.Net web app fails generating Excel workbook once on server, works perfectly in local

Question

I'm just generating an excel workbook with the basic Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel

Here is the way the library is referenced in my project:

Copy Local: False
Embed Interop Types : True
Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\Visual Studio Tools for Office\PIA\Office14\Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.dll
Runtime version: V2.0.50727
Version: 14.0.0..0

Here is my method:

public ActionResult ExportToExcel()
{
ViewBag.CurrentUser = getCurrentUser();
var projects = (from u in getDB().ProjectsSet
             select u).ToList();
// Load Excel application
Application excel = new Application();
// Create empty workbook
excel.Workbooks.Add();

//Workbook wb = new Workbook();

// Create Worksheet from active sheet
_Worksheet workSheet = excel.ActiveSheet;
// I created Application and Worksheet objects before try/catch,
// so that i can close them in finnaly block.
// It’s IMPORTANT to release these COM objects!!
try
{
    // ————————————————
    // Creation of header cells
    // ————————————————
    workSheet.Cells[1, "A"] = "Id";
    workSheet.Cells[1, "B"] = "Name";
    workSheet.Cells[1, "C"] = "Fast Track";

    // ————————————————
    // Populate sheet with some real data from ” Studentts” list
    // ————————————————
    int row = 2; // start row (in row 1 are header cells)
    foreach (Projects projet in projects)
    {
        workSheet.Cells[row, "A"] = projet.Id;
        workSheet.Cells[row, "B"] = projet.Name;
        workSheet.Cells[row, "C"] = projet.FastTrack;
        row++;
    }
    // Apply some predefined styles for data to look nicely ??
    workSheet.Range["A1"].AutoFormat(Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.XlRangeAutoFormat.xlRangeAutoFormatClassic1);
    //Autofit cells
    for(int y = 1; y == 25; y++)
    {
        workSheet.Columns[y].AutoFit();
    }
    // Define filename
    string test = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.DesktopDirectory);
    string fileName = string.Format(@"{0}\ProjectsExport_as_of_" + DateTime.Now.ToShortDateString() + ".xlsx", Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.DesktopDirectory));
    // Save this data as a filestring fileName = "C:\\ProjectsExport_as_of_"+DateTime.Now.ToShortDateString()+".xlsx";
    workSheet.SaveAs(fileName);

    return File(fileName, "application/vnd.ms-excel", "ProjectsExport_as_of_" + DateTime.Now.ToShortDateString() + ".xlsx");

}
catch (Exception exception)
{
    Console.Write(exception.InnerException);
    return null;
}
finally
{
    // Quit Excel application
    excel.Quit();
    // Release COM objects (very important!)
    if (excel != null)
        System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.ReleaseComObject(excel);
    if (workSheet != null)
        System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.ReleaseComObject(workSheet);
    // Empty variables
    excel = null;
    workSheet = null;
    // Force garbage collector cleaning
    GC.Collect();
}

On the server, i installed microsoft Office 2010 (Same as my local machine), and all libraries are present under "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\Visual Studio Tools for Office\PIA\Office14" as expected

But i still get this error:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    <head>
        <title>Retrieving the COM class factory for component with CLSID {00024500-0000-0000-C000-000000000046} failed due to the following error: 80080005 Server execution failed (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80080005 (CO_E_SERVER_EXEC_FAILURE)).</title>
        <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width" />
        <style>
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         p {font-family:"Verdana";font-weight:normal;color:black;margin-top: -5px}
         b {font-family:"Verdana";font-weight:bold;color:black;margin-top: -5px}
         H1 { font-family:"Verdana";font-weight:normal;font-size:18pt;color:red }
         H2 { font-family:"Verdana";font-weight:normal;font-size:14pt;color:maroon }
         pre {font-family:"Consolas","Lucida Console",Monospace;font-size:11pt;margin:0;padding:0.5em;line-height:14pt}
         .marker {font-weight: bold; color: black;text-decoration: none;}
         .version {color: gray;}
         .error {margin-bottom: 10px;}
         .expandable { text-decoration:underline; font-weight:bold; color:navy; cursor:hand; }
         @media screen and (max-width: 639px) {
          pre { width: 440px; overflow: auto; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word; }
         }
         @media screen and (max-width: 479px) {
          pre { width: 280px; }
         }
        </style>
    </head>

