Fall Creators Update UWP App Installer Updater not working

Question

I'm trying to use the new updater in the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update to update my UWP app that is distributed outside the Store.

I'm using a .appinstaller file and trigger the install with a link like this: ms-appinstaller:?source=https://xxx.s3.amazonaws.com/xxx.appinstaller

The install of the initial and the updated version both work this way.

However, the update is never installed automatically.

My .appinstaller file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<AppInstaller
   xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/appinstaller/2017"
   Version="1.0.77.0" 
   Uri="https://xxx.s3.amazonaws.com/xxx.appinstaller" > 

   <MainBundle 
       Name="4f479232-f509-428e-a58a-65652003c90f"
       Publisher="CN=xxx, O=xxx, L=xxx, C=DE"
       Version="1.0.77.0"
       Uri="https://xxx.s3.amazonaws.com/xxx/Packaging_1.0.77.0_Test/Packaging_1.0.77.0_x86_x64.appxbundle" />
    <UpdateSettings>
         <OnLaunch/>
    </UpdateSettings>
</AppInstaller>

the updated .appinstaller file differs only in the version beeing 1.0.78.0 and the MainBundle-Url pointing to the updated package. All the code signatures are valid.

I have not modified the app in any way for this updater.

Catching the updater connecting with Fiddler was unsuccessful.

I would really appreciate any help with this, as I don't even know how to debug this. Does the App Installer create logs anywhere?

--

PS C:\Users\marvin> Get-AppxPackage -Name 4f479232-f509-428e-a58a-65652003c90f


Name              : 4f479232-f509-428e-a58a-65652003c90f
Publisher         : CN=xxx, O=xxx, L=xxx, C=DE
Architecture      : X64
ResourceId        :
Version           : 1.0.77.0
PackageFullName   : 4f479232-f509-428e-a58a-65652003c90f_1.0.77.0_x64__1mez93s8c8axt
InstallLocation   : C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\4f479232-f509-428e-a58a-65652003c90f_1.0.77.0_x64__1mez93s8c8axt
IsFramework       : False
PackageFamilyName : 4f479232-f509-428e-a58a-65652003c90f_1mez93s8c8axt
PublisherId       : 1mez93s8c8axt
IsResourcePackage : False
IsBundle          : False
IsDevelopmentMode : False
Dependencies      : {4f479232-f509-428e-a58a-65652003c90f_1.0.77.0_neutral_split.scale-100_1mez93s8c8axt,
                    4f479232-f509-428e-a58a-65652003c90f_1.0.77.0_neutral_split.scale-400_1mez93s8c8axt}
IsPartiallyStaged : False
SignatureKind     : Developer
Status            : Ok

EDIT: Since posting this I have found a page describing logs and error codes: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh973484.aspx# In the AppXDeployment-Server log I see an event that gets logged on every start of my app:

Type: info, DeploymentOperation 31
Message Started deployment UpdateUsingAppInstallerOperation on a
package with main parameter 4f479232-f509-428e-a58a-65652003c90f_1.0.77.0_x64__1mez93s8c8axt 
and Options: 0 and 0. See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=235160 
for help diagnosing app deployment issues.

Edit 2: I have created a sample project that shows this issue here: https://github.com/Marv51/appxUpdater

You can download the compiled, signed and packed binary bundles from: https://testingappxupdater.s3.amazonaws.com/index.html

Answer 1

I could not get this to work with the Fall Creators Update. However, it is working now in build 17127 with the new tooling from VisualStudio 2017 15.7 Preview 2 and the preview SDK.

The new VisualStudio Preview lets you configure the update URL on package creation. In my inital testing it appears to work without issues.