I used the following article on MSDN to solve this problem (in this case, from MVC 4 to MVC 5)
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/mvc/overview/releases/how-to-upgrade-an-aspnet-mvc-4-and-web-api-project-to-aspnet-mvc- 5-and-web-api-2
Key excerpts from the article:
The main Web.config file (not the one in the Views folder)
In the updated block update System.Web.Mvc to 5.0.0.0, System.Web.Helpers to 3.0.0.0 and System.Web.WebPages to 3.0.0.0
<dependentAssembly> <assemblyIdentity name="System.Web.Helpers" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" /> <bindingRedirect oldVersion="1.0.0.0-3.0.0.0" newVersion="3.0.0.0" /> </dependentAssembly> <dependentAssembly> <assemblyIdentity name="System.Web.Mvc" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" /> <bindingRedirect oldVersion="1.0.0.0-5.0.0.0" newVersion="5.0.0.0" /> </dependentAssembly> <dependentAssembly> <assemblyIdentity name="System.Web.WebPages" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" /> <bindingRedirect oldVersion="1.0.0.0-3.0.0.0" newVersion="3.0.0.0" /> </dependentAssembly>
Then find the appsettings block and refresh the web pages: version value to 3.0.0.0
<appSettings> <add key="webpages:Version" value="3.0.0.0" /> </appSettings>
Web.config Views
Update the host factoryType block for System.Web.Mvc to 5.0.0.0
<system.web.webPages.razor> <host factoryType="System.Web.Mvc.MvcWebRazorHostFactory, System.Web.Mvc, Version=5.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35" /> <pages pageBaseType="System.Web.Mvc.WebViewPage"> <namespaces> <add namespace="System.Web.Mvc" /> </namespaces> </pages> </system.web.webPages.razor>
Then, under the block block, update any links to System.Web.Mvc to 5.0.0.0
<pages validateRequest="false" pageParserFilterType="System.Web.Mvc.ViewTypeParserFilter, System.Web.Mvc, Version=5.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35" pageBaseType="System.Web.Mvc.ViewPage, System.Web.Mvc, Version=5.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35" userControlBaseType="System.Web.Mvc.ViewUserControl, System.Web.Mvc, Version=5.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35"> <controls> <add assembly="System.Web.Mvc, Version=5.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35" namespace="System.Web.Mvc" tagPrefix="mvc" /> </controls> </pages>
And finally, when updating the System.Web link configuration block to 3.0.0.0
<configuration> <configSections> <sectionGroup name="system.web.webPages.razor" type="System.Web.WebPages.Razor.Configuration.RazorWebSectionGroup, System.Web.WebPages.Razor, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35"> <section name="host" type="System.Web.WebPages.Razor.Configuration.HostSection, System.Web.WebPages.Razor, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35" requirePermission="false" /> <section name="pages" type="System.Web.WebPages.Razor.Configuration.RazorPagesSection, System.Web.WebPages.Razor, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35" requirePermission="false" /> </sectionGroup> </configSections>