uwp: can't install signed application (non MS Store)/compile-with-native=unchecked on another computer

John Torjo 861 Reputation points
2019-12-29T23:51:51.38+00:00

So, we all know the infamous dependencies of a deployed app:

  • Microsoft.NET.CoreFramework.Debug.2.2.appx
  • Microsoft.NET.CoreRuntime.2.2.appx
  • Microsoft.VCLibs.x64.Debug.14.00.appx

I've created an app that I allow users to download from my website (so, no Microsoft Store).

The application is

  • NOT compiled with native, and
  • is signed with a valid certificate.

Computers that have the latest Win OS (ver 1903+) seem to be able to properly install my app.
While older computers fail, with a Not found dependency (Microsoft.NET.CoreFramework.Debug.2.2.appx).

How do I solve this?

Universal Windows Platform (UWP)
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Accepted answer
  1. John Torjo 861 Reputation points
    2019-12-31T14:45:56.237+00:00

    I'm gonna post this for posterity, hopefully it will help others.
    You need to create an appinstaller file

    It will look more or less like this:
    (yeah, this "great" forum ignores anything with "<" and ">" and it's so smart, that it won't allow me to attach it - first, because of the wrong extension, and then when I renamed it as xml, it told me that it's invalid. Awesome work Microsoft!)

    You can simply get it here: https://phot-awe.com/resources/test.installer - I've tweaked it a bit so you know what you need to replace.

    1 person found this answer helpful.

3 additional answers

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  1. Richard Zhang-MSFT 6,936 Reputation points
    2019-12-30T02:07:43.023+00:00

    Hello,​

    Welcome to our Microsoft Q&A platform!

    You mentioned that an error will be reported on the old version of the system. Please check whether the system version meets the minimum system version required by the UWP application.

    If your application is used for network distribution, you can try to generate an application package in Release mode.

    The dependencies of the application package generated in Release mode are different from the Debug mode, which may solve this dependency association problem.

    Thanks.


  2. Sean Anderson 1 Reputation point
    2020-01-17T03:59:55.967+00:00

    I created the appinstaller. Not trivial but certainly too bad. Still does not address the issue though. My App was building and distributing just fine in AppCenter and then all of a sudden it's bitching about missing dependencies. I'm still, days later, trying to find the root cause and get back to some sanity. Whenever a user tries to download the appinstaller file the damn XML displays in the browser. Nightmare.

    Keeping my UWP app building and running and distributing is starting to feel like I'm deep in the ocean in a leaky submarine all alone.

    I went back to 6.1.9, I turned on/off Optimize code and .NET Native compilation in every combination. I tried various target versions of Windows. This WAS working at one point!


  3. Ihor L 1 Reputation point
    2020-05-20T12:18:15.46+00:00

    Does anyone know how to UNINSTALL packages Microsoft.NET.CoreFramework.Debug.2.2.appx, Microsoft.NET.CoreRuntime.2.2.appx, Microsoft.VCLibs.x64.Debug.14.00.appx. I've installed them to test the app, but have no idea how to uninstall them.