MSIX Package Support Framework Part 2 – Preparation

 Hi everyone, Ingmar Oosterhoff, Johannes Freundorfer, and Matthias Herfurth here continuing from our previous blog, which can be found at https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Core-Infrastructure-and-Security/MSIX-Package-Support-Framework-Part-One-The-Blueprint/ba-p/363594. In this post, we will now proceed with preparing our machine to make use of the PSF later on.

NOTE: To save on resources and creating additional Virtual Machines I'm going to be using my MSIX packaging machine for this (makes sense to me anyway).

Modifying an existing MSIX package is nice and easy using MakeAppx.exe. As MakeAppx.exe is part of the Microsoft Windows 10 SDK, the first step in our process will be to download it from: https://developer.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/downloads/windows-10-sdk

Once downloaded, install it, and select 2 components, as shown below:

Next, create some folders to use as working directories…

I've created a Resources folder in C:\ with a MakeAppx (for later use) and Nuget folder as subfolders as shown in the image below:

The next step in the process will be downloading the Package Support Framework using Nuget as follows:

• Download Nuget from https://www.nuget.org/downloads
• Save the nuget.exe in the c:\resources\Nuget folder
• Start cmd.exe
• CD to the c:\resources\nuget folder 
• Run the following command: nuget install Microsoft.PackageSupportFramework

This will create a subfolder in c:\resources\Nuget folder containing the framework

NOTE: Snapshot your VM to allow you to revert to this state.

Now we have the tools in our next post, where we'll download and compile a simple “made to break” ready to repair application, stay tuned!

Thanks for reading!