Overview of Deployment Reports
The deployment report compiles the metadata associated with applications, logical servers, zones, and endpoints on a deployment diagram and presents it as HTML and XML-based reports. Depending on the how you configure deployment report generation, the HTML and XML versions of the deployment report can provide the following information:
HTML Deployment Report - A graphical report showing each diagram and a list of all the resources and settings for each application, logical server, endpoint, or zone on the deployment diagram. You can also include a list of deployment diagram validation errors and warnings in the report. Application development and infrastructure teams can use this report to share information needed to evaluate conflicts between application requirements and datacenter policy. For more information, see Validating Deployment Diagrams, Adding Resources, and Applying Settings.
XML Deployment Report - A scriptable manifest of the settings needed for deployment. You can then use the XML metadata in this report to write scripts for custom deployment needs.
Note
Finalizing a deployment definition from deployment diagrams or deployment reports generated from default systems is not recommended. Default systems are useful for quickly evaluating the deployment of individual applications within the datacenter; however, they should not be used for final deployment. For more information, see Deployment Definitions Created from Application and System Diagrams.
The following sections contain more information about deployment reports:
Key Deployment Report Properties
Settings in the Deployment Report
Windows Applications in the Deployment Report
Web Applications in the Deployment Report
Generic Applications in the Deployment Report
Key Deployment Report Properties
Before you generate the deployment report, there are several properties that you should set using the Properties window. These properties allow you to do the following:
Destination Path - Specifies a path on disk or a UNC path to copy source, content, or binary files associated with your applications. This collects the files you need for deploying the applications in one place. If you do not set this property, the deployment report will be generated, but the report will not contain file and directory resources, and no files will be copied to the destination path location.
Include Content Files, Include Binary Files, Include Source Files - Indicate whether to copy source, content, or binary files to the destination path location. For more information about these files for each type of application, see Generic Applications in the Deployment Report.
Overwrite Files Action - Used with automation to determine whether to display a user-dismissable prompt when overwriting files.
Error Resolution - Used with automation to determine whether to display prompts when the deployment report is generated, or if they should be ignored. You can also choose to abort deployment report creation if an error occurs.
Errors Only - If set to True, the HTML deployment report will only contain the list of validation errors and warnings. If set to False, the HTML report will contain all other content (endpoints, settings, resources, and so on) along with the list of validation errors and warnings.
For more information, see How to: Generate Deployment Reports.
Settings in the Deployment Report
In the deployment report, associated settings are listed under each resource. Settings for which the default value has been modified, list both the default value and the assigned value. The assigned value is only listed when the default value is modified. The assigned value is only listed when the default value is modified. The resultant setting value is displayed for all settings. The resultant value differs from the assigned value in instances where conditions or other settings need to be evaluated before the final setting is known. As a result, the value assigned in the Settings and Constraints Editor can differ from the resultant value in the deployment report because the resultant value is not computed until the deployment diagram is validated. However, in practice, the assigned and resultant values are almost always the same.
Tip
When scripting against the XML deployment report, write the script to use the resultant value.
Windows Applications in the Deployment Report
When you add a Windows application to an application diagram, the only files generated in the specified destination path directory are application definition (.sdm) files. Prior to implementation, the deployment report provides a Directory resource, which is empty, along with Operation System, CLR, and GAC settings resources under the Windows application. Following implementation, the Directory resource shows the path to the source code.
Note
If you implement the Windows application and then generate the deployment report prior to building the application, a warning appears in the Error List window indicating that the executable file is missing if you have set the Include Binary Files property to True. To resolve this error, build the project.
Web Applications in the Deployment Report
If you generate a deployment report prior to implementing a Web application, you will see the list of default Web.config settings in the report that are populated from the Machine.config configuration file. However, no Web.config file appears in Solution Explorer until the application is implemented. Following implementation, the Web.config file appears in Solution Explorer if default settings were modified or a resource was added to the Configuration section of the Settings and Constraints Editor. For more information, see How to: Specify Web.config Settings.
Generic Applications in the Deployment Report
There is no code generation support for generic applications, so they cannot be implemented. They are included for purposes of documenting the presence of application types other than Windows applications, Office applications, and ASP.NET applications in your system. Generic applications can be deployed on Windows and IIS Web servers as well as generic logical servers. For more information, see Application Types and Prototypes for Defining Applications and Logical Server Prototypes in Logical Datacenter Designer.
For Windows, Web, or Office applications, files and assemblies included in the solution are copied into the destination path location for deployment if the Include (Content, Source, or Binary) Files properties are set to True. However, because generic applications do not support code generation, aside from the .sdm file, none of their associated files or assemblies are copied. You can document the location of these files and assemblies in the deployment report by adding a custom setting that contains this information. Alternately, you can create a containment relationship for the generic application that allows it to contain the default File and Directory resources included on the Windows, Web, and Office applications. However, even if you add File and Directory resources, these artifacts will not be copied to the destination path location because they are not contained within the solution. For more information, see How to: Create Custom Settings for Applications, Servers, Endpoints, and Zones.