1549103 - Bring Firefox (Quantum) to the Microsoft Store as a Packaged Desktop Application (UWP/AppX/DAC)

Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 1709696

(Marketing :: General, enhancement)

Description

[jebeld17]

Attachment: FirefoxConversionInstructions.txt

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/64.0.3282.140 Safari/537.36 Edge/18.17763

Steps to reproduce:

I successfully converted the most recent Firefox Stable build into a working AppX using the Desktop App Converter and dependencies. I've outlined a relatively easy method to conversion below, step-by-step, and will be attaching this as well as a .txt with .zip archive of the output packaged program.
Converting Firefox MSI Installer to Packaged Microsoft Store App for Windows 10 - Difficulty: Moderate to Easy.
Steps:
1. Create and label the following folders on C:, including subfolders:
a. C:\Input
b. C:\Output
c. C:\Output\Firefox
2. Download and install Desktop App Converter from the Microsoft Store
3. Download the latest Firefox MSI installer at https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/deploy-firefox-msi-installers
4. Rename the downloaded MSI file to a simple "Firefox.msi" and move to C:\Input
5. Open Desktop App Converter guide at https://aka.ms/converterdocs to review as we continue...
6. Follow the on-screen instructions until you get to "Package an app" (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/porting/desktop-to-uwp-run-desktop-app-converter#installer-conversion)
7. Now, enter the following into the Desktop App Converter, as Administrator:
a. " DesktopAppConverter.exe -Installer C:\Input\Firefox.msi -Destination C:\Output\Firefox -PackageName "Firefox" -Publisher "CN=MyPublisher" -Version 0.0.0.1"
i. You can play with this and change the Publisher name and Version # if you'd like, but for simplicity-sake, I'm leaving it as-is.
8. Enable Sideloading of Unsigned AppX packages:
a. Open "Settings" and navigate to 'Update & Security < For Developers < Developer Mode'
b. Ensure "Developer Mode" is checked
c. This could take a few minutes
9. Reboot your system if you haven't already
10. Install the new unsigned converted app by registering the "Appxmanifest" file generated by the conversion process
a. Open Powershell as Administrator
b. Type "cd C:\output\Firefox\Firefox\PackageFiles" followed by 'enter'
c. Type "Add-AppxPackage –Register AppxManifest.xml" followed by 'enter' again
11. Attempt to run and open Firefox from the Start panel.
12. Congrats! Firefox should be successfully built for the Microsoft Store.

Comment 1

[jebeld17]

I couldn't attach a .ZIP archive copy of the Desktop App Converter output containing a packaged AppX, so I've uploaded it to OneDrive. File can be viewed and downloaded here: https://1drv.ms/f/s!Atsjh-pCpQhZjst2dEIzdFPOoGNaKA

Comment 2

[jebeld17]

Comment on attachment 9062735 [details]
FirefoxConversionInstructions.txt

Step-by-step conversion instructions for Firefox MSI within Desktop App Converter software by Microsoft

Comment 3

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/windows-10-s-wont-let-me-install-firefox

Comment 4

[talam10285]

I would like to revisit this because it is now possible to put traditional win32 programs into the Microsoft Store without packaging them or using Microsoft's browser engine. The Microsoft Store is now a frontend for WinGet.

See this Reddit thread for more information: https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/obryhr/putting_firefox_in_the_microsoft_store/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

Comment 5

[Nick Alexander :nalexander [he/him]]

(In reply to talam10285 from comment #4)

I would like to revisit this because it is now possible to put traditional win32 programs into the Microsoft Store without packaging them or using Microsoft's browser engine. The Microsoft Store is now a frontend for WinGet.

See this Reddit thread for more information: https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/obryhr/putting_firefox_in_the_microsoft_store/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

Indeed! There's a lot of activity that will happen very quickly starting in just a few short days on this very subject, but I can't link to most of it just this moment. Next week you should see public movement.

Comment 7

[Nick Alexander :nalexander [he/him]]

There's a great deal that actually goes into publishing MSIX packages and listing in the Microsoft Store. I'll dupe this to one of the main meta tickets. The plan of record is for Firefox to go live in the Store for Firefox 94: see the very last paragraphs of https://blog.mozilla.org/mozilla/news/news-from-firefox-focus-and-firefox-on-mobile/.

Comment 8

[Fretice]

(In reply to Nick Alexander :nalexander [he/him] from comment #7)

There's a great deal that actually goes into publishing MSIX packages and listing in the Microsoft Store. I'll dupe this to one of the main meta tickets. The plan of record is for Firefox to go live in the Store for Firefox 94: see the very last paragraphs of https://blog.mozilla.org/mozilla/news/news-from-firefox-focus-and-firefox-on-mobile/.

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 1709696 ***

Oh, it was uploaded as an MSIX package? That isn't necessary anymore, but appreciated.

Technically, Mozilla Firefox is already "live" in the Microsoft Store, but it isn't available just yet: https://www.microsoft.com/store/productId/9NZVDKPMR9RD

Comment 9

[`{third: "Beedell", first: "Roke"}`{.JSON5}]

Currently, the version of Firefox Nightly is available publicly is "95.0a1", whereas the most new version of http://microsoft.com/store/productId/9NZVDKPMR9RD that is available (observe the result of "Fast" at http://store.rg-adguard.net) is only the most new version of the stable branch of Firefox.

Consequently, has usage of the other releases ("Release Preview", "The Slow Ring", and "The Fast Ring") been planned for distribution of more new and unstable releases?

Comment 10

[Nick Alexander :nalexander [he/him]]

(In reply to BEEDELL ROKE JULIAN LOCKHART from comment #9)

Currently, the version of Firefox Nightly is available publicly is "95.0a1", whereas the most new version of http://microsoft.com/store/productId/9NZVDKPMR9RD that is available (observe the result of "Fast" at http://store.rg-adguard.net) is only the most new version of the stable branch of Firefox.

Consequently, has usage of the other releases ("Release Preview", "The Slow Ring", and "The Fast Ring") been planned for distribution of more new and unstable releases?

See https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1708830#c3.