MSIX

MSIX([project]; arch, compress, windowed, kwargs...)

Create an MSIX configuration object for Windows application packaging.

When project is provided, configuration files are searched in project, then project/meta, then the built-in recipes directory. Application parameters (APP_NAME, APP_VERSION, etc.) are read from project/Project.toml, and packaging defaults (path_length_threshold, selfsign, etc.) are read from project/LocalPreferences.toml. Without project, only the built-in recipes and the active project's LocalPreferences.toml are used.

Arguments

• project: Path to a project directory containing Project.toml, optional LocalPreferences.toml, and optional meta/msix/ overrides

Keyword Arguments

• prefix = joinpath(dirname(@__DIR__), "recipes"): Base directory or array of directories to search for configuration files in sequential order
• preferences: Dictionary of packaging preferences used for the defaults below; read from project when given, otherwise from the active project
• icon = get_path(prefix, ["msix/Assets", "msix/icon.png", "icon.png"]; dir = true): Path to application icon file or Assets directory
• appxmanifest = get_path(prefix, "msix/AppxManifest.xml"): Path to MSIX application manifest template
• command::Cmd: Command launching the application; defaults to msix.command preference. Its executable and escaped arguments are exposed to the manifest template as COMMAND_EXE and COMMAND_ARGS
• resources_pri = get_path(prefix, "msix/resources.pri"): Path to package resource index file
• msixinstallerdata = get_path(prefix, "msix/MSIXAppInstallerData.xml"): Path to installer configuration template
• path_length_threshold: Maximum allowed path length; defaults to msix.path_length_threshold preference
• skip_long_paths: If true, skip files exceeding path length threshold; if false, throw an error; defaults to msix.skip_long_paths preference
• skip_symlinks: If true, skip file and directory symlinks; defaults to msix.skip_symlinks preference
• skip_unicode_paths: If true, skip files with non-ASCII paths; defaults to msix.skip_unicode_paths preference
• selfsign: If true, generate a temporary self-signed certificate instead of using pfx_cert; defaults to selfsign preference
• publisher: Publisher string embedded in the manifest (e.g. "CN=Example, O=Example Ltd"); defaults to msix.publisher preference, normalized to ", "-separated fields
• pfx_cert = get_path(prefix, "msix/certificate.pfx"): Path to code signing certificate; nothing when the skipsign preference is set
• windowed: If true, the application runs without a console window; defaults to windowed preference
• compress: If true, pack the staging directory into an .msix archive; defaults to compress preference
• arch = Sys.ARCH: Target CPU architecture
• predicate: Bundler predicate used for hook selection; defaults to bundler preference
• parameters: Dictionary of parameters for Mustache template rendering. Always contains WINDOWED, PUBLISHER, COMMAND_EXE and COMMAND_ARGS, derived from the keywords above. When project is provided, it is further populated from Project.toml and preferences: APP_NAME, APP_DISPLAY_NAME, APP_VERSION, BUILD_NUMBER, APP_SUMMARY, APP_DESCRIPTION, BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER, PUBLISHER_DISPLAY_NAME, and MODULE_NAME (Julia-based bundles only)

Examples

MSIX()                                    # default recipes only
MSIX(app_dir)                             # project with Project.toml parameters
MSIX(app_dir; skip_long_paths = true)     # project with keyword overrides
MSIX(app_dir; command = `bin\myapp.exe --flag "a b"`)  # custom launch command
MSIX(; prefix = ["custom/", "recipes/"])  # explicit search path

MSIX2EXE([project]; prefix, preferences, bootstrap, windowed, sfx_stub, title)

Create an MSIX-to-EXE configuration object for creating self-extracting Windows installers from MSIX packages.

The resulting installer is a 7-Zip-based self-extracting executable. When launched, the executable extracts the MSIX package and the configured PowerShell bootstrap script to a temporary directory and then executes the bootstrap script with the extracted MSIX package as its argument.

This is useful for distributing self-signed MSIX packages, since the bootstrap script can extract and install the package's signing certificate in the system's root, before launching installer on the MSIX installer.

When project is provided, configuration files are searched in project, then project/meta, then the built-in recipes directory. Without project, only the built-in recipes and the active project's LocalPreferences.toml are used.

Arguments

• project: Path to a project directory containing optional Project.toml, LocalPreferences.toml, and optional meta/msix/ overrides

Keyword Arguments

• prefix = joinpath(dirname(@__DIR__), "recipes"): Base directory or array of directories to search for configuration files in sequential order
• `bootstrap: Path to the bootstrap script which is embedded in the self-extracting installer. The script is invoked with the extracted MSIX package as its first argument
• windowed = preferences["msix2exe_windowed"]: If true, run the bootstrap process without displaying a console window and launch graphical MSIX installer
• sfx_stub = get(preferences, "msix2exe_sfx_stub", MSIX2EXEPack.extract_stub()): Path to the 7-Zip self-extracting executable stub used to construct the installer
• title = "Installer": Title displayed by the self-extracting installer

Bootstrap Script

The bootstrap script is invoked after the embedded files have been extracted, with the MSIX package path supplied as its first argument. For example:

powershell.exe bootstrap.ps1 msix_archive.msix