This is a video I put together in 2016 for the Trailhead Data Integration Specialist superbadge. It’s a walkthrough of the Force.com Migration Tool, specifically how to install, use to retrieve metadata, deploy metadata from one org to another and delete metadata.
The Ant Migration Tool is a Java/Ant-based command-line utility for moving metadata between a local directory and a Salesforce org. The Ant Migration Tool is especially useful in the following scenarios.
- Development projects for which you need to populate a test environment with a lot of setup changes—Making these changes using a web interface can take a long time.
- Multistage release processes—A typical development process requires iterative building, testing, and staging before releasing to a production environment. Scripted retrieval and deployment of components can make this process much more efficient.
- Repetitive deployment using the same parameters—You can retrieve all the metadata in your organization, make changes, and deploy a subset of components. If you need to repeat this process, it’s as simple as calling the same deployment target again.
- When migrating from stage to production is done by IT—Anyone that prefers deploying in a scripting environment will find the Ant Migration Tool a familiar process.
- Scheduling batch deployments—You can schedule a deployment for midnight to not disrupt users. Or you can pull down changes to your Developer Edition org every day.
Helpful links:
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