Entity Framework Provider type could not be loaded?

I am trying to run my tests on TeamCity which is currently installed on my machine.

System.InvalidOperationException:

The Entity Framework provider type 'System.Data.Entity.SqlServer.SqlProviderServices, EntityFramework.SqlServer, Version=6.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089' for the 'System.Data.SqlClient' ADO.NET provider could not be loaded. Make sure the provider assembly is available to the running application.

See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=260882 for more information..

I have no reference to System.Data.Entity in any of my projects as was suggested on codeplex for upgrading to EF6.

So, I am not sure why am I getting this exception. I do not get any such exception when I run the tests from VS.

I did try to set CopyLocal to false then again to true.. but that does not seem to work either.

Update

My app.config has the following . Does this cause some behavior that I don't understand ?

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
  <configSections>
    <section name="entityFramework" type="System.Data.Entity.Internal.ConfigFile.EntityFrameworkSection, EntityFramework, Version=6.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" requirePermission="false" />
    <!-- For more information on Entity Framework configuration, visit http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=237468 -->
  </configSections>
  <entityFramework>
    <defaultConnectionFactory type="System.Data.Entity.Infrastructure.SqlConnectionFactory, EntityFramework" />
  </entityFramework>
</configuration>

I get the following stacktrace in teamcity .

[MSTest] IntegrationTests.CrudTest+QuestionTest.Create
[03:59:11][IntegrationTests.CrudTest+QuestionTest.Create] Initialization method IntegrationTests.CrudTest+QuestionTest.Initialize threw exception. System.InvalidOperationException: System.InvalidOperationException: The Entity Framework provider type 'System.Data.Entity.SqlServer.SqlProviderServices, EntityFramework.SqlServer, Version=6.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089' for the 'System.Data.SqlClient' ADO.NET provider could not be loaded. Make sure the provider assembly is available to the running application. See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=260882 for more information..
[03:59:11]
[IntegrationTests.CrudTest+QuestionTest.Create]     at System.Data.Entity.Config.ProviderServicesFactory.GetInstance(String providerTypeName, String providerInvariantName)
   at System.Data.Entity.Config.ProviderServicesFactory.GetInstanceByConvention(String providerInvariantName)
   at System.Data.Entity.Config.DefaultProviderServicesResolver.GetService(Type type, Object key)
   at System.Data.Entity.Config.CachingDependencyResolver.<>c__DisplayClass1.<GetService>b__0(Tuple`2 k)
   at System.Collections.Concurrent.ConcurrentDictionary`2.GetOrAdd(TKey key, Func`2 valueFactory)
   at System.Data.Entity.Config.CachingDependencyResolver.GetService(Type type, Object key)
   at System.Data.Entity.Config.ResolverChain.<>c__DisplayClass3.<GetService>b__0(IDbDependencyResolver r)
   at System.Linq.Enumerable.WhereSelectArrayIterator`2.MoveNext()
   at System.Linq.Enumerable.FirstOrDefault[TSource](IEnumerable`1 source, Func`2 predicate)
   at System.Data.Entity.Config.ResolverChain.GetService(Type type, Object key)
   at System.Data.Entity.Config.RootDependencyResolver.GetService(Type type, Object key)
   at System.Data.Entity.Config.ResolverChain.<>c__DisplayClass3.<GetService>b__0(IDbDependencyResolver r)
   at System.Linq.Enumerable.WhereSelectArrayIterator`2.MoveNext()
   at System.Linq.Enumerable.FirstOrDefault[TSource](IEnumerable`1 source, Func`2 predicate)
   at System.Data.Entity.Config.ResolverChain.GetService(Type type, Object key)
   at System.Data.Entity.Config.CompositeResolver`2.GetService(Type type, Object key)
   at System.Data.Entity.Config.IDbDependencyResolverExtensions.GetService[T](IDbDependencyResolver resolver, Object key)
   at System.Data.Entity.Config.InternalConfiguration.GetService[TService](Object key)
   at System.Data.Entity.Config.DbConfiguration.GetService[TService](Object key)
   at System.Data.Entity.Utilities.DbProviderFactoryExtensions.GetProviderServices(DbProviderFactory factory)
   at System.Data.Entity.Infrastructure.DefaultManifestTokenService.GetProviderManifestToken(DbConnection connection)
   at System.Data.Entity.Utilities.DbConnectionExtensions.GetProviderInfo(DbConnection connection, DbProviderManifest& providerManifest)
   at System.Data.Entity.DbModelBuilder.Build(DbConnection providerConnection)
   at System.Data.Entity.Internal.LazyInternalContext.CreateModel(LazyInternalContext internalContext)
   at System.Data.Entity.Internal.RetryLazy`2.GetValue(TInput input)
   at System.Data.Entity.Internal.LazyInternalContext.InitializeContext()
   at System.Data.Entity.Internal.InternalContext.GetEntitySetAndBaseTypeForType(Type entityType)
   at System.Data.Entity.Internal.Linq.InternalSet`1.Initialize()
   at System.Data.Entity.Internal.Linq.InternalSet`1.get_InternalContext()
   at System.Data.Entity.Internal.Linq.InternalSet`1.ActOnSet(Action action, EntityState newState, Object entity, String methodName)
   at System.Data.Entity.Internal.Linq.InternalSet`1.Add(Object entity)
   at System.Data.Entity.DbSet`1.Add(TEntity entity)
   at EFRepository.Infrastructure.EFRepository`1.Add(T item) in c:\TeamCity\buildAgent\work\da2ea4e72c0e77f0\Repository\Infrastructure\EFRepository.cs:line 22
   at IntegrationTests.CrudTest.Initialize() in c:\TeamCity\buildAgent\work\da2ea4e72c0e77f0\IntegrationTests\CrudTest.cs:line 34

Same problem, but i installed EF 6 through Nuget. EntityFramework.SqlServer was missing for another executable. I simply added the nuget package to that project.

I had the same problem in my Test projects - I installed the latest EF6 bits via NuGet and everytime I invoke something EF-related I got:

The Entity Framework provider type 'System.Data.Entity.SqlServer.SqlProviderServices, EntityFramework.SqlServer' for the 'System.Data.SqlClient' ADO.NET provider could not be loaded. Make sure the provider assembly is available to the running application. See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=260882 for more information.

My workaround: I placed this method inside my test project:

public void FixEfProviderServicesProblem()
{
//The Entity Framework provider type 'System.Data.Entity.SqlServer.SqlProviderServices, EntityFramework.SqlServer'
//for the 'System.Data.SqlClient' ADO.NET provider could not be loaded. 
//Make sure the provider assembly is available to the running application. 
//See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=260882 for more information.

var instance = System.Data.Entity.SqlServer.SqlProviderServices.Instance;
}

This method is never been called, but I think the compiler will remove all "unnecessary" assemblies and without using the EntityFramework.SqlServer stuff the test fails.

Anyways: Works on my machine ;)

Note: Instead of adding the method to test project you can ensure a static reference to SqlProviderServices from your Model/entity project.

Nuget will configure your EF6 project to reference EntityFramework.SqlServer.dll. This deploys to the output folder for your EF6 project during build, but it will not deploy to the output folder for projects referencing your EF6 project. I believe this is because Visual Studio is "smart" enough to detect that nothing in your assembly is actually using the dll directly and so does not include it. You can force EntityFramework.SqlServer.dll to be deployed to the output folder of projects referencing your EF6 project (unit tests, UI's etc.) by adding code to your EF6 project that uses EntityFramework.SqlServer.dll. Be careful not to put the code in a generated class as you risk losing it on next regen. I chose to add the following class to the assembly, which fixed the problem.

using System.Data.Entity.SqlServer;

internal static class MissingDllHack
{
    // Must reference a type in EntityFramework.SqlServer.dll so that this dll will be
    // included in the output folder of referencing projects without requiring a direct 
    // dependency on Entity Framework. See http://stackoverflow.com/a/22315164/1141360.
    private static SqlProviderServices instance = SqlProviderServices.Instance;
}

My solution was to remove the entity framework from the project via the nuget manager and add it back in.