Forum Discussion

michalkala123's avatar
michalkala123
Copper Contributor
Jul 23, 2019
Solved

MSIX & user settings

I was playing a bit with MSIX packaged applications and how they work with user settings (settings stored in HKCU registry or appdata folder)   I have locally installed software that stores setting...
  • jvintzel's avatar
    jvintzel
    Jul 23, 2019

    michalkala123 

     

    By default an app can read from the global registry, which is what an app without a container write to. All MSIX apps share the global registry for reading. This also means group policies function the same whether the app is a legacy installer or MSIX.

     

    An installed MSIX will write to its own virtual registry and app data.  This will be deleted when the app is uninstalled or a reset is preformed from the settings app.  Other apps will not have access to this information.

     

    John Vintzel (@jvintzel)

    PM Lead, MSIX

thomasboettner's avatar
thomasboettner
Copper Contributor
Jan 29, 2020

jvintzel 

I have submitted a feedback hub item and sent you a personal message with the link.

 

Currently it is not possible for me to include configuration files, which are located in the folder C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\vlc, into the MSIX in such a way that they are used when the MSIX is started.

All files are contained in the MSIX under "Package\VFS\AppData\vlc" but they are not loaded when the application is started.
Is there a way to analyze this better?

 

Dan Gough's avatar
Dan Gough
Brass Contributor
Feb 07, 2020

thomasboettner If you want an MSIX package to read from the AppData folder inside the package, you need to use the redirection fixup within the PSF.

 

This involves replacing all shortcuts and file associations to point to a new stub exe that then loads VLC and injects some wizardry to make it pull a copy of the config file you supplied and copy it to the app's data area if it does not already exist.

 

Tim Mangan's PsfTooling app can help here, however the current release version does not gracefully handle the file associations VLC puts down. I worked around this by grabbing the MSI build of VLC and editing to remove all shortcuts but the main one, and modifying the file associations to make them simple with no additional parameters. This requires the MSI to be patched first, which you can do via my script:

http://packageology.com/2019/01/fixing-vlcs-msi-package/ 

 

The tool also has a few bugs btw that means you need to follow a very specific workflow to obtain the desired results:

 

  1. Create and set install folder to C:\Program Files\VLC
  2. Start monitoring
  3. Launch PsfTooling first so it detects the correct folder
  4. Install modified VLC MSI
  5. Start shortcut wizard in PsfTooling
  6. Uncheck 'Use all VFS path references in Json'
  7. Check 'Inject FileRedirectionFixup'
  8. THEN press modify button and select shortcut
  9. Click 'Apply to proposed change list'
  10. Follow similar process for FTAs - ensure to select correct checkboxes BEFORE scanning FTAs
  11. Execute changes from Pending Actions tab
  12. Stop monitoring in the MSIX Packaging Tool and complete the package

 

I will post a full recipe on the blog in due course but am currently busy trying to migrate the site to a new platform!