    <body bgcolor="white">

            <span><H1>Server Error in '/' Application.<hr width=100% size=1 color=silver></H1>

            <h2> <i>Retrieving the COM class factory for component with CLSID {00024500-0000-0000-C000-000000000046} failed due to the following error: 80080005 Server execution failed (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80080005 (CO_E_SERVER_EXEC_FAILURE)).</i> </h2></span>

            <font face="Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, SunSans-Regular, sans-serif ">

            <b> Description: </b>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.

            <br><br>

            <b> Exception Details: </b>System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException: Retrieving the COM class factory for component with CLSID {00024500-0000-0000-C000-000000000046} failed due to the following error: 80080005 Server execution failed (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80080005 (CO_E_SERVER_EXEC_FAILURE)).<br><br>

            <b>Source Error:</b> <br><br>

            <table width=100% bgcolor="#ffffcc">
               <tr>
                  <td>
                      <code>

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.</code>

                  </td>
               </tr>
            </table>

            <br>

            <b>Stack Trace:</b> <br><br>

            <table width=100% bgcolor="#ffffcc">
               <tr>
                  <td>
                      <code><pre>

[COMException (0x80080005): Retrieving the COM class factory for component with CLSID {00024500-0000-0000-C000-000000000046} failed due to the following error: 80080005 Server execution failed (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80080005 (CO_E_SERVER_EXEC_FAILURE)).]
   System.Runtime.Remoting.RemotingServices.AllocateUninitializedObject(RuntimeType objectType) +0
   System.Runtime.Remoting.Activation.ActivationServices.CreateInstance(RuntimeType serverType) +79
   System.Runtime.Remoting.Activation.ActivationServices.IsCurrentContextOK(RuntimeType serverType, Object[] props, Boolean bNewObj) +88
   System.RuntimeTypeHandle.CreateInstance(RuntimeType type, Boolean publicOnly, Boolean noCheck, Boolean&amp; canBeCached, RuntimeMethodHandleInternal&amp; ctor, Boolean&amp; bNeedSecurityCheck) +0
   System.RuntimeType.CreateInstanceSlow(Boolean publicOnly, Boolean skipCheckThis, Boolean fillCache, StackCrawlMark&amp; stackMark) +119
   System.RuntimeType.CreateInstanceDefaultCtor(Boolean publicOnly, Boolean skipCheckThis, Boolean fillCache, StackCrawlMark&amp; stackMark) +232
   System.Activator.CreateInstance(Type type, Boolean nonPublic) +83
   System.Activator.CreateInstance(Type type) +11
   SmartProductPMD.Controllers.ProjectsController.ExportToExcel() +2257
   lambda_method(Closure , ControllerBase , Object[] ) +62
   System.Web.Mvc.ActionMethodDispatcher.Execute(ControllerBase controller, Object[] parameters) +14
   System.Web.Mvc.ReflectedActionDescriptor.Execute(ControllerContext controllerContext, IDictionary`2 parameters) +157
   System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionMethod(ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionDescriptor actionDescriptor, IDictionary`2 parameters) +27
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncControllerActionInvoker.&lt;BeginInvokeSynchronousActionMethod&gt;b__39(IAsyncResult asyncResult, ActionInvocation innerInvokeState) +22
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResult`2.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +29
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResultBase`1.End() +49
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncControllerActionInvoker.EndInvokeActionMethod(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +32
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncInvocationWithFilters.&lt;InvokeActionMethodFilterAsynchronouslyRecursive&gt;b__3d() +50
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.&lt;&gt;c__DisplayClass46.&lt;InvokeActionMethodFilterAsynchronouslyRecursive&gt;b__3f() +228
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.&lt;&gt;c__DisplayClass33.&lt;BeginInvokeActionMethodWithFilters&gt;b__32(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +10
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResult`1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +10
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResultBase`1.End() +49
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncControllerActionInvoker.EndInvokeActionMethodWithFilters(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +34
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.&lt;&gt;c__DisplayClass2b.&lt;BeginInvokeAction&gt;b__1c() +26
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.&lt;&gt;c__DisplayClass21.&lt;BeginInvokeAction&gt;b__1e(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +100
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResult`1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +10
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResultBase`1.End() +49
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncControllerActionInvoker.EndInvokeAction(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +27
   System.Web.Mvc.Controller.&lt;BeginExecuteCore&gt;b__1d(IAsyncResult asyncResult, ExecuteCoreState innerState) +13
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncVoid`1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +29
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResultBase`1.End() +49
   System.Web.Mvc.Controller.EndExecuteCore(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +36
   System.Web.Mvc.Controller.&lt;BeginExecute&gt;b__15(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Controller controller) +12
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncVoid`1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +22
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResultBase`1.End() +49
   System.Web.Mvc.Controller.EndExecute(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +26
   System.Web.Mvc.Controller.System.Web.Mvc.Async.IAsyncController.EndExecute(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +10
   System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.&lt;BeginProcessRequest&gt;b__5(IAsyncResult asyncResult, ProcessRequestState innerState) +21
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncVoid`1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +29
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResultBase`1.End() +49
   System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.EndProcessRequest(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +28
   System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.System.Web.IHttpAsyncHandler.EndProcessRequest(IAsyncResult result) +9
   System.Web.CallHandlerExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute() +9873685
   System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStepImpl(IExecutionStep step) +48
   System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean&amp; completedSynchronously) +159
</pre></code>

