A Private Windows Store project codename 'BootyBay' has been published to Codeplex!

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What’s this:

A proof-of-concept of a Windows Private Store solution for enterprise side-loading app management, including a Windows Store App as the “Private Store”, a Desktop App as the “Store Agent”, an ASP.NET MVC web application as the “Store Server”.  The target audiences are ISVs who are developing and deploying side-load apps to organizations. Our goal is  to deploy LOB windows apps more easily then  help the growth of the win8 device selling to enterprises.

Codeplex project site: https://bootybay.codeplex.com/ 

Prerequisites:

Windows 8.1 with sideloading enabled. To enable sideloading, we need to Get a developer license (once per month) or use a sideloading key. Currently this project doesn’t provide any function or wizard to do the tasks.

How to review the demo
  • Get the BootyBay.ConsoleAgent from the ‘Downloads’ and run it.
  • A Windows Store App “BootyBay PortalApp” will be deployed and run.
  • prerequisite: Client Windows 8.1 or Windows 2012 R2, sideloading app enabled. Server – standard  ASP.Net 4.5 MVC
Brief architecture & design:
  • desktop agent (BootyBay.ConsoleAgent,BootyBay.StoreAppMgmtCore)
  • windows store app (BootyBay.PortalApp)
    • it will be automatically downloaded, deployed and started when the desktop agent runs.
    • List Apps by Search/Category, check app detail by consuming web services from the server.
    • Communicate with desktop agent for app package related tasks
    • In future it will bring the same or similar experience as the public Store app.
  • web application (BootyBay.ServerWebApp,Bootybay.ServerCore) -
    • https://bootybay.azurewebsites.net/Home
    • Admin Website & Web Service host as Windows Azure Webiste
    • In the demo, it uses Windows Azure SQL Database to store app package information, and Windows Azure Storage Blob to store app package and certification binary files.
    • It can automatically analyze uploaded appx package to get all necessary metadata, such as app’s identity, publisher, icons, auto launch protocol and etc.
TODOs:
  • At least the store apps should look more clean, fashion and beautiful.
  • rating and comments
  • links to public store apps
  • links to desktop apps
  • app summary – list installed, installing, purchased apps and status
  • ARM support – with no dependency on the desktop agent, the store app can only be used to browse apps and redirect user to execute script to get side-loading apps deployed.
  • Works with Windows RT device
  • When the desktop agent is not accessible
  • Package storage provider - currently it is hardcoded as Azure blob. It should be more developer-friendly to get extended or replaced.
  • The  package upload/update/descripting process on the website should be more practical and user-friendly
  • User management & Authentication – form auth & windows auth/ADFS
  • Record User’s app related operations  - purchase, install, update, uninstall
  • Fix Bugs as always… Please contact us, leave message to us via email or on CodePlex if you have any thoughts or suggestion.
Code name ‘Booty Bay’  comes from:

https://www.wowwiki.com/Booty_Bay, which is a great place to store your treasures, right?

Who we are: