ASP.NET custom error page - Server.GetLastError() is null

Try using something like Server.Transfer("~/ErrorPage.aspx"); from within the Application_Error() method of global.asax.cs

Then from within Page_Load() of ErrorPage.aspx.cs you should be okay to do something like: Exception exception = Server.GetLastError().GetBaseException();

Server.Transfer() seems to keep the exception hanging around.

A combination of what NailItDown and Victor said. The preferred/easiest way is to use your Global.Asax to store the error and then redirect to your custom error page.

Global.asax:

    void Application_Error(object sender, EventArgs e) 
{
    // Code that runs when an unhandled error occurs
    Exception ex = Server.GetLastError();
    Application["TheException"] = ex; //store the error for later
    Server.ClearError(); //clear the error so we can continue onwards
    Response.Redirect("~/myErrorPage.aspx"); //direct user to error page
}

In addition, you need to set up your web.config:

  <system.web>
    <customErrors mode="RemoteOnly" defaultRedirect="~/myErrorPage.aspx">
    </customErrors>
  </system.web>

And finally, do whatever you need to with the exception you've stored in your error page:

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{

    // ... do stuff ...
    //we caught an exception in our Global.asax, do stuff with it.
    Exception caughtException = (Exception)Application["TheException"];
    //... do stuff ...
}

OK, I found this post: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa479319.aspx

with this very illustrative diagram:

_{(source: microsoft.com)}

in essence, to get at those exception details i need to store them myself in Global.asax, for later retrieval on my custom error page.

it seems the best way is to do the bulk of the work in Global.asax, with the custom error pages handling helpful content rather than logic.

Looking more closely at my web.config set up, one of the comments in this post is very helpful

in asp.net 3.5 sp1 there is a new parameter redirectMode

So we can amend customErrors to add this parameter:

<customErrors mode="RemoteOnly" defaultRedirect="~/errors/GeneralError.aspx" redirectMode="ResponseRewrite" />

the ResponseRewrite mode allows us to load the «Error Page» without redirecting the browser, so the URL stays the same, and importantly for me, exception information is not lost.