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I'm trying to move to MSIX to install our application, which is currently deployed to our customers via a ClickOnce installation which requires updating on startup, if there is an update. Its a .Net Framework (4.7.2) WinForms app. I'm a bit lost on how to begin; the documentation seems to start from an existing installer package (including ClickOnce), but I'd like to generate this without an intermediate step on our build server as we want to phase out the ClickOnce installation completely once we've proven MSIX will work for us.

I found the Windows Application Packaging Project, but it seems targeted to UWP app, which ours is not, and we have the need to install on Windows 7 SP1 or higher.

What tool would I use to create an MSIX package non-interactively? Would the WAPP play any role in the process?

Andy
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Here is a similar thread on MSFT's MSIX community. It's talking about VS 2017, but most of the info applies to 2019 too.

An extract from the above link:

You should be able to use the windows application packaging project to package MSIX. Please see: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/msix/desktop/desktop-to-uwp-packaging-dot-net

Alternatively, you could package your MSIX by hand using: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/msix/desktop/desktop-to-uwp-manual-conversion

Additionally, if you want to use the MSIX Packaging Tool, you might be able to leverage our pre-made VM: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/msix/packaging-tool/quick-create-vm even if your enterprise is still on an older release of windows.

You can also try partner solutions, like Advanced Installer's VS extension which can build an MSIX and MSI from the same project, if you need to target different users. The extension also supports debugging apps inside the msix container.

Disclaimer: I work on the team building Advanced Installer.

Bogdan Mitrache
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  • Appreciate the answer, but I think this would be considered a link only answer. Could you edit in the highlights of that page so I can accept your answer? – Andy Jan 16 '20 at 13:31
  • Do you mean like this? Sorry, I'm not a native English speaker, I may have misunderstood you. – Bogdan Mitrache Jan 17 '20 at 10:02
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    No, I mean that you'll have include in your answer enough that it would still be helpful as an answer if the link goes away at some point in the future. See https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/225370/your-answer-is-in-another-castle-when-is-an-answer-not-an-answer – Andy Jan 17 '20 at 15:38