Running Windows App Certification Kit (WACK) tool from Command Prompt
This article is written on a pre-release version. Things mentioned below are bound to change in future releases.
In order to understand this blog, I recommend you read the Microsoft’s whitepaper first.
I have run the WACK tool quite a few times from the UI (remember to run it in Admin mode, if not Windows8 will pretty much stop responding midway between the test). Turns out you can also run it through command prompt.
Here are the complete details for the command.
cd "C:\Program Files\Windows Kits\8.0\App Certification Kit"
appcert reset
appcert test -apptype metrostyle –packagefullname [Full package name] -reportoutputpath c:\temp\MyWACKReport.xml
Microsoft recommends to call the reset first just so you clear off any remnants from the previous run.
The [Full package name] can be obtained by run the app in debug mode and reading the Windows.ApplicationModel.Package.Current.Id.FullName property. See more details about your app package here.
The cool thing about running it through the command prompt is that you get to see the actual tasks the tool is performing which is hidden from the user when you run it through the UI app.
Here’s what I saw for my app.
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Beginning execution of phase PROLOG (1 of 3).
Beginning execution of task ManageAppXDeployment (1 of 5).
Task execution result was success.
Beginning execution of task ProgramInventory (2 of 5).
Task execution result was success.
Beginning execution of task ModifyFaultTolerantHeap (3 of 5).
Task execution result was success.
Beginning execution of task ModifyPCAService (4 of 5).
Task execution result was success.
Beginning execution of task WindowsErrorReporting (5 of 5).
Task execution result was success.
Execution of phase is complete.
Successfully executed the PRELOG phase.
Beginning execution of phase VALIDATION (2 of 3).
Beginning execution of task ClearNetIsoLoopbackExempt (1 of 10).
Task execution result was success.
Beginning execution of task AppXManifestValidation (2 of 10).
Task execution result was success.
Beginning execution of task DependencyInformation (3 of 10).
Task execution result was success.
Beginning execution of task SupportedApis (4 of 10).
Task execution result was success.
Beginning execution of task AppxManifestResourcesValidation (5 of 10).
Task execution result was success.
Beginning execution of task Binscope (6 of 10).
Task execution result was success.
Beginning execution of task DebugAppCheck (7 of 10).
Task execution result was success.
Beginning execution of task PerformanceLaunch (8 of 10).
Task execution result was success.
Beginning execution of task PerformanceSuspend (9 of 10).
Task execution result was success.
Beginning execution of task LaunchAppCheck (10 of 10).
Task execution result was success.
Execution of phase is complete.
Successfully executed the VALIDATION phase.
Beginning execution of phase EPILOG (3 of 3).
Beginning execution of task Cleanup (1 of 5).
Task execution result was success.
Beginning execution of task ModifyFaultTolerantHeap (2 of 5).
Task execution result was success.
Beginning execution of task ModifyPCAService (3 of 5).
Task execution result was success.
Beginning execution of task WindowsErrorReporting (4 of 5).
Task execution result was success.
Beginning execution of task ManageAppXDeployment (5 of 5).
Task execution result was success.
Execution of phase is complete.
Successfully executed the EPILOG phase.
Windows App Certification Kit has finished testing your app. Please verify the results generated at c:\temp\MyWACKReport.xml before submitting your app to the Windows Store.
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With this, you might create a batch file with commands for all your apps and say, 15 mins later, you have the reports for all of your apps waiting for you.
7 Jun 2012 UPDATE: For Windows 8 Release Preview, the appcert.exe has been moved to C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\8.0\App Certification Kit folder.