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?

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.

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.

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!

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.

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

John Torjo 861

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?

Accepted answer

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.
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1 person found this answer helpful.
Sean K. Anderson 1 Reputation point

2020-01-18T04:36:21.597+00:00

Resolution over at GitHub issue: https://github.com/microsoft/dotnet/issues/1078
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3 additional answers

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.
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John Torjo 861 Reputation points

2019-12-30T08:16:37.533+00:00

Hi Richard,

Unfortunately, the dependency is in RELEASE mode, and Microsoft has known about this for HALF A YEAR - https://github.com/microsoft/dotnet/issues/1078

Also, the other system has the minimum system version required, since I need 1803 and that computer has 1903.

so i need a way to add the Microsoft.NET.CoreFramework.Debug.2.2.appx to my dependencies, in the best case scenario

Richard Zhang-MSFT 6,936 Reputation points

2019-12-30T10:01:10.777+00:00

Hi, Are you trying to upgrade Microsoft.NETCore.UniversalWindowsPlatform nuget package? However, if you want to get the Microsoft.NET.CoreFramework.Debug.2.2.appx package, you can package the app in the debug state. This appx package can be found in the packaged Dependencies folder and you can copy it to the other dependencies folder.

John Torjo 861 Reputation points

2019-12-30T10:13:52.377+00:00

I do have the Microsoft.NETCore.UniversalWindowsPlatform, version 6.2.9
Which in RELEASE mode, depends on Microsoft.NET.CoreFramework.Debug.2.2.appx - and this has been a problem since 6.1.2 - please see the link I posted above

This appx package can be found in the packaged Dependencies folder and you can copy it to the other dependencies folder.

I know where to find it, but that's useless, since I want to create an .msixbundle that self-installs, not one that fails and puts the burden on the user to install some dependency.

So what I need is to be able to mark it as a dependency and have it included/installed when the user runs my .msixbundle (compiled in RELEASE)

Richard Zhang-MSFT 6,936 Reputation points

2019-12-31T01:07:35.827+00:00

Hi, After receiving the reply, I created a new blank application, packaged it as a side-loading application, and tested it on a 1803 system. When I open the appxbundle, the installation progress stays at the "installation framework" step. Later testing, I found that if the system is set to developer mode instead of side loading mode, this problem can be solved

John Torjo 861 Reputation points

2019-12-31T10:35:16.36+00:00

I totally agree, but this is not a solution for me. I can't have all my users go and have "developer mode" on.
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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!
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Sean Anderson 1 Reputation point

2020-01-17T04:04:10.59+00:00

Custom appinstaller file in case this will help anyone:

https://nucleusmobilestorage.z13.web.core.windows.net/nucleus-invoice-beta/Nucleus-Business-Manager-Alpha.appinstaller

John Torjo 861 Reputation points

2020-01-17T08:13:35.81+00:00

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.

Trust me, I know EXACTLY how you feel. I will take a look at your issue in a few hours and get back to you.

John Torjo 861 Reputation points

2020-01-17T15:08:58.277+00:00

Hi Sean,

A few points to take into account:

I assume you have the other .appx files already uploaded to your server.

To me, the appinstaller looks perfect. On the first line, you could write Version="1.0.39.0", but I think it's not required

I believe your file misses the first line "<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>". If you add it, it will probably work from the get go.

If that doesn't happen, you may need to somehow associate the .appinstaller to make it "downloadable" (on your web server).

The .appinstaller concept works - if you want to test an existing appinstaller out, just go to https://phot-awe.com, click "Get Started", and it will download the .appinstaller -> you can then double click it, and it will install as expected.

Please let me know if this helps

Sean Anderson 1 Reputation point

2020-01-18T00:05:13.097+00:00

Thasnks jtorjo. However, this does not solve my issue. I already had the appinstaller working and I had marked the href with the download tag. The browser stills show the xml....ugh.

I am going to start examining the appx files and see if I still have a working version on hand. Supposedly, as one would expect, you can rename the appx to zip and extract the contents easily.

John Torjo 861 Reputation points

2020-01-18T06:50:23.477+00:00

Sorry about not mentioning that I was only building for x64 platform. I do think you resolved this yes?
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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.
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John Torjo 861 Reputation points

2020-05-20T13:00:00.647+00:00

I don't know, but these are pretty much used by every UWP app out there, And they are all quite lightweight. Why would you care? :)
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