microsoft / microsoft/react-native-windows

Can't install app on a different machine than the one it's built in

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#3,592 3 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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Area: CLI bug Developer First Experience Workstream: Developer Experience
Dominant language
C++
Stars
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Forks
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Avg merge
1d 13h
Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

Currently, the CLI-generated app template has an issue with the certificate that's included with the app. If you build an appx package with this certificate, the app can be installed locally, but cannot be installed on another user's machine due to a certificate error.

Create a new app using the CLI.
Then build an appx package via Project => Publish => Create App Packages...
Click through to the "Select signing method" screen. VS then displays a message indicating something is wrong:
"The selected certificate is password protected. The password is incorrect or missing".

I noticed we have this attribute in the .vcxproj:
password
Apparently VS is not happy with this attribute. I believe this was added to get around an issue in the CI loop, but this isn't working as expected.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by creating an app with the CLI and opening the generated .vcxproj, then reproduce the certificate warning through Project => Publish => Create App Packages. Check the PackageCertificatePassword setting and verify that the resulting appx package can be installed on another user's machine without a certificate error.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp, react-native
Domain
build-system, release
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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