Rotativa [Win32Exception (0x80004005): Access is denied]

Question

I am using Rotativa to generate Views as PDF and it runs/works perfectly on my localhost. However when deployed to either a shared host on GoDaddy or my Azure website instance I get the following error.

I attempted to grant permissions on .exe in the Rotativa folder with no luck, also tried running with Full Trust and still getting the error.

ERROR / STACKTRACE

Access is denied
Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details: System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception: Access is denied

Source Error:

An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below.

Stack Trace:

[Win32Exception (0x80004005): Access is denied]
System.Diagnostics.Process.StartWithCreateProcess(ProcessStartInfo startInfo) +1789 System.Diagnostics.Process.Start() +6735098
Rotativa.WkhtmltopdfDriver.Convert(String wkhtmltopdfPath, String switches, String html) +226
Rotativa.AsPdfResultBase.CallTheDriver(ControllerContext context) +26 Rotativa.AsPdfResultBase.BuildPdf(ControllerContext context) +128
Rotativa.AsPdfResultBase.ExecuteResult(ControllerContext context) +19 System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResult(ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionResult actionResult) +13
System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultFilterRecursive(IList1 filters, Int32 filterIndex, ResultExecutingContext preContext, ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionResult actionResult) +56 System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultFilterRecursive(IList1 filters, Int32 filterIndex, ResultExecutingContext preContext, ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionResult actionResult) +420
System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultWithFilters(ControllerContext controllerContext, IList1 filters, ActionResult actionResult) +52 System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c__DisplayClass2b.<BeginInvokeAction>b__1c() +173 System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c__DisplayClass21.<BeginInvokeAction>b__1e(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +100 System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResult1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +10
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResultBase1.End() +49 System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncControllerActionInvoker.EndInvokeAction(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +27 System.Web.Mvc.Controller.<BeginExecuteCore>b__1d(IAsyncResult asyncResult, ExecuteCoreState innerState) +13 System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncVoid1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +36
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResultBase1.End() +54 System.Web.Mvc.Controller.EndExecuteCore(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +39 System.Web.Mvc.Controller.<BeginExecute>b__15(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Controller controller) +12 System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncVoid1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +28
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResultBase1.End() +54 System.Web.Mvc.Controller.EndExecute(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +29 System.Web.Mvc.Controller.System.Web.Mvc.Async.IAsyncController.EndExecute(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +10 System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.<BeginProcessRequest>b__5(IAsyncResult asyncResult, ProcessRequestState innerState) +21 System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncVoid1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +36
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResultBase`1.End() +54
System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.EndProcessRequest(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +31 System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.System.Web.IHttpAsyncHandler.EndProcessRequest(IAsyncResult result) +9
System.Web.CallHandlerExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute() +9514928 System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean& completedSynchronously) +155

CONTROLLER

public ActionResult Print(Guid reportId)
{
    var report =  new ViewAsPdf("Index", new { id = reportId}) { FileName = "testReport.pdf" };
    return report;

}

PERMISSIONS I tried to set permissions on the entire folder "Rotativa" with full control and now I get this...

This program is blocked by group policy. For more information, contact your system administrator

Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details: System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception: This program is blocked by group policy. For more information, contact your system administrator

Source Error:

An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below.

Stack Trace:

[Win32Exception (0x80004005): This program is blocked by group policy. For more information, contact your system administrator]
System.Diagnostics.Process.StartWithCreateProcess(ProcessStartInfo startInfo) +1789 System.Diagnostics.Process.Start() +6735098
Rotativa.WkhtmltopdfDriver.Convert(String wkhtmltopdfPath, String switches, String html) +226
Rotativa.AsPdfResultBase.CallTheDriver(ControllerContext context) +26 Rotativa.AsPdfResultBase.BuildPdf(ControllerContext context) +128
Rotativa.AsPdfResultBase.ExecuteResult(ControllerContext context) +19 System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResult(ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionResult actionResult) +13
System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultFilterRecursive(IList1 filters, Int32 filterIndex, ResultExecutingContext preContext, ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionResult actionResult) +56 System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultFilterRecursive(IList1 filters, Int32 filterIndex, ResultExecutingContext preContext, ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionResult actionResult) +420
System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultWithFilters(ControllerContext controllerContext, IList1 filters, ActionResult actionResult) +52 System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c__DisplayClass2b.<BeginInvokeAction>b__1c() +173 System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c__DisplayClass21.<BeginInvokeAction>b__1e(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +100 System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResult1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +10
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResultBase1.End() +49 System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncControllerActionInvoker.EndInvokeAction(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +27 System.Web.Mvc.Controller.<BeginExecuteCore>b__1d(IAsyncResult asyncResult, ExecuteCoreState innerState) +13 System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncVoid1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +36
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResultBase1.End() +54 System.Web.Mvc.Controller.EndExecuteCore(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +39 System.Web.Mvc.Controller.<BeginExecute>b__15(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Controller controller) +12 System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncVoid1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +28
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResultBase1.End() +54 System.Web.Mvc.Controller.EndExecute(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +29 System.Web.Mvc.Controller.System.Web.Mvc.Async.IAsyncController.EndExecute(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +10 System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.<BeginProcessRequest>b__5(IAsyncResult asyncResult, ProcessRequestState innerState) +21 System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncVoid1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +36
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResultBase`1.End() +54
System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.EndProcessRequest(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +31 System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.System.Web.IHttpAsyncHandler.EndProcessRequest(IAsyncResult result) +9
System.Web.CallHandlerExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute() +9514928 System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean& completedSynchronously) +155

UPDATE JAN 13/2015

I ended up switching to TuesPechkin which has been a far easier solution to work with. GoDaddy does support FullTrust as does Azure, however Azure has a known issue with running processes that call into the GDI which most wkhtmltopdf libraries do. TuesPechkin didn't work on Azure either so I never found a solution for an Azure website, but TuesPechkin worked perfect on GoDaddy hosting with the set in my web.config.

how were you able to accomplish using TuesPechkin on GoDaddy? Every attempt is resulting in a Unable to load DLL 'wkhtmltox.dll': The specified module could not be found. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8007007E) error. Can you provide your code you used to define your converter? Did you use the nuget packages? Which package(s) did you use (32 or 64 bit)? Thanks for your help. I'm really stuck! — Jacob Hulse
Try looking at this: stackoverflow.com/questions/27882601/… — devfunkd
I did, still confused... Everything works perfectly locally but fails on the GoDaddy server. I pulled the 32bit wmkhtmlox.dll out of the deployment source and published it to root/Resources; however, trying to find it using new StaticDeployment(Path.Combine(AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory, "Resources")) is failing. Did you use TempFolder or StaticDeployment for your deployment class? — Jacob Hulse
Check out this thread, it has the code I used. github.com/tuespetre/TuesPechkin/issues/57 The latest version of Tues was fixed to include an embedded version of the dll. I used the TuesPechkin.Wkhtmltox.Win32 nuget package. — devfunkd
Yep, saw that too. static IConverter converter = new ThreadSafeConverter(new RemotingToolset<PdfToolset>(new Win32EmbeddedDeployment(new TempFolderDeployment()))); public static byte[] GetPDF(HtmlToPdfDocument document) { return converter.Convert(document); } also fails — Jacob Hulse

Giorgio Bozio Giorgio Bozio · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-12T09:27:40

I think both GoDaddy and azure websites don't allow for "Full trust" IIS hosting mode, and that's required in order to run the wkhtmltopdf process. You should look for a hosting provider that gives full trust access if you want to use Rotativa.

Rotativa [Win32Exception (0x80004005): Access is denied]

2 Answers