Gearset's data deployment templates let you save and re-use the configuration from a data deployment. This saves you time when setting up a new data deployment and gives you confidence that the same data configuration is used every time.
What benefits do I get from data deployment templates?
Data deployment templates bring the usual benefits of automating a process:
It's harder to make mistakes through human error
It saves you time by letting you specify the configuration once and re-use it
It gives you confidence that the deployment will be the same every time
This means that you can spend less time deploying data, and focus on testing and releasing new features.
Creating a data deployment template
The first step is to create a data template from a data deployment.
Once you've configured a data deployment, you're able to save the configuration for that deployment as a new template by selecting Save template and friendly name...
This option is becomes available on the last stage of your data deployment configuration (just before you select DEPLOY DATA to execute the deployment).
After you click on Save template and friendly name..., below pop-up window will show up allowing you to give name to your template (top field), and give name to your deployment (bottom field):
You can also save a template from a completed deployment. Creating a template from a deployment configuration will save:
The selected objects
Record limits on those objects
Record filters on those objects
External IDs used for matching records on those objects
Data masking settings on those objects
Using a data deployment template
On the Configure and deploy data page, you can select a template from the Deployment templates table. This will open a pop up window, where you can select the source and target orgs and proceed with a deployment. Alternatively if the template you want to use is not listed, click View all templates.
You'll see a list of all of your team's saved templates. To use a template, select the template, choose your source and target, and click Use this template.
If you're not entirely happy with the configuration from the template, then you can still make changes to the deployment (but those changes won't be saved back to the selected template).
Limitations of data deployment templates
In some cases, objects or fields from the template may not exist. This could happen if:
you created a template when deploying between one pair of orgs, and you're now using the same template on a different pair of orgs.
Or when a field in the template used as an external ID may have been deleted from the target org.
When Gearset can't use the full configuration from the template, it will apply as much of the template's configuration as possible. What you need to know however is that:
Objects or fields in the template that don't exist in the target org won't be included.
If external ID fields in the template don't exist, Gearset will default to the same field it would use if you weren't using a template.
If the template was created with
don't deploy set as a deployment method against related objects, this will switch to create new records if "don't deploy" is not a valid option for the chosen orgs.Validation rules won't be included in the template either.
Managing data deployment templates
You can rename or delete any templates that you've created.
If you're not a team owner, you won't be able to rename or delete templates created by other members of your team.
Can data deployment templates be edited?
Currently, existing template configurations cannot be updated. So if you'd like to edit one of your data deployment templates, the best way to go about it is to create a new template when you're configuring a new data deployment.
Do you have any other questions we haven't covered in this article? Feel free to let us know in the in-app chat.