                  </td>
               </tr>
            </table>

            <br>

            <hr width=100% size=1 color=silver>

            <b>Version Information:</b>&nbsp;Microsoft .NET Framework Version:4.0.30319; ASP.NET Version:4.7.3163.0

            </font>

    </body>
</html>
<!-- 
[COMException]: Retrieving the COM class factory for component with CLSID {00024500-0000-0000-C000-000000000046} failed due to the following error: 80080005 Server execution failed (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80080005 (CO_E_SERVER_EXEC_FAILURE)).
   at System.Runtime.Remoting.RemotingServices.AllocateUninitializedObject(RuntimeType objectType)
   at System.Runtime.Remoting.Activation.ActivationServices.CreateInstance(RuntimeType serverType)
   at System.Runtime.Remoting.Activation.ActivationServices.IsCurrentContextOK(RuntimeType serverType, Object[] props, Boolean bNewObj)
   at System.RuntimeTypeHandle.CreateInstance(RuntimeType type, Boolean publicOnly, Boolean noCheck, Boolean& canBeCached, RuntimeMethodHandleInternal& ctor, Boolean& bNeedSecurityCheck)
   at System.RuntimeType.CreateInstanceSlow(Boolean publicOnly, Boolean skipCheckThis, Boolean fillCache, StackCrawlMark& stackMark)
   at System.RuntimeType.CreateInstanceDefaultCtor(Boolean publicOnly, Boolean skipCheckThis, Boolean fillCache, StackCrawlMark& stackMark)
   at System.Activator.CreateInstance(Type type, Boolean nonPublic)
   at System.Activator.CreateInstance(Type type)
   at SmartProductPMD.Controllers.ProjectsController.ExportToExcel()
   at lambda_method(Closure , ControllerBase , Object[] )
   at System.Web.Mvc.ActionMethodDispatcher.Execute(ControllerBase controller, Object[] parameters)
   at System.Web.Mvc.ReflectedActionDescriptor.Execute(ControllerContext controllerContext, IDictionary`2 parameters)
   at System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionMethod(ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionDescriptor actionDescriptor, IDictionary`2 parameters)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncControllerActionInvoker.<BeginInvokeSynchronousActionMethod>b__39(IAsyncResult asyncResult, ActionInvocation innerInvokeState)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.WrappedAsyncResult`2.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.WrappedAsyncResultBase`1.End()
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncControllerActionInvoker.EndInvokeActionMethod(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncControllerActionInvoker.AsyncInvocationWithFilters.<InvokeActionMethodFilterAsynchronouslyRecursive>b__3d()
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncControllerActionInvoker.AsyncInvocationWithFilters.<>c__DisplayClass46.<InvokeActionMethodFilterAsynchronouslyRecursive>b__3f()
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncControllerActionInvoker.<>c__DisplayClass33.<BeginInvokeActionMethodWithFilters>b__32(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.WrappedAsyncResult`1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.WrappedAsyncResultBase`1.End()
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncControllerActionInvoker.EndInvokeActionMethodWithFilters(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncControllerActionInvoker.<>c__DisplayClass21.<>c__DisplayClass2b.<BeginInvokeAction>b__1c()
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncControllerActionInvoker.<>c__DisplayClass21.<BeginInvokeAction>b__1e(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.WrappedAsyncResult`1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.WrappedAsyncResultBase`1.End()
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncControllerActionInvoker.EndInvokeAction(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Controller.<BeginExecuteCore>b__1d(IAsyncResult asyncResult, ExecuteCoreState innerState)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.WrappedAsyncVoid`1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.WrappedAsyncResultBase`1.End()
