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I'm searching a way to update a Windows Universal App without the Store, so i can provide the appxbundle file from my own server. I can download this package from within the app, but i have not found a solution for installing it. The device portal core API allows only the Installation of apps, but not updating. So is there a way I can start the updating process from within my app's code?

Martin Zikmund
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andy
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1 Answers1

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You can package your app for Web Install, which works very similarly to Click Once for classic desktop apps. This involves pointing the user to a link with ms-appinstaller: protocol which will launch the app installer and install the package. You define the .appinstall file which contains a standardized description of the components of the app, the location of potential updates, and specifies an update policy. Automated update are described in depth in this blog post.

Update

In addition to web install, you can apparently update the app using PackageManager. See this blog post for details.

Martin Zikmund
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  • Thank you for this solution. But i need a way to do this without user interaction. The initial version of the app is deployed via sideload to the device. After that it should be upgradeable from my server, on which i host the updated appxbundle file. Or did I missunderstood you? – andy Feb 24 '18 at 12:44
  • I think you could do the side load install via .appinstall, which would be configured to update from web, but I am not 100 percent sure about it – Martin Zikmund Feb 24 '18 at 12:46
  • So do you mean I have to install the app directly from my webservice or can I simply deploy it from within Visual Studio or installing it directly from the appxbundle package? I don't understand exactly how this .appinstall thing works, do I simply have to put a .appinstall XML file into the project in Visual Studio? – andy Feb 24 '18 at 14:50
  • The .appinstall file should be hosted on a web service and should contain the references to the app package so that it can be installed and updated from web. Blog post says *Currently the App Installer app in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update only supports .appInstaller files that are located on a webserver.* You should able to use .appinstaller file from powershell however. So the appxbundle will be hosted somewhere on your web service, the .appinstall next to it and you must then launch the ms-appinstaller: URI pointing to the appinstall file to start the installation. – Martin Zikmund Feb 24 '18 at 15:00
  • That is exactly what I was searching for, many many thanks Martin Zikmund! – andy Feb 24 '18 at 16:49
  • Glad it helped! Happy coding :-) – Martin Zikmund Feb 24 '18 at 16:52