How to deploy an App to the HoloLens Device – Step by Step

Here is a step by step video I created to show how to deploy an app to the HoloLens.

Make sure your computer meets the requirements and install the tools, which can be found here:

https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/holographic/install_the_tools

If you’d prefer to have text instructions, you are in luck:

1. Make sure your HoloLens device is setup to be in Developer mode. This is under Settings.

2.You can deploy over WiFi by determining the IP address of your HoloLens. An easy way is to launch the Microsoft HoloLens app and see what it says the IP address is.

4. You can then select “Remote Machine” as the deployment target (instead of Local Machine). Make sure that the CPU is set to either Any CPU or x86 and not ARM.

5. When you Run the app, it will deploy it to the Remote Machine and you will see the app running in the HoloLens!

As an alternative to deploying over WiFi, you can just connect your HoloLens to your PC through the USB cable and then in Visual Studio select “Device” as your deployment target (instead of Local Machine).

You can see it is really easy to deploy an app. Let me know in the comments if this was beneficial, or if you had issues deploying the application for some reason and I’ll try to help out.

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8 Comments

Richard Apr 29, 2016

Good deal Chad. Informative and very kewl to see it in use using Visual Studio. Thanks for sharing.

Chad Carter May 3, 2016

Thanks Richard!

Guillaume Dec 22, 2016

Hi Chad, we’ve got an Hololens in a city and another Hololens in another city (we want to test our applications on two dedicated spaces that are quite different). We are stucked because we can’t find a way to build out of the Local machine’s network. Shipping the Hololens hundreds of kilometers back and forth to test a build is not a good plan…there must be a way around this! Do you have any clue? Thanks,

guillaumeperreaultroy Dec 22, 2016

Hi Chad, I’m testing an app in two different cities (two Hololens) in different dedicated spaces. I tried to build remotely but I can’t out of the Local machine network! I’m quite sure there’s a more convenient way to test build version than shipping the Hololens over hundreds of kilometres. Do you have any clues? Thanks, Guillaume

Chad Carter Jan 4, 2017

Hey Guillaume, I’m unclear on what it is you are actually trying to test out. Are you trying to see how your app works in different physical environments? If that is the case and you have access to another space that has a different router you are connecting to, it will create a totally different space in the HoloLens. I’ve not tried this, but there is also the ability to add in “Playback” to upload a recording to the emulator and the device itself. Here is the limited documentation around that piece: https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/holographic/using_the_windows_device_portal#simulation Perhaps if I knew what you were trying to test between the different spaces I might be able to provide better information. I definitely don’t think there would be a need ship a HoloLens elsewhere. Let me know how else I can help.

guillaumeperreaultroy Jan 4, 2017

That wasn’t clear indeed 😉 The local machine is in city A I’m in city B, where I test the app Modifications to the app are made in city A (local machine) I want to update the app in city B, but I can’t I don’t want a simulation, I want to test PERCEPTUALLY how the application behaves in city B. Then I give the feedback to my teamate in city A and he makes adjustments. The problem is getting around the local machine proximity limitation. I want to be able to build / update remotely. My initial tought is ” there must be a way” but the solutions we tried didn’t work out. Thanks for the previous answer, it’s appreciated. G.

Jack Jun 5, 2017

Step 4 is completely different for me… I don’t seem to have the menu you have. Mine only has the Attach option and upon selecting it will list executable programs I can attach to. I’ve my Hololens connected via internet and USB cable and it can’t detect either or (even if it’s only one or the other).

Chad Carter Jun 14, 2017

You need to make sure you build the new solution first. Then it will default to Local Machine, which you can change to Emulator, Device or Remote Machine.

How to deploy an App to the HoloLens Device – Step by Step

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