Gradle MSIX Plugin

Create MSIX packages from a Compose Desktop release build with a single task. The plugin renders MSIX PNG resources from a single SVG, writes an AppxManifest.xml, and packs the release output into an MSIX using makeappx.exe.

Requirements

• Windows host with the Windows SDK installed (for makeappx.exe).
• Compose Desktop createReleaseDistributable task available in the target project.

Note that the Windows GitHub runner comes with the Windows SDK installed.

Install makeappx.exe

To install the Windows SDK components needed by makeappx.exe:

1. Download and install the Windows SDK from https://learn.microsoft.com/de-de/windows/apps/windows-sdk/downloads
2. Run the Windows SDK setup executable: winsdksetup.exe /features OptionId.DesktopCPPx64 /quiet /norestart
3. Confirm the UAC dialog and wait a minute while the installation takes place.

Usage

Apply the plugin and configure the MSIX manifest values:

plugins {
    id("de.stefan-oltmann.gradle-msix-plugin") version "0.2.1"
}

msix {

    /*
     * Optional: defaults to packaging/msix/resources/AppIcon.svg
     */
    svgIcon.set(layout.projectDirectory.file("packaging/msix/resources/AppIcon.svg"))

    /*
     * Optional: enable signing by pointing at a PFX file.
     * 
     * Also see the notes below regarding configuration from environment variables.
     */
    signingPfx.set(layout.projectDirectory.file("packaging/msix/sign.pfx"))
    signingPassword.set("test")

    manifest {
        appId.set("MyApp")
        displayName.set("My App")
        description.set("Short description for Windows.")
        identityName.set("YourName.MyApp")
        publisher.set("CN=YOUR-PUBLISHER-ID")
        publisherDisplayName.set("My Company")
        version.set("1.0.0.0")
        processorArchitecture.set("x64")
        appExecutable.set("MyApp.exe")
    }
}

Run the packaging task:

./gradlew :app:createMsix

Tasks

• createMsix - Runs createReleaseDistributable, creates resources + manifest, packs the MSIX, and signs it when a PFX is configured.
• createMsixIcons - Creates the MSIX PNG resources from the SVG.
• createAppxManifest - Writes AppxManifest.xml into the app directory.

Use from environment variables

Signing can also be driven by environment variables, which is handy for CI/CD systems such as GitHub Actions.

• If msix.signingPfx is not set (or the file is missing), the plugin will look for MSIX_SIGN_PFX_BASE64.
• The password can be supplied either via msix.signingPassword or MSIX_SIGN_PFX_PASSWORD (useful for keeping secrets out of VCS).

On Windows using PowerShell you can turn your PFX file into base64 like this:

[Convert]::ToBase64String([IO.File]::ReadAllBytes("sign.pfx"))

Example for GitHub Actions:

env:
    MSIX_SIGN_PFX_BASE64: ${{ secrets.MSIX_SIGN_PFX_BASE64 }}
    MSIX_SIGN_PFX_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.MSIX_SIGN_PFX_PASSWORD }}