Msixbundle File

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Bartley Trowbridge

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Aug 3, 2024, 3:16:17 PM8/3/24

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By bundling the multiple architecture versions of your installer into one entity, only the bundle needs to be uploaded to the Store or another distribution location. The Windows 10 deployment platform is aware of the .msixbundle package type and will only download the files that are applicable for your device's architecture. Keep in mind that if you decide to distribute an .msixbundle for a particular app, you cannot revert back to distributing just an MSIX package.

The following section presents a step-by-step approach to build an .msixbundle. It assumes that you have already converted your existing x86 and x64 versions of the Windows installer to MSIX packages.

The easiest way to bundle packages with MakeApp.exe is to add all the packages that you want to bundle together in one folder. The directory must be free of everything else except the packages that need to be bundled.

MakeAppx.exe only bundles packages that have the same identity, which means that the AppID, publisher, version needs to be the same. Only the package processor architecture for an application package can be different.

We strongly recommend that you use a trusted cert from certificate authority as that allows for the package to be distributed and deployed on your end users devices seamlessly. Once you have access to the private certificate (.pfx file), you can sign the package as shown below.

I'm trying to install Windows Terminal on Windows 10 v1803 [build 17134.13.04] where I don't have any admin privileges and Microsoft Store has also been deactivated. I downloaded the .msixbundle from the GitHub release page and used the command from here:

Microsoft recently came out with an MSIX-related packaging format called the MSIX Bundle, which includes safer and more reliable deployments as well as auto-updates and improved widespread support - which makes our life easier as application packagers.

Although we consider that there's still room for improvement, MSIX has developed a lot since its release in 2018. As detailed in the Microsoft MSIX feature support page, we can see that it has many new features supported by different versions of Windows.

In practice, with the MSIX Bundle, you can have both an MSIX package for the x86 version of your installer and another one for the x64 version, which you can include into one single package as a bundle.

Also, you will see that instead of the AppxManifest.xml file that contains all the information the system needs (in order to deploy, display and update the MSIX package), you will see the AppxBundleManifest.xml.

Having different architectures of the same application both in production is not a common use case for an enterprise. But, if you still need to create an MSIX Bundle, a more practical solution would be to use a full packaging tool, such as Advanced Installer.

Even though the need for multiple architectures of the same application is not that common within the Enterprise environment, the MSIX Bundle could still be something to consider depending on the organization's needs.

An MSIXBundle file is an app packaging format that contains numerous MSIX packages bundled together, each being capable of supporting a distinct and specific system architecture (x86, x64, or ARM).

A MSIX Bundle will require a tool like 7-zip to get decompressed, as it uses a PKZip-based file compression. Once decompressed, you will find all the MSIX packages that were bundled together in the .msixbundle package. To edit a particular MSIX package you can use the MSIX Editor from Advanced Installer.

build the appx file:
makeappx pack /d [path_to_compiled_directory] /p "[package_name]" /m [path_to_appxmanifest_file]
(The appx is created in the compiled directory. I also use signtool to sign the appx with my certificate)

URI_APPINSTALLER is replaced with the path to the appinstaller, URI_MSIXBUNDLE is replaced with the path to the msixbundle and VERSION_NO is replaced with the same version number that was set in the Appmanifest.xml (in this case 1.0.0.0)

Can anyone let me know if there is a way to set this version number to the same as the appxmanifest file when issuing the mkeappx bundle command? I was under the impression that it should have picked up the appxmanifest.xml file and used the information in this for its version number?

Adguard is a third-party web service and an online link generator for Microsoft Store. It makes it easy to download appx and appxbundle files from the Microsoft Store for sideloading them on your Windows computer.

Fiddler Classic is a network tracking and monitoring tool to log HTTP(s) traffic from web browsers and installed apps. You can use this app to track Microsoft Store network when downloading an app to your computer. Then use the URL as a direct download link to download appx, msixbundle, and appxbundle files using any web browser.

In an ideal situation, you can double-click on the app file package to install it on your Windows computer. However, if that does not work, you can sideload the apps using PowerShell and the official App Installer. Here are the three ways to install the appxbundle and msixbundle file packages on Windows 10 and 11.

Unfortunately, this installation method does not work always. You are likely to run into errors like this app package is not support installation. What you can do instead is try to install the app using the App Installer app or PowerShell. You can use PowerShell to install apps not signed by Microsoft Store.

Microsoft offers an official App Installer to sideload Windows 10 apps. However, this app installer also works on Windows 11. If you encounter an error when sideloading apps using the convention double-click method, the App Installer will do the trick.

You can use Windows PowerShell to sideload Microsoft Store app on Windows. This is an efficient way to sideload apps on multiple computers or when you get an error while running the msixbundle or other package files.

Thanks to the built-in sideload support on Windows, you can easily install Microsoft Store and non-store apps on your computer. Adguard and Fiddler handle the important aspect of allowing to download app package files for sideload.

If you continuously get errors when you try to install and run MSIXBundle on Windows, or you want to sideload MS Store apps on several computers, you can use PowerShell to run some commands as an administrator. To install MSIXBundle using PowerShell, use the following easy steps:

On the Windows search box, type PowerShell and select Run as administrator.
Copy and paste the following PowerShell command and then hit Enter to initiate app installation:Add-AppxPackage -Path $AppFilePath
Replace the AppFilePath with the MSIXBundle file path. You can get the file path by navigating to the MSIXBundle location, right-clicking on it, and then choosing Copy as path. An example will be like this:Add-AppxPackage -Path C:\temp\filename.msixbundle
Wait until the Windows PowerShell finishes the process, it will indicate the progress.
You can now go to the Start menu and launch the app.

Earlier, we said that you could use the MSIX bundle to install third-party apps that are not in the Microsoft Store. You can follow the steps above, but you must first enable Developer Mode to allow you to install UWP programs from non-MS sites. Follow the steps below to enable the Developer Mode option:

Go to the Windows Settings app and then select Privacy & Security.
Select For Developers and toggle on the button next to Developer Mode.

We hope you can now install the MSIX bundle using Windows PowerShell.Read: How to install unsigned .Appx app package using PowerShellHow do I install the MSIX packaging tool?If you want to install the MSIX packaging tool, go to the Microsoft Store and then head to the description page, then select Install to start the process. However, ensure that the Microsoft account you are using is the same as the one for the Windows Insider Program. You can also download the MSIX packaging tool in the enterprise for offline use in the Microsoft Store for Business.Read: The ms-appinstaller protocol has been disabledHow to install MSIX without the Microsoft Store?To install an MSIX package without the Microsoft Store, you can use third-party sources like GitHub and then use Windows PowerShell to install it using the steps we discussed above. However, unless the app you want to install is completely missing from the store, installing MSIX from the MS Store is the best way to go.

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Published on March 24, 2023Tags: PowerShellRelated PostsHow to uninstall PowerShell in Windows 11/10How to Reset PowerShell and Command Prompt to default settingsHow to add PowerShell to Context Menu in Windows 11/10RobertNjoroge@TWCRobert holds a B.Tech. He has a knack for solving problems in people's lives. With his background in technology, he is able to write complex topics in simple, understandable terms. He enjoys writing all matters Windows.Primary Sidebar

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