What is the difference between customErrors and httpErrors in web.config?

1 year ago
Emily Johnson
2 minutes

The web.config file is the configuration file for an ASP.NET application, which contains numerous configuration settings. Both customErrors and httpErrors are used to handle errors within the application and display error messages to users.

The customErrors option in ASP.NET allows developers to customize how errors are handled in their applications. By setting the mode attribute of customErrors, you can specify the behavior of the application when an error occurs. Some common values for the mode attribute include:

  1. Off: Do not display any error messages, instead show the default ASP.NET error information.
  2. Display custom error messages without showing detailed error information.
  3. Display custom error messages on remote servers, but show detailed error information on local servers.

httpErrors is a configuration setting in IIS (Internet Information Services) that defines error handling at the IIS level. It can be configured in the web.config file or in the IIS management interface, allowing for more flexible error handling options such as customizing the display of HTTP errors and redirection.

Difference:

  1. customErrors is a way to handle errors at the application level in ASP.NET, while httpErrors handles errors at the server level in IIS.
  2. CustomErrors can only be used in ASP.NET applications, while HttpErrors can be used in any type of web application.
  3. customErrors can only handle errors related to the ASP.NET framework, while httpErrors can handle any type of HTTP error.
  4. httpErrors can be handled by redirecting or forwarding errors, whereas customErrors can only display custom error messages.
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