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!