Unable to activate Windows Store app - Dev Eye for Azure Client VMs

SUMMARY
As documented here [  https://blogs.msdn.com/b/devfish/archive/2014/05/19/visual-studio-wpf-app-in-win81-dev-eye-for-azure-client-vms.aspx ] I recently setup a Windows 8.1 with Visual Studio 2013 Client Virtual Machine in Windows Azure. The second thing I did after creating the VM ( creating a WPF app being first )execute Windows 8 app using Visual Studio inside the cloud. After a successful build and install, upon execution I received the following error:

Unable to activate Windows Store app '{guid}'.
The activation request failed with error 'The app can't be activated by the Built-In Administrator'.

Below I'll tell you how to reproduce and fix the Unable to activate Windows Store app error when building Windows Store apps using the Azure Client VMs…

First step, connect to the Azure Management Portal ( https://manage.windowsazure.com )

Start the Windows 8.1 Virtual Machine you created previously.

Connect to the VM from your desktop via Remote Desktop Protocol by clicking the Connect button in the Azure Management Portal.

 I setup DEVFISH as my base admin account . This is the only account you can access the VM with at this point.

Prefix your user id with your VM name in domain\username format. For me, on the VM I had running I used devfishw8v03\DEVFISH

Open Visual Studio

Create a blank Grid App: File -> New Project - > Visual C# -> Store Apps -> Windows Apps -> Grid App (Windows)

You may be prompted to renew your Win81 developer license. Go ahead and renew.

Run the newly created app to the local machine by hitting F5

The project should build and deploy just fine

But when it tries to execute you may get the error message below

 

Unable to activate Windows Store app '{guid}'.
The activation request failed with error 'The app can't be activated by the Built-In Administrator'.

The Azure VM process creates a built-in administrator account. In my case the account is DEVFISH. As the error says, we cannot use this to run our Windows 8 Store applications. We must create a 'developer' account and use it to run our apps instead.

SETUP OUR DEV ACCOUNT

[right-mouse] the Start Menu icon in the lower left to bring up the Windows Admin menu

Click Computer Management

Navigate to Local Users and Groups -> Users

[right-mouse] Users, and click New User

Enter new user info for an account that will be our developer account (herewith referred to as DEVACCOUNT). For my purposes I created a new user named "MAZER"

Turn off User must change password at next login

Turn off Password never expires

Next go to Groups

Add DEVACCOUNT to Administrators

Add DEVACCOUNT to Remote Desktop Users

Close Computer Management

[right-mouse] on the Start Menu icon in the lower left to bring up the Windows Admin menu

Click Control Panel

Open System->Remote Settings

Uncheck Allow connections only from computers running Remote Desktop with Network Level Authentication (recommended)

Close the Remote Settings dialog

Sign out of your VM. Signing out of the VM should close the RDP Window Automatically. To Sign out, click on the Start Menu to get to Windows 8 Start Screen Click on the user icon in the upper right. Click Sign out.

Now reconnect to the VM via Remote Desktop Protocol by clicking the Connect button in the Azure Management Portal.

The Windows Security dialog will attempt to take you in as the Admin account (in my case DEVFISH)

Click Use Another Account

Enter the user id and password you created for the DEVACCOUNT and login

Use your YourVMName\DEVACCOUNT to sign in, aka devfishw8vm02\MAZER….

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Open Visual Studio 2013, create a new Grid project and give it a go via F5.  The joy and happiness of the Windows 8 stock grid template will be yours.

Happy Azure Virtual Machine-ing...

DEV EYE FOR AZURE CLIENT VM SERIES

  1. Visual Studio WPF App in Win81 - https://blogs.msdn.com/b/devfish/archive/2014/05/19/visual-studio-wpf-app-in-win81-dev-eye-for-azure-client-vms.aspx 
  2. Unable to activate Windows Store app - https://blogs.msdn.com/b/devfish/archive/2014/05/19/unable-to-activate-windows-store-app-dev-eye-for-azure-client-vms.aspx 
  3. Adding a Microsoft Account - https://blogs.msdn.com/b/devfish/archive/2014/05/27/adding-a-microsoft-account-dev-eye-for-azure-client-vms.aspx 
  4. Signing in with your Microsoft Account - https://blogs.msdn.com/b/devfish/archive/2014/05/27/signing-in-with-your-microsoft-account-dev-eye-for-azure-client-vms.aspx