Issues running Windows Application Certification Kit on Windows 10

Question

Issues running Windows Application Certification Kit on Windows 10

Benjamin Jordan 76

Hi,

I am trying to deploy an update to my UWP application on the Windows Store. I am using Visual Studio 2022 to do this deployment process. One of the requirements is to run tests on the application via the Windows App Certification Kit.

In Visual Studio, a prompt will usually open after creating packages for the application, that will ask you to launch the Windows App Certification Kit in Administrator Mode.

However, when I click on this button, the window closes with an error stating "Validation canceled."

I dug around a bit and it seems that I am unable to open the Windows App Certification Kit on its own. If I search for the application in the Windows 10 Search Bar and run it as administrator, I am met with this error:

I ran the sxstrace as suggested, and this is what it gave me:

=================  
Begin Activation Context Generation.  
Input Parameter:  
	Flags = 0  
	ProcessorArchitecture = AMD64  
	CultureFallBacks = en-US;en  
	ManifestPath = C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\App Certification Kit\appcertui.exe  
	AssemblyDirectory = C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\App Certification Kit\  
	Application Config File =   
-----------------  
INFO: Parsing Manifest File C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\App Certification Kit\appcertui.exe.  
	INFO: Manifest Definition Identity is appcertui,processorArchitecture="amd64",type="win32",version="1.0.0.0".  
	INFO: Reference: Microsoft.Windows.Build.Appx.AppxPackaging.dll,version="0.0.0.0"  
INFO: Resolving reference Microsoft.Windows.Build.Appx.AppxPackaging.dll,version="0.0.0.0".  
	INFO: Resolving reference for ProcessorArchitecture Microsoft.Windows.Build.Appx.AppxPackaging.dll,version="0.0.0.0".  
		INFO: Resolving reference for culture Neutral.  
			INFO: Applying Binding Policy.  
				INFO: No binding policy redirect found.  
			INFO: Begin assembly probing.  
				INFO: Did not find the assembly in WinSxS.  
				INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\App Certification Kit\Microsoft.Windows.Build.Appx.AppxPackaging.dll.DLL.  
				INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\App Certification Kit\Microsoft.Windows.Build.Appx.AppxPackaging.dll.MANIFEST.  
				INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\App Certification Kit\Microsoft.Windows.Build.Appx.AppxPackaging.dll\Microsoft.Windows.Build.Appx.AppxPackaging.dll.DLL.  
				INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\App Certification Kit\Microsoft.Windows.Build.Appx.AppxPackaging.dll\Microsoft.Windows.Build.Appx.AppxPackaging.dll.MANIFEST.  
				INFO: Did not find manifest for culture Neutral.  
			INFO: End assembly probing.  
	ERROR: Cannot resolve reference Microsoft.Windows.Build.Appx.AppxPackaging.dll,version="0.0.0.0".  
ERROR: Activation Context generation failed.  
End Activation Context Generation.

So far, I have attempted:

reinstalling my C++ redistributable with the latest versions on the Microsoft Learn.
reinstalling my windows 10 SDK with whatever latest one I could find (specifically, 10.0.22621.0)
restarting my computer after these reinstallations

However, the Windows App Cert Kit still does not open, and I get the same error popup. I am not quite sure how to proceed, and I need to use the Kit in order to continue with my Windows Store update.

Any help or additional information about this issue would be appreciated!

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Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A!

First of all, the local WACK test is optional. Sometimes the WACK tool will give errors like this due to some unknow reasons of the local device. The result of the test might be affected by the local device as well. When you upload your package to the Store and submit your submission, there will be another online WACK test. Sometimes the online WACK test will have a different result with the local WACK test. But the Store team will only take the result of the online WACK test as standard. You don't need to worry about the local WACK tool. If the online WACK test gives you an error and failed your submission, that will be a problem.

Thank you.

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Benjamin Jordan 76 Reputation points

2022-09-27T03:49:22.113+00:00

I appreciate the clarification, I wasn't sure if the local test was required or not.

I just skipped that step and was able to successfully submit my app update to the Store! Thank you for pointing that out so that I could get my update out.

Later, I'll see if I can fix the WACK test on my end and update this thread accordingly.

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Issues running Windows Application Certification Kit on Windows 10

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