We have a WebForms application with Telerik AJAX components which we have successfully upgraded using the wizard for years. Starting with product version 2025.4.1210 and persisting in the latest version, 2025.4.1321, the upgrade wizard fails with the following error message.
The Telerik extension to VS is up to date, and it doesn't seem to help to run this in VS 2022.
An error occurred while running the wizard.
Error executing custom action Telerik.Web.UI.VSX.Actions.MultiProjectUpdateReferencesAction: System.InvalidOperationException: There is an error in XML document (3, 2). ---> System.Xml.XmlException: Name cannot begin with the '<' character, hexadecimal value 0x3C. Line 3, position 2.
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Throw(Exception e)
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseQName(Boolean isQName, Int32 startOffset, Int32& colonPos)
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseElement()
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseElementContent()
at System.Xml.XmlReader.ReadStartElement()
at Microsoft.Xml.Serialization.GeneratedAssembly.XmlSerializationReaderSolutionDistributionDefinition.Read2_SolutionDistributionDefinition(Boolean isNullable, Boolean checkType)
at Microsoft.Xml.Serialization.GeneratedAssembly.XmlSerializationReaderSolutionDistributionDefinition.Read3_Distribution()
--- End of inner exception stack trace ---
at System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer.Deserialize(XmlReader xmlReader, String encodingStyle, XmlDeserializationEvents events)
at System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer.Deserialize(TextReader textReader)
at Telerik.VSX.Helpers.Serializer`1.Deserialize(String filePath)
at Telerik.VSX.SolutionManagement.SolutionDistributionOperator.<>c__DisplayClass11_0.<DeserializeSolutionDistributionDefinition>b__0()
at Telerik.VSX.SolutionManagement.SolutionDistributionOperator.HandleUnauthorizedAccessException(Action action)
at Telerik.VSX.SolutionManagement.SolutionDistributionOperator.DeserializeSolutionDistributionDefinition(String distributionFilePath)
at Telerik.VSX.SolutionManagement.SolutionDistributionOperator.<>c__DisplayClass10_0.<CreateSolutionDistribution>b__0()
at Telerik.VSX.SolutionManagement.SolutionDistributionOperator.HandleUnauthorizedAccessException(Action action)
at Telerik.VSX.SolutionManagement.SolutionDistributionOperator.CreateSolutionDistribution(String distributionFilePath, DistributionInfo distributionInfo)
at Telerik.VSX.SolutionManagement.SolutionDistributionsContext.LoadSolutionDistributionDefinitions(DistributionInfo distributionInfo)
at Telerik.VSX.Actions.MultiProjectUpdateReferencesActionBase`1.CreateSolutionDistributionsContext(WizardContext context)
at Telerik.VSX.Actions.MultiProjectUpdateReferencesActionBase`1.Execute(WizardContext wizardContext, IPropertyDataDictionary arguments)
at Telerik.VSX.WizardEngine.ActionManager.ExecActions()
Hello Akon,
I apologize for the delay in my response. The XML file that we need is located in the extension directory. Please follow the steps below to find it:
1. Navigate to C:\\Users\\User\\AppData\\Local\\Microsoft\\VisualStudio. Refer to the image below for example:
In this directory, you will see generated folders corresponding to different Visual Studio versions. Version 16 - Visual Studio 2019, version 17 - Visual Studio 2022, and Version 18 - Visual Studio 2026.
2. Open the folder for the Visual Studio version you are currently using. Inside, locate and open the Extensions folder. This folder contains all installed extensions. Note that the folders for the installed extensions are generated and on your machine will be different from the example image below.
Find the folder corresponding to the AJAX extension, the main assembly for the product will be placed there - Telerik.Web.UI.dll. Inside, you should find the Configuration folder, and inside there will be the DistributionInfo.xml file that is required. Please attached the file so we can observe what is the problem.
I hope this information helps. If you have any difficulties locating it, please let me know, and I will be happy to assist further.
Regards,
Maria
Progress Telerik