Action-MsixBundler

This Action lets you pass a folder containing multiple individual .msix files and bundles them into a single .msixbundle file.

There are a few samples below to help you get started. However, I recommend you visit the official repository's main.yml workflow to see the real-world bundling example.

This Action only works on Windows runners! This should not be a problem because you will not be compiling and bundling MSIX files on non-windows platforms anyways.

Inputs

Below are the action's inputs that need to be defined in the Action's with block.

Required	Input	Default Value	Summary
✔	msix-folder	none	The absolute path to the folder containing all the MSIX files to be bundled.
✔	msixbundle-filepath	none	The absolute file path to be used for the .msixbundle. For example, C:\MyFolder\MyApp_1.0.0.0_x86_x64.msixbundle.
✔	msixbundle-version	0.0.0.0	Specifies the version number of the bundle. The version number MUST be in four parts separated by periods in the form: <Major>.<Minor>.<Build>.<Revision>.
	architecture	x86	The architecture version of MakeAppx.exe and SignTool.exe to use.
	sdk-version	10.0.19041.0	The version of MakeAppx.exe and SignTool.exe to use.
	enable-bundle-signing	false	Enables signing of the msixbundle by using signTool.exe after the bundle is created (the individual msix files do not need to be signed fore this to work)
	certificate-path	none	Path to the code signing certificate (i.e., the PFX file). This value must be set if you have enabled signing.
	certificate-private-key	none	The private key (password) for the PFX. This value must be set if you have enabled signing.
	signing-hash-algorithm	SHA256	The hash algorithm used for signing (default is SHA256).

Outputs

The action will copy the file path to an output variable that you can use in subsequent workflow steps

Output	Summary
msixbundle_path	The absolute file path to the generated msixbundle file.

In the following example, notice how the step has the id of bundler. In the next step, we can get the output value of msixbundle_path using the ${{steps.bundler.outputs.msixbundle_path}} syntax.

  - name: Make msixbundle
    id: bundler
    uses: LanceMcCarthy/[email protected]
      ...
  
  - name: Verify msixbundle File Path
    shell: pwsh
    run: |
      $path_to_my_msix_bundle = "${{steps.bundler.outputs.msixbundle_path}}"
      Write-Output $path_to_my_msix_bundle

Examples

Here are a couple examples to get you started.

If you copy-paste from any example, don't forget to use a real version number at the end of action name. For example, LanceMcCarthy/[email protected] instead of LanceMcCarthy/[email protected].

Bundle and Sign(most common)

The most common expected use of this is to bundle all the msix files and then sign the final msixbundle file. In the following example, you are expected to have all your individual msix files in the "C:\MyApp\OnlyMsixFilesFolder" folder.

  - name: Load PFX File from GitHub Secrets
    id: savepfx
    shell: pwsh
    run: |
      $pfx_cert_byte = [System.Convert]::FromBase64String("${{secrets.PFX_BASE64}}")
      $currentDirectory = Get-Location
      $certificatePath = Join-Path -Path $currentDirectory -ChildPath "MyCertificate.pfx"
      [IO.File]::WriteAllBytes("$certificatePath", $pfx_cert_byte)
      # output the file path as a variable
      echo "::set-output name=cert_path::$certificatePath"
      
  - name: Make msixbundle
    id: bundler
    uses: LanceMcCarthy/[email protected]
    with:
      msix-folder: "C:\MyApp\OnlyMsixFilesFolder"
      msixbundle-filepath: "C:\MyApp\MyApp_1.0.0.0_x86_x64.msixbundle"
      msixbundle-version: "1.0.0.0"
      enable-bundle-signing: true
      certificate-path: ${{steps.savepfx.outputs.cert_path}}
      certificate-private-key: ${{secrets.PFX_PRIVATE_KEY}}
      
  - name: Verify msixbundle File Path
    shell: pwsh
    run: |
      $path_to_my_msix_bundle = ${{steps.bundler.outputs.msixbundle_path}}"
      Write-Output $path_to_my_msix_bundle

If you would like to see some Powershell script example that finds all the msix files and copies them into a folder, visit

Bundle without Signing

If you want to just bundle everything without signing, it just pass the three required inputs.

  - name: Make msixbundle
    id: bundler
    uses: LanceMcCarthy/[email protected]
    with:
      msix-folder: "C:\MyApp\OnlyMsixFilesFolder"
      msixbundle-filepath: "C:\MyApp\MyApp_1.0.0.0_x86_x64.msixbundle"
      msixbundle-version: "1.0.0.0"
      
  - name: Verify msixbundle File Path
    shell: pwsh
    run: |
      $path_to_my_msix_bundle = ${{steps.bundler.outputs.msixbundle_path}}"
      Write-Output $path_to_my_msix_bundle

Important Notes

If you need to use a environment variable for a with input, you must use the ${{env.Name}} syntax and not $env:Name. See GitHub Contexts documentation for more help.

Using Environment Variables

For example:

with:
  property-name: $env:MyVariable # Does NOT work for inputs
  property-name: ${{env.MyVariable}} # Works.

Using Output Variables (recommended)

It is safer and more reliable if you use a job output variable from a previous job. In the following example, the create-color job has a selected_color output variable. That output variable can be used in a later job.

  - id: create-color
    shell: pwsh
    run: |
      $color = "Green"
      echo "::set-output name=selected_color::$color"
      
  - id: bundler
    uses: LanceMcCarthy/[email protected]
    with:
      property-name: ${{steps.create-color.outputs.selected_color}}

This is the option GitHub recommends instead of using job-wide environment variables that may contain sensitive information.