Deployment with DISM

When talking about package deployment, Microsoft uses the term “offline” simply to indicate that the installation activity is disconnected from the end-user. For those instances where you need to perform an offline installation, you may deploy MSIX applications with the use of DISM, or alternatively you may use the Add-AppxProvisionedPackage PowerShell cmdlet. Both of these methods inject the packages into

Windows images when they are mounted offline. The functionality of these two methods appear to be the same, and where we show examples in this section using one or the other method you should be able to use the other.

Pre-provisioning allows for the application package content, and licensing file if needed, to be added to the Windows image as part of a preparation phase of imaging prior to sealing off the image for distribution. Microsoft uses pre-provisioning themselves within the OS images provided to you for many of the “in-box” UWP and MSIX application packages, such as Calculator.

When you pre-provision the application package in this way, the app is not yet fully installed, but all contents needed are present in the image. Installation will automatically complete when a user logs into the booted image after image deployment. In a multi-user operating system, this means that each user logging onto the OS will have their own installation completed. This portion of the per-user installation consists of fully integrating the application into the user profile, including important integrations such as to the Start Menu and file type associations.