[BUG] Pipeline error says "Could not find a part of the path 'D:\a\1\s\*.MsixInstaller_x64.appinstaller'

Project
https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=VisualStudioClient.MicrosoftVisualStudio2017InstallerProjects

Describe the bug

"D:\a\1\s\ProjectName1_Production.sln" (default target) (1) ->
"D:\a\1\s\ProjectName1.MsixInstaller\ProjectName1.MsixInstaller.wapproj" (default target) (5) ->
(GenerateAppInstallerFileForPackage target) -> 
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v16.0\AppxPackage\Microsoft.AppXPackage.Targets(6361,5): error : System.IO.DirectoryNotFoundException: Could not find a part of the path 'D:\a\1\s\ProjectName1.MsixInstaller\AppPackages\ProjectName1.MsixInstaller_x64.appinstaller'. [D:\a\1\s\ProjectName1.MsixInstaller\ProjectName1.MsixInstaller.wapproj]

    26 Warning(s)
    1 Error(s)

To Reproduce
I followed the instructions per this website and I am getting the following error on the MSIX build and package task:

Expected behavior
The task should complete successfully.

Screenshots

Platform
Windows-2019

Additional context
I am not sure why this is trying to find the appinstaller file during the MSIX build stage.

Full Pipeline YAML

pool:
name: Azure Pipelines
demands: msbuild

#Your build pipeline references an undefined variable named ‘BuildConfiguration’. Create or edit the build pipeline for this YAML file, define the variable on the Variables tab. See https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=865972

steps:
- task: NuGetToolInstaller@1
  displayName: 'Use NuGet'
  inputs:
    versionSpec: 5.9.1
    checkLatest: true

- task: NuGetCommand@2
  displayName: 'NuGet restore'
  inputs:
    restoreSolution: 'ProjectName1_Production.sln'

- task: MSIX.msix-ci-automation-task.msix-packaging.MsixPackaging@1
  displayName: 'MSIX build and package'
  inputs:
    outputPath: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)\ProjectName1.msix'
    solution: 'ProjectName1_Production.sln'
    buildPlatform: x64
    updateAppVersion: true
    manifestFile: ProjectName1.MsixInstaller/Package.appxmanifest
    appPackageDistributionMode: SideloadOnly
    msbuildArchitecture: x64

- task: MSIX.msix-ci-automation-task.msix-signing.MsixSigning@1
  displayName: 'Sign MSIX package'
  inputs:
    certificate: 'DeveloperCodeSigningCert_TemporaryKey.pfx'
    passwordVariable: signingCert.password

- task: MSIX.msix-ci-automation-task.app-installer-file.AppInstallerFile@1
  displayName: 'Create App Installer file'
  inputs:
    package: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)\ProjectName1.msix'
    outputPath: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)\ProjectName1.appinstaller'
    uri: 'https://ProjectName1demo.azurewebsites.net/ProjectName1.appinstaller'
    mainItemUri: 'https://ProjectName1demo.azurewebsites.net/ProjectName1.msix'
    showPromptWhenUpdating: true
    updateBlocksActivation: true

- task: MSIX.msix-ci-automation-task.msix-app-attach.MsixAppAttach@1
  displayName: 'Create package for MSIX app attach'
  inputs:
    package: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)\ProjectName1.msix'
    vhdxOutputPath: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)\ProjectName1.vhdx'
    vhdxSize: 200

- task: CopyFiles@2
  displayName: 'Copy Files to: $(build.artifactstagingdirectory)'
  inputs:
    SourceFolder: '$(Build.SourcesDirectory)'
    Contents: '**\bin\**\$(BuildConfiguration)\**'
    TargetFolder: '$(build.artifactstagingdirectory)'
    CleanTargetFolder: true
    OverWrite: true

- task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
  displayName: 'Publish Artifact: drop'

Start with the supplied Azure Pipelines YAML and the GenerateAppInstallerFileForPackage failure in Microsoft.AppXPackage.Targets, then inspect whether the referenced AppPackages path is produced during the MSIX build task. Done means establishing why the .appinstaller path is missing and documenting a verified pipeline configuration or reproduction-based fix.