Error when building universal app for the store: "Manifest references file 'MyAppName.dll' which is not part of the payload."

Question

I am having this error in Visual Studio 2015 when try to create app package for the store for a windows universal applicaiton:

Manifest references file 'MyAppName.dll' which is not part of the payload.

The error is in the ...\..MyAppSourcePath..\Package.appxmanifest file.

This is somehow related Manifest references file 'Bing.Maps.dll' which is not part of the payload but in my case the error shows up only when build package for the store and is related to the MyAppName.dll (where MyAppName is the name of the name of my application).

Another related question in MSDN: https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/f137091e-f550-4eab-b7e2-418149b97d40/error-appx0703-manifest-references-file-myappnamedll-which-is-not-part-of-the-payload?forum=windowsstore

Answer 1

A bug fix for the Visual Studio Tools for Universal Windows Apps (v1.1.1) is released on 5 October 2015. This update requires that you already have the UWP tools v1.1 installed. You can determine whether you have UWP tools 1.1 installed by opening About Microsoft Visual Studio from the Help menu in Visual Studio. If you have “Visual Studio Tools for Universal Windows Apps 14.0.23309.00” installed, then you have the UWP tools 1.1.

To install this update

• You must have an internet connection throughout the setup process.

• For machines without Visual Studio

  • Install Visual Studio from https://dev.windows.com/downloads.

• For machines with UWP Tools 1.1 installed

  • Run this installer (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=627168) to update the UWP tools to v1.1.1.

• For machines without UWP Tools 1.1 installed

  • For Visual Studio 2015 Community, Professional, and Enterprise, you can install by

    • Modifying your setup to install the updated tools.

    • Clicking on the entry for the UWP tools in the Notifications pane.

    • Using the Extensions and Updates dialog to update Visual Studio.

    • Running the installer at https://dev.windows.com/downloads, which will add the updated tools to an existing Visual Studio installation.

  • For Visual Studio 2015 Express for Windows

    • Run this installer (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=624822) to update the UWP tools to v1.1.

To confirm that you have installed the UWP tools 1.1.1 update,

1. Go to Programs and Features in the Windows Control Panel, and click View installed updates.

2. Look for “Update for Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 (KB3073097)”, version 14.0.23315

Source: https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/73f2d56d-9e8e-4b57-bcfa-0a972dfd75d7/update-11-generating-store-associated-package-fails-for-a-uwp-application-with-a-winrt-component?forum=Win10SDKToolsIssues

Answer 2

I had a hell of a time trying to work this out and it's a slightly different issue to what the OP posted but hopefully this will help someone else out because I couldn't find the answer on StackOverflow and finally found it here: https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/Sharepoint/en-US/65bc5999-662c-4eda-9967-e1b3031db8c4/error-appx0703-error-manifest-references-file-assetssplashscreenpng-which-is-not-part-of-the?forum=wpdevelop after many hours of mucking around and trying different things.

My error was the same except the file was for the various store and tile image files thus: "Manifest references file 'Assets\Store\StoreLogo.png' which is not part of the payload."

All the files did exist but turned out I was running Visual Studio on a VM using Parallels and the project opened through shared folders and using a UNC path. Ran the project from a mapped drive and it builds all good.

I do realise now that referencing UNC paths using a VM in Parallels Desktop has caused a few issues for me in the past. So just need to keep in mind that things should be run via a mapped drive instead to avoid this.