title: How do I skip the packaging step when building a Windows Store app using MSBuild?
body: <p>I am currently trying to set up continuous integration for my Windows Store application using AppVeyor. The problem I am facing is that the build fails because the <code>Package.StoreAssociation.xml</code> file is missing. This is the detailed error message (<code>error APPX0002</code>):</p>
  
  <pre><code>(_ValidateAppxPackage target) -&gt; 
    C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v15.0\AppxPackage\Microsoft.AppXPackage.Targets(2625,5): error APPX0002: Task 'ValidateAppxPackage' failed. Could not find file 'C:\projects\...\&lt;PROJECTNAME&gt;\Package.StoreAssociation.xml'. [C:\projects\...\&lt;PROJECTNAME&gt;\&lt;PROJECTNAME&gt;.csproj]
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v15.0\AppxPackage\Microsoft.AppXPackage.Targets(2625,5): error APPX0002:  [C:\projects\...\&lt;PROJECTNAME&gt;\&lt;PROJECTNAME&gt;.csproj]
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>During my research I found this <a href="https://developercommunity.visualstudio.com/content/problem/108554/build-error-logs-do-not-show-package-validation-er.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">site</a>, which says that this error occurs because of the step which creates the app packages and that it's skipped when using Visual Studio, which I can approve because it works on machines that don't have the <code>Package.StoreAssociation.xml</code> file.</p>
  
  <p>Is there any way to skip this step when using MSBuild, respectively AppVeyor?</p>
  
  <hr>
  
  <p>So I've found <a href="https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/dsvc/2014/02/17/using-msbuild-to-build-windows-store-application-without-signing-the-appxpackage/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this</a> site which suggested to set the parameter <code>AppxPackageSigningEnabled</code> to <code>false</code>. Unfortunately, that did not help. The command I'm currently using is the following:</p>
  
  <pre><code>msbuild "C:\projects\...\&lt;PROJECTNAME&gt;.sln" /t:Rebuild /p:Configuration=Debug /p:Platform=x86 /p:AppxPackageSigningEnabled=false /p:AppxBundle=Never /verbosity:normal /logger:"C:\Program Files\AppVeyor\BuildAgent\Appveyor.MSBuildLogger.dll"
  </code></pre>