Distribute offline apps - Microsoft Store for Education/Businesses

Hello,

I am a developer who wants to understand how to use the Offline Licensing distribution feature of the Microsoft Store, for bulk acquisitions.

I know this is the kind of post where you'll tell the OP to go to Google -- but I still don't understand how to install the appxbundle on an offline machine with the encoded/unencoded license. With the installer, it seems to work, but it never opens, even in machines where it does work after installing from the store directly.

In other words, I have an appxbundle that I want to install, alongside with a .bin license that I am supposed to use but I don't understand how.

According to the docs, there are three ways:

Distribution options for offline-licensed apps

You can't distribute offline-licensed apps directly from Microsoft Store. Once you download the items for the offline-licensed app, you have options for distributing the apps:

• Deployment Image Servicing and Management. DISM is a command-line tool that is used to mount and service Microsoft Windows images before deployment. You can also use DISM to install, uninstall, configure, and update Windows features, packages, drivers, and international settings in a .wim file or VHD using the DISM servicing commands. DISM commands are used on offline images. For more information, see Deployment Image Servicing and Management.
• Create provisioning package. You can use Windows Imaging and Configuration Designer (ICD) to create a provisioning package for your offline app. Once you have the package, there are options to apply the provisioning package. For more information, see Provisioning Packages for Windows 10.
• Mobile device management provider or management server. You can use a mobile device management (MDM) provider or management server to distribute offline apps. For more information, see these topics:
  • Manage apps from Microsoft Store for Business with System Center Configuration Manager
  • Manage apps from Microsoft Store for Business with Microsoft Intune

For third-party MDM providers or management servers, check your product documentation.


I have been unable to successfully use them, I just don't understand them and don't have experience with any of them. To my surprise, there are no tutorials or major resources that use them specifically in the way that I need, with an appxbundle & a .bin license in hand that I don't know how to use offline.

I would really appreciate any help/advice. It really shouldn't be that hard, even more if it's a standard procedure that organizations would need to use to run my game in the store. (Like, I am seeking learn first myself before I go and explain to them how they would do it in the easiest way possible -- then I will start offering my educational game to them).