Use a deployment arrow to connect metadata snapshots or developer projects on the snapshot desktop. The Deploy Metadata interface can be used to create job lists that move metadata between the connected items. This interface is available by right clicking a deployment arrow on the desktop and also from the Options Menu.
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Snapshot Deploy Metadata is an effective tool that allows you to manage metadata deployment in Salesforce. This guide explains how to use the deployment arrow feature for connecting developer projects to a snapshot or connecting two snapshots, and executing metadata migration from the source to the destination.
Steps to Deploy Metadata
1. Deployment Interface
Double-click on the deployment arrow to access the deployment interface. Here, the source snapshot will be displayed on the left, and the destination snapshot will be on the right. This allows you to examine the source and destination metadata and understand the differences.
- The Setup Audit Trail, if highlighted in red and automatically selected, implies that changes were made to the source snapshot after it was taken.
- The Deployment History, highlighted in red and pre-selected on the destination snapshot, indicates that deployments were made to the same org after this snapshot was taken.
- It's essential to ensure that the destination snapshot is up-to-date, as it's used to compare the source with the destination and see the differences. It's also used to delete any objects that you select for deletion on the destination.
2. Create Assets Tab
In the "Create Assets" tab, you build up metadata types in a job list that you want to move from the source to the destination. You can select different metadata types and move them as required.
- If an asset is highlighted in green, it means it exists in the source but not in the destination. Moving it will be a non-destructive change.
- If the asset is in red, it's different in the source and destination, meaning moving it will be a destructive change.
- Grey signifies that the asset is the same in both source and destination.
You can compare these differences by checking the XML differences tab.
3. Delete Assets Tab
The Delete Assets tab lets you select destination objects available for deletion. It does not consider the source snapshot.
4. Deploy Metadata Tab
The Deploy Metadata tab is the heart of the Snapshot product. Here you can manage the create and delete job lists, set up all the deployment characteristics, and deploy the metadata or create a package.
- You can import, export, or merge job lists.
- You can choose to validate deployments (checking for errors without making changes), execute transactional deployments (rollback all changes if there's an error), or perform partial deployments (change everything possible and ignore errors). Partial deployments are only available for non-production orgs.
- You can manage Apex tests for code coverage during production deployment.
- The Transforms function allows you to adapt, for instance, usernames in the source and destination.
- You can remove bad references, empty the recycle bin on delete, or deploy managed packages as unpackaged objects.
- You can label your job, assign tags, and provide comments for compliance and documentation purposes.
After configuring, you can execute the deployment. If successful, this will result in the creation of new assets, deletion of others, or unchanged assets. Post-deployment, you could update the destination snapshot or continue working.
5. Scheduling Deployments
Snapshot allows you to schedule deployments. You can specify a time for the deployment and set up email notifications for the results.
Conclusion
Snapshot Deploy Metadata provides a powerful interface to handle metadata changes between different orgs or within the same org. This tool gives you the flexibility to manipulate your metadata and assets, helping you maintain and deploy changes in a more streamlined manner.
Links
Snapshot Best Practices: Salesforce Change and Release Management