Windows PowerShell to Deploy Windows Store Appx Side Loading

I am currently trying to set my Windows Store app up for side loading.

I have been following instructions such as this one but then run into troubles with a MS Scheme and certificates.

Being unable to get my Code Signing Certificate to work due to the bug in above thread - my next step has been to try and get side loading to work with my app and the certificate that I use with the Windows Store.

My current trouble comes when I try to add the package using Windows PowerShell.

I have the certificate that I signed my app with in the Current User & Local Computer certificate stores under both the Personal & Trusted Root Certificate Authorities certificates.

I have my app file sitting in the current location: C:\Temp\MyApp.appxupload.

Next I enter:

add-appxpackage C:\Temp\MyApp.appxupload

When I run the command - I receive

"Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80073CF0, Package could not be opened." 

The log contains a bit more information stating:

"OpenError: (C:\Temp\MyApp.appxupload) [Add-AppxPackage], FileNotFoundException".

This article tells me that there are a number of possibilities this error could be:

The package couldn't be opened.

Possible causes:

The package is unsigned.
The publisher name doesn't match the signing certificate subject.
The file:// prefix is missing or the package couldn't be found at the specified location.

Check the AppxPackagingOM event log for more info.

I don't believe that any of these things are the case, and I wondered if anyone else had had a similar problem and knew how to resolve it.

I believe you use Add-AppxPackage on .appx files and not .appxupload files. Try renaming the file to a zip file, open up the zip and extract the .appx file. Then run Add-AppxPackage on the extracted .appx file.