I just upgrade from DNN 4.5.5 to DNN 4.8.2.  I can access my site (www.northwestdistrictassociation.org), but whenever I select Login, I receive the error:

A critical error has occurred.
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

During the upgrade process, there was an error recorded in the log for the upgrade from 4.5.5 to 4.6.0:

System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException: Cannot insert the value NULL into column 'ModuleID', table 'nwda.dbo.ModuleSettings'; column does not allow nulls. UPDATE fails.
The statement has been terminated.
   at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection.OnError(SqlException exception, Boolean breakConnection)
   at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnection.OnError(SqlException exception, Boolean breakConnection)
   at System.Data.SqlClient.TdsParser.ThrowExceptionAndWarning(TdsParserStateObject stateObj)
   at System.Data.SqlClient.TdsParser.Run(RunBehavior runBehavior, SqlCommand cmdHandler, SqlDataReader dataStream, BulkCopySimpleResultSet bulkCopyHandler, TdsParserStateObject stateObj)
   at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.RunExecuteNonQueryTds(String methodName, Boolean async)
   at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.InternalExecuteNonQuery(DbAsyncResult result, String methodName, Boolean sendToPipe)
   at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.ExecuteNonQuery()
   at DotNetNuke.Data.SqlDataProvider.ExecuteADOScript(String SQL)
   at DotNetNuke.Data.SqlDataProvider.ExecuteScript(String Script, Boolean UseTransactions)

When I check my Event Log in the database, I find the following log explanation:

Object reference not set to an instance of an object.</PropertyValue></LogProperty><LogProperty><PropertyName>FileName</PropertyName>

<PropertyValue /></LogProperty><LogProperty><PropertyName>FileLineNumber</PropertyName><PropertyValue>0</PropertyValue>

</LogProperty><LogProperty><PropertyName>FileColumnNumber</PropertyName><PropertyValue>0</PropertyValue></LogProperty><LogProperty>

<PropertyName>Method</PropertyName><PropertyValue>DotNetNuke.Services.Authentication.AuthenticationConfigBase.get_AuthenticationModuleID</PropertyValue></LogProperty>

<LogProperty><PropertyName>StackTrace</PropertyName><PropertyValue /></LogProperty><LogProperty><PropertyName>Message</PropertyName>

<PropertyValue>DotNetNuke.Services.Exceptions.PageLoadException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object. ---&gt; System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
   at DotNetNuke.Services.Authentication.AuthenticationConfigBase.get_AuthenticationModuleID()
   at DotNetNuke.Services.Authentication.AuthenticationConfigBase..ctor(Int32 portalID)
   at DotNetNuke.Services.Authentication.AuthenticationConfig..ctor(Int32 portalID)
   at DotNetNuke.Services.Authentication.AuthenticationConfig.GetConfig(Int32 portalId)
   at DotNetNuke.Modules.Admin.Authentication.Login.get_Enabled()
   at DotNetNuke.Modules.Admin.Authentication.Login.BindLogin()
   at DotNetNuke.Modules.Admin.Authentication.Login.ShowPanel()
   at DotNetNuke.Modules.Admin.Authentication.Login.Page_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e)
   at System.Web.UI.Control.OnLoad(EventArgs e)
   at System.Web.UI.Control.LoadRecursive()
   at System.Web.UI.Control.LoadRecursive()
   at System.Web.UI.Control.LoadRecursive()
   at System.Web.UI.Control.LoadRecursive()
   at System.Web.UI.Control.LoadRecursive()
   at System.Web.UI.Control.LoadRecursive()
   at System.Web.UI.Control.LoadRecursive()
   at System.Web.UI.Control.LoadRecursive()
   at System.Web.UI.Control.LoadRecursive()
   at System.Web.UI.Control.LoadRecursive()
   at System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint)
   --- End of inner exception stack trace ---</PropertyValue></LogProperty><LogProperty><PropertyName>Source</PropertyName><PropertyValue /></LogProperty></LogProperties>

Cannot insert the value NULL into column 'ModuleID'

There appears to be an issue with the authentication module that is causing this, but I can't figure it out.  I have:

• Double and trible checked to ensure that all files copied properly.
• Checked to make sure that my keys are correct.
• Made sure that I can view the basic templates for DNN (Horizontal blue)

Any help on this would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Craig

   My case was I had a few errors around the 4.0 upgrade.  I also had a few portals that I could not delete.  Most fun let me tell yea.

-Try this first in a dev environment before your live site.

First thing to do is back up your site and database.  You could clean up any portals you no longer will be using at this point.  I actually had a few that were not deleting through admin functionality. Had to write a sproc to get things moving along.  This may not apply to you but at least verify this functionality is working on dev.  You can always restore afterwards.  Also, membership has changed with newer DNN in which your usernames will need to be unique with all your portals.  You will need to deal with those conflicting usernames before you update to the 4.0 land.

Second, download your install packages from dotnetnuke.com.  I went with 3.3.7 and 4.8.4.  Edit the web.configs and copy over connection strings keys and machine keys.

Third step, which may not apply to you but for some reason I had to manually add in 'Email varchar 256 nullable' to the 'Users' table. 

 Fourth step is verify iis is set to .net 1.1.  Pretty sure it is but keep it open since you will change it soon.  

-Few things to note, you will need to login as host, and you will also need to double-check your portal aliases.  If you don't know your host password like I didn't I would get that situated before you upgrade.  With that you will need to go into the asp membership table and copy over password and salt password to your host userid.

-Fifth. Extract the contents of your install zip folder over the contents of your site. 

 -Ok so now we should be good to go.  Navigate to http://~YourRoot~//Install/Install.aspx?mode=upgrade 

  You should see a site-unavailable page.  Give it a minute or two.  Just hit refresh on that url and you'll see the progress.  If all is green your good to go, if not I would check into the errors. 

  At this point, I would login into the site, verify its working good and everything is intact. 

  Here we go, extract 4.8.4 over the contents of your site.  Edit the config file for the app connection string and machine key.  Note the <connectionStrings> is available in this and edit these values since I think they now play a role with DNN.  Change your iis to .net 2.0.  I didn’t have any problems with the site modules with this conversion.  If you have purchased or built custom modules for your site you will need to look into that a bit before you upgrade.  If you purchased the module there may be some updates available through your vendor.

 -Ok so now we should be good to go.  Navigate to http://~YourRoot~//Install/Install.aspx?mode=upgrade 

  You should see a site-unavailable page.  Give it a minute or two.  Just hit refresh on that url and you'll see the progress.  If all is green your good to go, if not I would check into the errors. 

And that’s it. I was able to navigate to the login page and login.  3.3.7 was crucial for some reason and after that I was able to upgrade to the latest.  Huh.

there seems to be an issue with the machine key in your web.config file. An upgrade from 4.8.2 to 4.8.4 should not have touched this entry, but either you modified web.config file yourself or there has been problems accessing the database during upgrade. Please restore the machine key entry from a backup of previously used web.config file.

PS: please create a new thread for new questions.