   at System.Web.Mvc.Controller.EndExecuteCore(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Controller.<BeginExecute>b__15(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Controller controller)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.WrappedAsyncVoid`1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.WrappedAsyncResultBase`1.End()
   at System.Web.Mvc.Controller.EndExecute(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Controller.System.Web.Mvc.Async.IAsyncController.EndExecute(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.<BeginProcessRequest>b__5(IAsyncResult asyncResult, ProcessRequestState innerState)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.WrappedAsyncVoid`1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.WrappedAsyncResultBase`1.End()
   at System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.EndProcessRequest(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.System.Web.IHttpAsyncHandler.EndProcessRequest(IAsyncResult result)
   at System.Web.HttpApplication.CallHandlerExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute()
   at System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStepImpl(IExecutionStep step)
   at System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean& completedSynchronously)
--><!-- 
This error page might contain sensitive information because ASP.NET is configured to show verbose error messages using &lt;customErrors mode="Off"/&gt;. Consider using &lt;customErrors mode="On"/&gt; or &lt;customErrors mode="RemoteOnly"/&gt; in production environments.-->

Any help is welcome, i'm a little bit lost, and if anything else is needed, don't hesitate i'll provide you all details !

Could it possibly be a permission issue? As in you have permissions on your local pc, but maybe you don't have permissions to create files on the server? — Chase
Could it simply be that you installed 32bit Office but run your website as x64? — Filburt
thanks @CharmisVarghese the link provided me a working solution :) — Guy Volluz

Scott Hannen Scott Hannen · Accepted Answer · 2018-11-13T16:59:35

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/257757/considerations-for-server-side-automation-of-office

Microsoft does not currently recommend, and does not support, Automation of Microsoft Office applications from any unattended, non-interactive client application or component (including ASP, ASP.NET, DCOM, and NT Services), because Office may exhibit unstable behavior and/or deadlock when Office is run in this environment.

This is a nice way of saying that you can't/shouldn't try to automate Excel on a server. All sorts of things can go wrong.

Excel Interop notoriously leaves instances of Excel running if you don't carefully release every object you create. (This is actually one good reason for not using it anywhere unless your very life depends on it.)
Excel communicates errors and other random stuff using pop-ups. If something pops up in an invisible instance of Excel running on a server, there's no way for anyone to know or respond. It will not only fail, but fail in a way that's impossible to diagnose.

I cannot emphasize enough the value of switching to a library like EPPlus. In this case it's a necessity.

Instead of writing code to automate another application to work with the Excel file, you interact directly with the file. You can open files, read them, modify them, and even create entirely new ones either from scratch or from templates. You can stream then to web clients. It's awesome. Please trust me that it will make your life better.

.Net web app fails generating Excel workbook once on server, works perfectly in local

1 Answers