AppService isn't exposed after packaging to .msix

[mrubio]

I have an Avalonia app targeting Windows desktop (thus, WinUI3 app).
From that project, I reference a UWP Runtime Component which handles calls to an AppService

Lastly, using a WAP project, I package the app into a .msix package, which declares in its manifest the `AppService` endpoint.

Everything works well when deploying the WAP project from Visual Studio (both in `Debug` and `Release` modes), but when I publish it using `Publish -> Create app packages...` and I then install it in the PC, the AppService starts to return `AppUnavailable` status when my test client tries to connect.

I have already checked namings are ok. What could it be?

Here there's a minimum reproducible example. Cloning it and deploying it from Visual Studio, and then installing it from its .msix package should denote that it works in the first scenario and it stops working in the second one.

Thanks a lot in advance for any help you can provide me

 

[Skydiver]

Moved to deployment subforum...

 

[mrubio]

Attaching the debugger to the backgroundTaskHost.exe and doing on opening on the client side a connection throws the following error:

Exception thrown at 0x00007FF984637F9A (KernelBase.dll) in backgroundTaskHost.exe: WinRT originate error - 0x80008093 : 'The .runtimeconfig.json file is invalid.'.
Exception thrown at 0x00007FF984637F9A in backgroundTaskHost.exe: Microsoft C++ exception: winrt::hresult_error at memory location 0x000000489A17D2B0.

Not really sure regarding which runtimeconfig.json is invalid and why..

 

[Skydiver]

Did you look at the contents of the ".runtime.config" file? Did it look invalid?

 

[mrubio]

The issue was that the file WinRT.Host.runtimeconfig.json was not being copied inside the .msix package. Adding the following lines to the .wapproj solved the issue:

  <!-- Added these two groups for the AppService RuntimeComponent to find the WinRT.Host.runtimeconfig.json -->
  <PropertyGroup>
    <RuntimeComponentTargetFramework>net8.0-windows10.0.19041.0</RuntimeComponentTargetFramework>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <Content Include="..\WindowsAppService\bin\$(Platform)\$(Configuration)\$(RuntimeComponentTargetFramework)\WinRT.Host.runtimeconfig.json">
      <PackagePath>WinRT.Host.runtimeconfig.json</PackagePath>
    </Content>
  </ItemGroup>

(net8.0-windows10.0.19041.0 is the <TargetFramework> of my UWP Runtime Component)