warning in Desktop App Converter

Question

I have a small reader application (.NET4.6.1), which was intended to converted to UWP through Desktop App Converter. The command I use is as follows (.msi):

DesktopAppConverter.exe -Installer C:\install\Setup1.msi -Destination C:\output -PackageName "MyApp" -Publisher "CN=MyPublisher" -Version 0.0.0.1 -Verbose

I also tried the .exe installer:

DesktopAppConverter.exe -Installer C:\install\Setup1.exe -InstallerArguments "/S" -Destination C:\output -PackageName "MyApp" -Publisher "CN=MyPublisher" -Version 0.0.0.1 -Verbose

But every time I got the following three warnings:

Warning Summary: W_EXE_NOT_DISCOVERED The application executable could not be determined from any shortcut. MakeAppx will fail until you fix the Application Executable property in the AppxManifest.xml

W_INSTALL_PATH_NOT_DISCOVERED Converter could not determine your application's install path. Please use the -AppInstallPath parameter to move app binaries outside of VFS.

W_NO_ICONS_EXTRACTED Icon extraction failed. Using placeholder assets instead. Please check more details: 'Exception calling "ExtractAndSaveIcons" with "2" argument(s): "The system cannot find the file specified"'.

The above two installer (.msi and .exe) works well on my computer, and DesktopAppConverter.exe also works (I tried on notepad++ example.). Please give some suggestions. Thanks

Answer 1

Can you try specifying the -AppExecutable and -AppInstallPath parameters in your conversion command:

-AppExecutable - The name of your application's main executabler(eg "MyApp.exe").

-AppInstallPath - The full path to your application's root folder for the installed files if it were installed (e.g., "C:\Program Files (x86)\MyApp").

You can find more info on these and other conversion parameters at https://aka.ms/converterdocs

Answer 2

If you have problems with the Microsoft DAC you try this new converter, it is much easier to use, it has a GUI (no command line), built-in support for digital signing and allows you to customize the list of files that get inside your AppX.

Also, you can generate AppX packages for applications which do not (cannot) install silently.

It runs on Windows 7 too, not just Windows 10 (recommended).

Regarding your specific problem, with the shortcut/application. This could happen if your installer is not creating a startmenu/desktop shortcut for your application. With this new converter you can create that shortcut manually, after you install the application and the converter will capture it and generate the application (inside your AppX package) from it.