Replace EXE/MSI app with MSIX

[michalkala123]

Hi, very excited about MSIX, I am doing some initial testing and packaging and I wonder...since MSIX stores user data into it's own private appdata, can I somehow deploy MSIX to machine that has the traditional MSI/EXE application and preserve/convert user data into MSIX?

For example Google Chrome browser....user having their own bookmarks and settings - is there any way how to deploy MSIX into the environment and transfer everything, or would they have to start all over with their bookmarks and stuff?

Thank you

[#2]

Hi @michalkala123 

From what I know you would need to write your own custom code to copy the data from the install location to the user app data folder.

Applications like ours (Advanced Installer) do this automatically, so you don't need to write code. Here is an example were we even migrate data from an app previously installed with an MSI. But it can do the same for apps that you install for the first time, as in your scenario.

- user data migration video

[#3]

@michalkala123  The ability to have settings and data changes made by the application redirected to somewhere outside of the user's AppData/Local folder is critical for several scenarios, including non-persistent VDI, semi-persistent RDS, hot-desking, and even physical device refresh.

As Bogdan indicated, his companies approach might do what you want in the package today. You can also probably handle it today using an external product like UEV, or other "User Environment Management" products that have their own form of redirection. 

But (hopefully) help is also on the way for solving this within the package via the PSF.  I proposed a change last fall to allow the PSF to direct the location of redirected settings and data. 

I started with a couple of other simpler PSF projects that were recently included in the PSF (and another free "helper" project called PsfTooling that is independently released by me in the Store).  Now that those are done, I have begun working on the redirection location changes, and have working code for PSF and PsfTooling. It needs a bit more work on edge cases before submission, but hopefully will get submitted into the PSF sometime before too long.