ?v= cache buster — hard-refresh Ctrl+F5.

Fix​

  1. Include missing files in project → Rebuild.
  2. Publish Release with MVC_PUBLISH.
  3. Verify publish folder → full copy to inetpub\wwwroot\damsy_erp.
  4. Recycle app pool.

Crystal Reports runtime​

Symptom​

  • Report viewer page throws exception on load
  • Error mentions CrystalDecisions or missing assembly 13.0.2000.0
  • Works on dev machine with CR installed; fails on clean VPS

Checks​

  1. Crystal Reports runtime installed on server (version aligned with project references — typically SAP Crystal Reports runtime for .NET Framework matching 13.x).

  2. Publish includes:

    crystalreportviewers13/
    Areas/*/.../*.rpt
    Areas/*/.../*Report*.aspx

  3. Application pool 32-bit setting — some CR deployments require Enable 32-Bit Applications = True (environment-specific; test if 64-bit pool fails).

Fix​

  • Install matching CR runtime on VPS.
  • Republish ensuring .rpt and viewer folders copied.
  • Recycle pool; test one known report (e.g. Payroll statutory viewer).

See Crystal Reports architecture.

Module tile missing​

Symptom​

Home dashboard loads but expected module card (Payroll, Bills, Stock, etc.) is absent.

Checks​

  1. Session dtVerifyUser module booleans — set from GetLoginUser result.
  2. Database UserAccounts columns: Payroll, Billing, ZStock, Webenroll, ZSales, EmpSelfServices, ControlPanel, etc. must be 1 for admin seed.
  3. DashboardController copies flags to ViewData — user must complete login redirect to /Dashboard/Index.

Fix​

  • Run 04b-fix-admin-login.sql to reset module flags on admin.
  • For other users, update flags via Administration or direct SQL on UserAccounts (prefer UI when available).
FlagDashboard module
PayrollPayroll
BillingBills
ZStockStock
WebenrollRegistration
ZSalesSales
EmpSelfServicesESS
ControlPanelAdministration

Partial view not found​

Symptom​

The partial view '_UnitPermissionS' was not found

Or similar for Registration, Payroll, or shared partials.

Checks​

  1. File exists in source: e.g. Areas/Registration/Views/Shared/_UnitPermissionS.cshtml
  2. File exists on IIS after publish.
  3. Listed as <Content Include=...> in DamsyERP.UI.csproj.

Fix​

Same workflow as missing CSS: include in project → publish → verify output → IIS copy → recycle.

Known historical gaps (now fixed in repo but verify on old publishes):

  • _UnitPermissionS, _RegDashHero
  • Module dashboard CSS under app-assets/css/

Works locally, fails on VPS​

Symptom​

Full functionality on IIS Express / local IIS; failures only on remote Windows server.

Checks​

AreaLocal vs VPS
Connection stringLocal DB name vs DB_DAMSYERP on VPS
SQL authIntegrated Security → IIS APPPOOL\PoolName must exist in SQL
Publish completenessLocal may run from project dir with all files; VPS only has copied publish
Release transformsLocal Debug may use different ForceHttps / customErrors
Crystal runtimeInstalled locally, missing on VPS
FirewallSQL port blocked from VPS to SQL host

Fix checklist​

  1. Compare Web.config MyConnectionString on VPS.
  2. Grant SQL rights to app pool identity — IIS deploy.
  3. Run publish folder file audit — Publish verify.
  4. Apply blank DB + seed if VPS database empty.
  5. Install CR runtime; recycle pool.
# Quick DLL timestamp check on VPS
Get-Item C:\inetpub\wwwroot\damsy_erp\bin\DamsyERP.UI.dll | Select LastWriteTime

Empty menus after minimal seed​

Symptom​

Login and dashboard succeed; sidebar menu sparse; drilling into Admin pages errors.

Cause​

Minimal seed does not populate MenuMaster / UserPermissions.

Fix​

Copy menu and permission tables from a working development database, or use your organization's full migration scripts. This is expected until Phase 4b data import.

Important notes​

  • Prefer RemoteOnly custom errors on VPS — RDP to server to see detailed ASP.NET errors during initial setup.
  • ManageError in each Area handles local report redirects — distinguish root vs Area error controllers.
  • Keep a checklist document per environment: pool name, SQL login, publish date, schema export source DB.

Common mistakes​

MistakeOutcome
Fixing only Web.config in source, not on IISServer unchanged
Testing with wrong companyFalse "login broken"
Partial file copy to inetpubRandom 404s and view errors
Assuming seed = full ERPMenu errors mistaken for deploy failure

Next steps​