Salesforce Deployment using Ant Migration Tool

Salesforce offers a few options to deploy config and code between sandboxes and into production. Most commonly used is the standard inbuilt changeset option, allowing a user to select the exact components they wish to deploy and use the Salesforce interface to manage and perform the deployment.

There are times however when changesets can be a little ineffective, especially when needing to select and deploy a large set of components or the need to perform repeated deployments. In these circumstances it may be better to use the Ant Migration Tool to perform the deployment.

Steps to using the Ant Migration Tool are listed below:

Step 1 - Download the Force.com Migration tool. A direct link to the zip file can be found here.

Step 2 - Save the zip file and extract it to a local folder on your hard disk.

Step 3 - Navigate to the /samples directory within the zip file.

Step 4 - Open the build.properties file and setup your username and password for your source and target environments.


Step 5 - Open the build.xml file and define the operations that you wish to conduct. In this example I have defined two operations:

retrieveIntegrationFiles - this operation logs into my development sandbox and downloads the specified files into the /samples/mypkg folder.


  • retreiveTarget parameter specifies the folder in which the contents will be downloaded
  • unpackaged parameter specifies the location of package.xml file which defines the contents to be downloaded 

deployCodeNoTestLevelSpecified - this operation logs into my QA sandbox and performs a deployment without running any tests.


  • deployRoot parameter specifies the root folder containing the files/package to be deployed including the package.xml file
  • deploy command performs a deployment without running any tests - this is only applicable to sandboxes
Step 6 - Create a package.xml file in the mypkg folder which specifies the items you wish to download and/or deploy.


Useful Guides

For a guide on what metadata types the package.xml file can be used for, please click here.
Salesforce also provides a guide with sample package.xml files, which you can use to see the ways in which this file can be constructed.

Step 7 - Open the terminal and navigate to the /samples folder.

Step 8 - Run the following command: ant retrieveIntegrationFiles



Step 9 - You will notice that the contents will be downloaded to the mypkg folder.

Step 10 - To deploy your code to your target environment execute the following command: ant deployCodeNoTestLevelSpecified


Step 11 - Monitor for any errors, update the package.xml file for missing dependencies and perform a retrieve and deploy again if there are any components missing.

Step 12 - Relax and enjoy, you have discovered a new means to perform deployments in Salesforce.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Salesforce Integration Approaches

Image
Salesforce Integration Approaches Most if not all enterprise Salesforce projects involve an element of integration. In this article I have summarised 3 common integration use cases that come up and an optimal approach for solving those use cases. This is useful for the CTA exam when certain scenarios come up and you have to consider possible approaches that can be used to solve them. Pattern 1 - Remote Process Invocation - Request Reply Scenario  In this scenario we want to make a callout from Salesforce to a Remote System and receive an immediate response. For example, we want to make a callout from Salesforce to SAP to check on Stock for a particular Product chosen on a Salesforce opportunity. We want the stock check results to be displayed in real time.  Approach Create a Lightning Component which has an Apex Controller that can make a REST or SOAP callout to an external service. Create a button on the Lightning Component to invoke the callout method in your Ape
Read more

CTA Study Planning

Image
So you've made the gigantic decision to go forward and prepare to become a Salesforce CTA. Well done! Taking the effort to formalize your architecture experience with the Salesforce CTA badge of honour, is a great hallmark to achieve in the Salesforce ecosystem and it is great to have the courage to take part in the journey. As I always say, the journey is more important than the outcome, because it is the learnings from the process that you will apply day to day in your job, and necessarily the CTA stamp itself. So lets have a look at what a CTA journey typically can look like: Step 1 - Salesforce Domains Pre Study Step 1 involves going through each of the materials which are listed on the Salesforce Architects Trailhead site, and taking the time to meticously go through each article in detail. This is the fundamental wisdom that will build your Salesforce base, and to be a better architect your baseline must be strong. I spent a lot of time reading the articles here. Sometimes we
Read more

Top 10 Expert Salesforce CTA Tips

Image
Top 10 Expert Salesforce CTA Tips Below are my list of top 10 tips for the Salesforce Certified Technical Architect (CTA) exam as published in the Salesforce Architects Trailblazer Community . CTA Pro Tip Number 1   A good architect is always confident and self assured, but remains honest to their knowledge. Present your solution confidently in the review boards, but also be honest on where you may have a knowledge gap. 'I'll get back to you on that', is always better than a white lie :-). And secondly, confidence in delivery of your presentation is half the battle so make sure you deliver your solution with faith, conviction and confidence. CTA Pro Tip Number 2   This one relates to large data volumes and LDV management. It will sound common sense but a lot of people still architect this incorrectly. Typically speaking objects with a volume > 1M records can be considered an LDV object.. As a CTA, it's really important to know and be able to arcitulate what performan
Read more