HTTP Error 404.17 - Not Found - The requested content appears to be script and will not be served by the static file handler. - Most likely causes: The request matched a wildcard mime map. The request is mapped to the static file handler. If there were different pre-conditions, the request will map to a different handler. Things you can try: If you want to serve this content as a static file, add an explicit MIME map."
SOLUTION: I had to turn on a number of Windows features that aren't on by default:
- .NET Framework 3.5 (includes .NET 2.0 and 3.0) > Windows Communication Foundation HTTP Activation
- .NET Framework 3.5 (includes .NET 2.0 and 3.0) > Windows Communication Foundation Non-HTTP Activation
- .NET Framework 4.6 Advanced Services > WCF Services > HTTP Activation (probably not required for my project but useful for the future)
I also ran this but I don't think I needed to / should have (http://ngeor.net/2011/07/iis-7-gives-404-17-error-with-svc-wcf-services/):
"%WINDIR%\Microsoft.Net\Framework\v3.0\Windows Communication Foundation\ServiceModelReg.exe" –r
And then despite all this things didn't work, I had to manually update the IIS Express settings used by Visual Studio... WHICH are hidden away in a hidden folder in your solution e.g.
[PROJECT FOLDER]\.vs\config\applicationhost.config
I had to add the following to the section starting with <handlers accessPolicy="Read, Script">
<add name="xoml-64-ISAPI-2.0" path="*.xoml" verb="*" modules="IsapiModule" scriptProcessor="%SystemRoot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v2.0.50727\aspnet_isapi.dll" preCondition="classicMode,runtimeVersionv2.0,bitness64" />
<add name="rules-64-ISAPI-2.0" path="*.rules" verb="*" modules="IsapiModule" scriptProcessor="%SystemRoot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v2.0.50727\aspnet_isapi.dll" preCondition="classicMode,runtimeVersionv2.0,bitness64" />
<add name="svc-ISAPI-2.0-64" path="*.svc" verb="*" modules="IsapiModule" scriptProcessor="%SystemRoot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v2.0.50727\aspnet_isapi.dll" preCondition="classicMode,runtimeVersionv2.0,bitness64" />
<add name="xoml-ISAPI-2.0" path="*.xoml" verb="*" modules="IsapiModule" scriptProcessor="%SystemRoot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\aspnet_isapi.dll" preCondition="classicMode,runtimeVersionv2.0,bitness32" />
<add name="rules-ISAPI-2.0" path="*.rules" verb="*" modules="IsapiModule" scriptProcessor="%SystemRoot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\aspnet_isapi.dll" preCondition="classicMode,runtimeVersionv2.0,bitness32" />
<add name="svc-ISAPI-2.0" path="*.svc" verb="*" modules="IsapiModule" scriptProcessor="%SystemRoot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\aspnet_isapi.dll" preCondition="classicMode,runtimeVersionv2.0,bitness32" />
<add name="xoml-Integrated" path="*.xoml" verb="*" type="System.ServiceModel.Activation.HttpHandler, System.ServiceModel, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" preCondition="integratedMode,runtimeVersionv2.0" />
<add name="rules-Integrated" path="*.rules" verb="*" type="System.ServiceModel.Activation.HttpHandler, System.ServiceModel, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" preCondition="integratedMode,runtimeVersionv2.0" />
<add name="svc-Integrated" path="*.svc" verb="*" type="System.ServiceModel.Activation.HttpHandler, System.ServiceModel, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" preCondition="integratedMode,runtimeVersionv2.0" />
There are lots of other similar applicationhost.config files but this is the one you need to update.
I thought that because of our source control branching approach that I'd need to manually update this anytime I create a new branch that needs WCF working BUT apparently there is a project file (not web.config) setting: UseGlobalApplicationHostFile, which you can set to true to just use the global setting (which is stored in Documents\IISExpress\config) http://stackoverflow.com/questions/32940080/visual-studio-2015-debugger-uses-local-applicationhost-config-instead-of-global and http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12946476/where-is-the-iis-express-configuration-metabase-file-found (that being said, I created a new branch the other day and hadn't yet set that setting or updated the Visual Studio applicationhost.config file and I was still able to debug the WCF services... go figure!
