Unable to publish from VS 2008 to Windows 2008 using WebDAV

Question

I'm trying to publish a web site from VS 2008 directly to a mapped folder on a Windows 2008 server. Some of the files publish OK (e.g. aspx files) but others don't (e.g. ascx, asmx, cs, config, sitemap, etc files). Also, some folders are created OK and others not (e.g. the bin folder can't be created). The message I get is (in this case for the Web.config file):

Unable to add 'Web.config' to the Web site. Unable to add file 'Web.config'. The system cannot find the file specified.

For the record, it publishes OK to a local folder and to an FTP site.

Answer 1

It is protected from modification because in applicationHost.config file you'll find this:

<requestFiltering>
            <fileExtensions allowUnlisted="true" applyToWebDAV="true">
                <add fileExtension=".asa" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".asax" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".ascx" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".master" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".skin" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".browser" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".sitemap" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".config" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".cs" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".csproj" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".vb" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".vbproj" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".webinfo" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".licx" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".resx" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".resources" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".mdb" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".vjsproj" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".java" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".jsl" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".ldb" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".dsdgm" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".ssdgm" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".lsad" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".ssmap" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".cd" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".dsprototype" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".lsaprototype" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".sdm" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".sdmDocument" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".mdf" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".ldf" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".ad" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".dd" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".ldd" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".sd" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".adprototype" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".lddprototype" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".exclude" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".refresh" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".compiled" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".msgx" allowed="false" />
                <add fileExtension=".vsdisco" allowed="false" />
            </fileExtensions>
            <verbs allowUnlisted="true" applyToWebDAV="true" />
            <hiddenSegments applyToWebDAV="true">
                <add segment="web.config" />
                <add segment="bin" />
                <add segment="App_code" />
                <add segment="App_GlobalResources" />
                <add segment="App_LocalResources" />
                <add segment="App_WebReferences" />
                <add segment="App_Data" />
                <add segment="App_Browsers" />
            </hiddenSegments>
        </requestFiltering>

I was thinking of changing the applicationHost.config file because of this, but in fact we're making it too complicated: since we have a WebDAV mapped drive/folder, you can open your website directly from that folder and edit it in-place. No need to publish anymore.

If you still want to work locally, then publish to the WebDAV drive, you can instead use the Copy Website command instead of the Publish Website command.