One of the best things about Salesforce is that you always have something new to know and learn about. The Force Migration Toolkit is one such feature that you can deploy for your business. It is also referred to as ANT. This tool has been around for quite some time, so in reality, it is not new; however, it does have some really impressive features that admins of a company can deploy to optimize their business. However, to understand how this tool can do so, the first thing you need to do is first learn what this toolkit is before you begin working with it.
An insight into the ANT toolkit and its key functionalities
The ANT toolkit will help you move the production data like Visual force pages, Apex classes, reports, objects, and reports seamlessly between different environments of Salesforce. When it is configured, the tool permits you to move it from one environment to the other just by using some simple commands via text that you must enter into the terminal window of the computer you are using for the task.
Salient features of the ANT toolkit to know about which will aid in your business. The following are some salient features that you should know about the ANT toolkit-
- You require a flexible method to make changes to many environments of Salesforce at a single time
- You should start using a good text editor that helps you to begin configuration over Salesforce on the computer you use.
- You already are working with a team that uses ANT already
Keeping everything in sync with one another
Now, this section will give you an insight into the greatest advantage that you can get with the ANT migration toolkit. There are many things which can be useful for your business. To understand this advantage, you need to take into account the following scenario-
You should imagine that you have two different team members working on some innovative new items in their Salesforce environments. Over time, both of them will take these new items and place them into the live environment for testing. Now, both of them are working independently, so you will not be able to know if their work will sync in and be compatible with each other. This is where ANT or the force.com migration toolkit steps in to help you. With this tool, you can keep two or even more orgs under Salesforce synchronized through the whole process of development.
When you regularly compare and synchronize the new work in the development process, this helps you to make sure that any incompatibility is detected very early. This process is called continuous integration.
Understanding the process of Change Sets
Salesforce also gives the user a tool that helps him move the configuration data in one Sandbox from the testing environment to another Sandbox present in the production environment. The tool is straightforward and direct; however, you need to add the item manually one at a time. This is done as you might miss components, and you can only change sets between the orgs that are in the production org. For instance, you can use the change set from the production org with one or even two sandboxes that have been made from the same production org so that they both can get and send these change sets. The ANT tool can deploy the configuration from a single sales force environment to a second environment that is unrelated to the first.
An insight into packaging
You can package changes to a package that is unmanaged under Salesforce. This means you can take a code from the first Salesforce environment and use it in the second Salesforce environment that is completed unrelated to the first environment. Note, the packaging, however, has some shortcomings. You need to manually make the package and add the components manually one at a time. After you have added all the components, you need to upload this package and wait for some time for it to synchronize entirely across all the nodes and the servers of Salesforce. When the whole process gets complete, you have the option to install this package in the new environment so that it can effectively bring in the new configuration to the organization.
How can you get the ANT toolkit?
If you believe that the ANT toolkit gives you the convenience and the flexibility of moving your Salesforce configuration between different environments efficiently with one command, you should install the toolkit and explore it for yourself. Check whether you can move an item from one environment to another without hassles at all.
Using the ANT migration tool has a series of benefits than change sets
The following are the key advantages of using the ANT migration tool over change sets-
- The deployment process is better, and you can get more greatly control over the metadata that you migrate.
- The ANT migration toolkit can be integrated into the source control system like git to permit the developers to embrace a process for modern development.
- The toolkit is beneficial for automating and controlling the process of deployment accurately. Anyone that likes deploying the scripting environment will find this tool to be familiar.
- The development process needs testing, iterative building, and staging before being released into the production environment. The retrieval and deployment of the component that makes the process effective.
- When you integrate the ANT migration tool with other automation tools, the user can schedule the deployment process to either operate or remove changes to the development environment daily.
In conclusion, the Ant migration toolkit is a Java and Ant Based tool of Salesforce used for moving metadata between the production org. and metadata. It is also popularly known as the Force.com migration toolkit and can be downloaded and installed in simple steps. It is a powerful tool with some fantastic features and uses a simple interface that helps a user to manage their new releases for the production.org with success!
