Code first connection string issues

Question

I'm building a C# MVC code-first website and have deployed it using FTP to the host (aspnix.com). The initial splash page loads but if I try to load any of the pages which require accessing the database I just get an error: "Error. An error occurred while processing your request."

I seeded the database while building it locally and the copied the mdf file to App_Data file on the server. I'd rather not have to reseed if it can be avoided as the seed data involves several ajax calls to a couple of api's as well as some other web scraping.

Here is the connectionString I use locally:

    <add name="(contextClass)Context" connectionString="Data Source=(LocalDb)\v11.0;Initial Catalog=|DataDirectory|\(projectName).Context.(contextClass).mdf;Integrated Security=SSPI;Database=(projectName).Context.(contextClass);AttachDBFilename=|DataDirectory|\(projectName).Context.(contextClass).mdf" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />

I've tried to alter this in several ways, including using recommendations from http://www.connectionstrings.com/sql-server/ as well as here on SO but I just get the error message. I don't think it matters but I use SQL Server to access the db, not Express. Any recommendations?

EDIT:
i'll post a couple of the deployment connectionStrings that I've tried in case that helps:

    <add name="(contextClass)Context" connectionString="Data Source=.\SQLExpress;Initial Catalog=|DataDirectory|\(projectName).Context.(contextClass)Context.mdf;Integrated Security=SSPI;Database=(projectName).Context.(contextClass)Context;AttachDBFilename=|DataDirectory|\(projectName).Context.(contextClass)Context.mdf" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />

Another example that didnt work:

    <add name="(contextClass)Context" connectionString="Data Source=.\SQLExpress;Database=(projectName).Context.(contextClass)Context;AttachDBFilename=|DataDirectory|\(projectName).Context.(contextClass)Context.mdf;Trusted_Connection=Yes" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />

EDIT: I noticed the following additional connection string being generated on the web.config file on the server.

    <add name="(projectName).Context.(contextClass)Context" connectionString="(projectName).Context.(contextClass)Context_ConnectionString" 
     providerName="System.Data.SqlClient"/>

Could this be causing any issues?

UPDATE: It seemed odd to me that the names were so long (e.g. (projectName).Context.(contextClass)Context) so I changed them to just (contextClass)Context, rebuilt end republished. I noticed that locally it still ran perfectly and i am still able to access the localDB using SQL Server.

On the server, I still get an error but it changed. I now get:

    Exception: A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessible. Verify that the instance name is correct and that SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. (provider: SQL Network Interfaces, error: 26 - Error Locating Server/Instance Specified)

I'm not sure if this is better or worse...

Answer 1

EF supports a few initializer options. One of them is to create a database. You should probably go with that option, but not with LocalDb. As @Pinch said, this is not for production. The other thing that you need to do is to check with your provider where the SQL Server is installed and use that as a Data Source in your connection string. Have a look at this article on EntityFramework Tutorial on initializers http://www.entityframeworktutorial.net/code-first/database-initialization-strategy-in-code-first.aspx

Answer 2

localdb is not meant for deployment.

change your connection string to a real sql server/express string

codefirst should automatically build your db, but make sure you have sufficient rights.