MSIX is a modern deployment and packaging format for Windows 10, with – although being relatively new in comparison to some other popular frameworks – plenty of tools and utilities out there. I personally find the ecosystem a bit scattered and a bit difficult for newcomers.
MSIX Hero is an answer to this challenge. This utility with simple GUI integrates several APIs, PowerShell commands and SDK tools in a single tool. Its primary use is management and troubleshooting. It does not try to be a complete authoring tool (for which commercial software like Advanced Installer, RayPack or InstallShield is a better choice) – instead it is rather a complimentary addition which can be used by anyone with any MSIX package, and should help users be more productive whichever of the above they use. It certainly has been driven by my needs, and being done in my spare time I actually managed to get rid of almost all scripts and snippets I was using for MSIX related tasks.
MSIX Hero main window, displaying currently installed apps.
It can be downloaded from the following location: msixhero.net or by using a direct link to online installer. The best of it – it’s completelty free for personal and commercial use.
In the upcoming series of posts, I will show a few use cases and functions of MSIX Hero. In the current version the tool supports the following (the list is not comprehensive, it is just to name a few highlights):
- Viewing installed packages (for current user or any local user)
- Identification of packages:
- Visual identification: translated user-friendly names, icons, colors
- Identification of tool used to create the package
- Showing applications and start-up information
- Showing package dependencies, installed add-ons and users
- Detection of PSF and visualization of file redirections
- Adding and removing packages (for current user or all users)
- Quick access to applets and screens
- Ability to start installed apps and browse their manifest, folders etc.
- Packing and unpacking of MSIX packages
- Signing and changing signatures
- Building modification packages stubs
- Creating and editing
.appinstallerfiles - Installing, extracting and creating of certificates