MVC account controller error and LogOff not working - sql

Question

This is my first MVC project so I am learning a lot. Right now I am getting an error and I can't figure out where it's coming from. I took the default account controller and pointed it to my own sql database as shown below. I put the [Authorize] attribute on every controller so only the login page can be accessed. Once the user logs in, it will allow them to access all the pages just fine, but first it redirects to this error:
Error.
An error occurred while processing your request.
Also, after changing the account controller, the LogOff action stopped working. I changed it as shown below but it's still not working. Strangely, this error was not appearing yesterday. I am near the deadline on this project so any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
Here is the modified account controller code
//
// GET: /Account/Login
[AllowAnonymous]
public ActionResult Login(string returnUrl)
{
ViewBag.ReturnUrl = returnUrl;
return View();
}
//
// POST: /Account/Login
[HttpPost]
[AllowAnonymous]
[ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
public async Task<ActionResult> Login(LoginViewModel model, string returnUrl)
{
if (ModelState.IsValid)
{
using (ixdb_siNet_ConfigurationEntities userdb = new ixdb_siNet_ConfigurationEntities())
{
var objUser = userdb.ixoc_Users.FirstOrDefault(x => x.name == model.UserName && x.password == model.Password);
if (objUser != null)
{
FormsAuthentication.SetAuthCookie(model.UserName, model.RememberMe);
if (Url.IsLocalUrl(returnUrl) && returnUrl.Length > 1 && returnUrl.StartsWith("/") && !returnUrl.StartsWith("//") && !returnUrl.StartsWith("/\\"))
{
return Redirect(returnUrl);
}
else
{
return RedirectToAction("Index", "Dashboard");
}
}
}
}
// If we got this far, something failed, redisplay form
return View(model);
}
//
// POST: /Account/LogOff
[HttpPost]
[ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
public ActionResult LogOff()
{
//AuthenticationManager.SignOut();
Request.Cookies.Remove("UserId");
FormsAuthentication.SignOut();
return RedirectToAction("Index", "Dashboard");
}
Here is the stack trace
Server Error in '/' Application. Object reference not set to an instance of an object. Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.
Exception Details: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
Source Error:
An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below.
Stack Trace:
[NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.] siNetWebApplication.Controllers.DashboardController.Index(String startDate, String endDate) in c:\Merlin\Customers\Weir\Git\siNetWebApplication\siNetWebApplication\Controllers\DashboardController.cs:29 lambda_method(Closure , ControllerBase , Object[] ) +178 System.Web.Mvc.ReflectedActionDescriptor.Execute(ControllerContext controllerContext, IDictionary2 parameters) +241 System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionMethod(ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionDescriptor actionDescriptor, IDictionary2 parameters) +38 System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncControllerActionInvoker.b__36(IAsyncResult asyncResult, ActionInvocation innerInvokeState) +11 System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResult2.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +138 System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncInvocationWithFilters.b__3c() +111 System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c__DisplayClass45.b__3e() +452 System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c__DisplayClass30.b__2f(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +15 System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c__DisplayClass28.b__19() +37 System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c__DisplayClass1e.b__1b(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +241 System.Web.Mvc.Controller.b__1d(IAsyncResult asyncResult, ExecuteCoreState innerState) +29 System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncVoid1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +111 System.Web.Mvc.Controller.EndExecuteCore(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +53 System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncVoid1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +19 System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.b__4(IAsyncResult asyncResult, ProcessRequestState innerState) +51 System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncVoid1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +111 System.Web.CallHandlerExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute() +606 System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean& completedSynchronously) +288

Answer 1

You most likely aren't passing the anti forgery token to the LogOff action.
You've got the [ValidateAntiForgeryToken] attribute on the action so you need to pass this otherwise you will get an error. If you turn custom errors off as #sanjeev has mentioned you will probably see the error regarding the anti forgery token not being passed.
Add this to the form in your view
#Html.AntiForgeryToken()

Answer 2

You mentioned when you login you get "Error. An error occurred while processing your request." and then everything works fine. It seems "Error. An error occurred while processing your request." is from /Views/Shared/Error.cshtml page. Just make sure /Dashboard/Index is valid url for your application.
You need to turn off the custom errors in web.config to get the actual cause for that error. This will help you to resolve logoff issue too.
<system.web>
<customErrors mode="Off" />
</system.web>

Answer 3

Can you remove the async Task<ActionResult> and use ActionResult for login post method?