The configuration section 'system.serviceModel' cannot be read because it is missing a section declaration

Question

We already created an webservice in Visual Studio 2013 with .Net 4.5. This webservice runs well local in the same computer.

Right now we want to export this webservice to an Windows Server 2008 with IIS. We already made an webservice running in port 8080.

But when we copy the exported files to the root directory of this webserver the folowwing error occured:

Error Summary 
HTTP Error 500.19 - Internal Server Error

The requested page cannot be accessed because the related configuration data for the page is invalid.


Detailed Error Information 


Module
IIS Web Core 

Notification
Unknown 

Handler
Not yet determined 

Error Code
0x80070032 

Config Error
The configuration section 'system.serviceModel' cannot be read because it is missing a section declaration  

Config File
\\?\C:\inetpub\wwwroot\YOR24Websevices\web.config 

Requested URL
http://localhost:8080/ 

Physical Path


Logon Method
Not yet determined 

Logon User
Not yet determined 


Config Source    10:   </system.web>
   11:   <system.serviceModel>
   12:     <bindings>

The webconfig we exported in Visual studio is:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<configuration>

  <appSettings>
    <add key="aspnet:UseTaskFriendlySynchronizationContext" value="true" />
  </appSettings>
  <system.web>
    <compilation targetFramework="4.5" />
    <httpRuntime targetFramework="4.5"/>
  </system.web>
  <system.serviceModel>
    <bindings>
      <customBinding>
        <binding name="RightNowSyncBinding">
            <security defaultAlgorithmSuite="Default" authenticationMode="UserNameOverTransport"
            requireDerivedKeys="true" securityHeaderLayout="Lax" includeTimestamp="false">
            <localClientSettings detectReplays="false" />
            <localServiceSettings detectReplays="false" />
          </security>
          <textMessageEncoding messageVersion="Soap12" />
          <httpsTransport />
        </binding>
      </customBinding>
    </bindings>
    <client>
      <endpoint address="https://tkbc-fleetsupport--tst.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/tkbc-fleetsupport--tst.cfg/services/soap"
        binding="customBinding" bindingConfiguration="RightNowSyncBinding"
        contract="RightNowServiceReference.RightNowSyncPort" name="RightNowSyncPort" />
    </client>
    <behaviors>
      <serviceBehaviors>
        <behavior>
          <!-- To avoid disclosing metadata information, set the values below to false before deployment -->
          <serviceMetadata httpGetEnabled="true" httpsGetEnabled="true"/>
          <!-- To receive exception details in faults for debugging purposes, set the value below to true.  Set to false before deployment to avoid disclosing exception information -->
          <serviceDebug includeExceptionDetailInFaults="false"/>
        </behavior>
      </serviceBehaviors>
    </behaviors>
    <services>
      <service name="Yor24Service.Service">
        <endpoint address="" contract="Yor24Service.IService" binding="basicHttpBinding"/>
        <endpoint address="mex" contract="IMetadataExchange" binding="mexHttpBinding"/>
      </service>
    </services>
    <protocolMapping>
        <add binding="basicHttpBinding" scheme="http" />
    </protocolMapping>    
    <serviceHostingEnvironment aspNetCompatibilityEnabled="true" multipleSiteBindingsEnabled="true" />
  </system.serviceModel>
  <system.webServer>
    <modules runAllManagedModulesForAllRequests="true"/>
    <!--
        To browse web app root directory during debugging, set the value below to true.
        Set to false before deployment to avoid disclosing web app folder information.
      -->
    <directoryBrowse enabled="true"/>
  </system.webServer>

</configuration>

What is the problem with this generated config file?

Solution

Starting with .Net Framework 4 service behaviors do not require a name (MSDN). Before .Net 4 it was mandatory. Because your service behavior does not have a name:

<serviceBehaviors>
    <behavior>
        <!-- name attribute missing in behavior -->
    </behavior>
</serviceBehaviors>

and IIS is throwing an error I suspect your app pool is not running .Net 4 or newer.