No Entity Framework provider found for the ADO.NET provider with invariant name 'System.Data.SqlClient'.

Question

We are using EntityFramework 6 with Code First. We have a console app that has no reference to EntityFramework but reads the connection string from its App.config. It calls the DatabaseInitializationUtilities assembly passing the connection string as a parameter.

DatabaseInitializationUtilities has the reference to EF6 (EntityFramework and EntityFramework.SqlServer). Its App.config is this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
  <configuration>
     <configSections>
        <!-- For more information on Entity Framework configuration, visit http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=237468 -->
      <section name="entityFramework" type="System.Data.Entity.Internal.ConfigFile.EntityFrameworkSection, EntityFramework, Version=6.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" requirePermission="false" />
     </configSections>
     <system.serviceModel>
         <bindings>
            <basicHttpBinding>
                <binding name="BasicHttpBinding_IAuthentication" />
            </basicHttpBinding>
         </bindings>
         <client>
            <endpoint address="http://localhost/SecurityServices/Authentication.svc" binding="basicHttpBinding" bindingConfiguration="BasicHttpBinding_IAuthentication" contract="SecurityService.IAuthentication" name="BasicHttpBinding_IAuthentication" />
         </client>
      </system.serviceModel>
      <entityFramework>
         <defaultConnectionFactory type="System.Data.Entity.Infrastructure.LocalDbConnectionFactory, EntityFramework">
            <parameters>
               <parameter value="v11.0" />
            </parameters>
         </defaultConnectionFactory>
         <providers>
            <provider invariantName="System.Data.SqlClient" type="System.Data.Entity.SqlServer.SqlProviderServices, EntityFramework.SqlServer" />
         </providers>
      </entityFramework>
   </configuration>

When execution reaches a line where DatabaseInitializationUtilities attempts to run a script

context.Database.ExecuteSqlCommand(script.ScriptText)

the error is thrown:

No Entity Framework provider found for the ADO.NET provider with invariant name 'System.Data.SqlClient'. Make sure the provider is registered in the 'entityFramework' section of the application config file. See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=260882 for more information.

I believe the remedy is exactly what I have in my config file, so I don't understand the problem.

NOTE: Resharper is bluelining the node and reporting "The element 'EntityFramework' has an invalid child element 'providers'. However, the section was injected by NuGet when I installed EF6.

Any ideas?

Take a look at the following question: stackoverflow.com/questions/14033193/… — Lloyd
Thank you. The comment to [stackoverflow.com/questions/14033193/… was helpful. [1]: stackoverflow.com/questions/14033193/… — Dewey
Add EntityFramework.SqlServer.dll to the client app and add connectionstrings to its app.config file did the trick. Now the error is gone stackoverflow.com/questions/18455747/… — Junior Mayhé
In our case, the EF assemblies were GACed. In this case, you should use the full assembly name in the config file: <provider invariantName="System.Data.SqlClient" type="System.Data.Entity.SqlServer.SqlProviderServices, EntityFramework.SqlServer, Version=6.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" /> — pholpar
Possible duplicate of No Entity Framework provider found for the ADO.NET provider with invariant name 'System.Data.SqlClient' — Rosberg Linhares

hdev hdev · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-03T15:49:17

You need to create a reference, so it will be copied in the debug folder. So later it can accessed in runtime.

Don't to copy any files, just create this reference:

private volatile Type _dependency;

public MyClass()
{
    _dependency = typeof(System.Data.Entity.SqlServer.SqlProviderServices);
}

No Entity Framework provider found for the ADO.NET provider with invariant name 'System.Data.SqlClient'.

10 Answers