App_Offline.htm file should cause .NET Framework to return Http Status Code of 503

App_Offline.htm file should cause .NET Framework to return Http Status Code of 503 by asdf23451234

Closed

as Won't Fix Help for as Won't Fix

Type:	Bug
ID:	319986
Opened:	12/27/2007 1:10:15 PM
Access Restriction:	Public

Workaround(s)

view

User(s) can reproduce this bug

Currently placing a App_Offline.htm file in the application root of a ASP.NET application causes ASP.NET to return a http status code of 404 File Not Found. The correct status code would be 503 Service Unavailable.

Returning an incorrect status code could cause search engines to drop pages from their indexes when websites are being updated and provide incorrect feedback to end-users.

Details (expand)

English

.NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 1

Windows Server 2003

English

1. Place a file call app_offline.htm in an ASP.NET configured application.
2. Open the application in a browser with tools to view HTTP header information
3. View header information.

Cache-Control: private
Date: Thu, 27 Dec 2007 21:05:05 GMT
Content-Length: 2670
Content-Type: text/html
X-Powered-By: ASP.NET
X-AspNet-Version: 2.0.50727

404 Not Found

Cache-Control: private
Date: Thu, 27 Dec 2007 21:05:05 GMT
Content-Length: 2670
Content-Type: text/html
X-Powered-By: ASP.NET
X-AspNet-Version: 2.0.50727

503 Service Unavailable

0 attachments

Posted by Jon Galloway on 10/13/2011 at 7:52 PM

This was fixed in .NET 4 - take a look at System.Web.dll in Reflector / ILSpy, look at System.Web.HttpRuntime.CheckApplicationEnabled().

Posted by albattran on 4/17/2010 at 6:08 AM

Scott Guthrie promoted this as the way to bring ASP.Net apps offline.
If that you are not planning on fixing it, then you this should not be promoted as the way to put maintenance messages on ASP.Net website.

Posted by Microsoft on 1/3/2008 at 5:20 PM

Thank you for submitting this issue for our consideration.

The app_offline.htm functionality was designed primarily for handshaking between Visual Studio and ASP.NET when developing a web application using a Sql Server Express attached database. Although app_offline.htm can be used on production sites, there are currently no plans to modify or enhance its existing functionality.

Posted by Microsoft on 12/27/2007 at 8:54 PM

Thanks for your feedback. We are escalating this issue to the appropriate group within the Visual Studio Product Team for triage and resolution. These specialized experts will follow-up with your issue.

Thank you,
Visual Studio Product Team

Posted by Crotchy on 1/13/2010 at 7:11 AM

This is old news but the workaround is here:
http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2006/04/09/442332.aspx