How to: Create Deployment Reports from the Command Line

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You can generate deployment reports from using a command line entry. However, you must first separate the application diagram (.ad) file into application definition (.sdm) files and then compile the necessary System Definition Model (SDM) documents for the deployment report. For more information, see Overview of the System Definition Model (SDM).

Tip

You can also generate a deployment report using Deployment Designer or through automation using Visual Studio. For more information, see How to: Generate Deployment Reports and How to: Use Automation with Deployment Reports.

To compile SDM documents, you will need to download a compiler from System Definition Model (SDM) SDK Workshop.

To separate the application diagram into .sdm files

  1. In the application diagram (.ad) file, search for the <sdmDocument></SdmDocument> tags and copy the content between these tags into a new file.

    Note

    For an implemented application, the <sdmDocument> section is not in the .ad file but has been moved to an existing .sdm file, located in the corresponding project. Compile each of these .sdm files before you compile any system diagram (.sd) files or Default.sdm files (in the case of default systems) as explained later in this topic.

    The following code snippet shows an example of content in an <sdmDocument> tag:

    <SdmDocument><SystemDefinitionModel xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" Name="WebApplication1" Version="1.0.0.0" Culture="en-US" DocumentLanguage="en" xmlns="https://schemas.microsoft.com/SystemDefinitionModel/2005/1">
...
</SystemDefinitionModel></SdmDocument>

  2. Name each file using the value from the Name attribute in the <SystemDefinitionModel> tag and add an .sdm extension.

After creating these .sdm files, the next step is to compile the .sdm files and other SDM documents needed by the deployment report.

To compile SDM documents for the deployment report

  1. Compile the new .sdm files created from the .ad file or .sdmDocument files, excluding Default.sdm if you created it. To compile these files, use the command line entry in the following format:

    sdmc <File name> /output <File Name.sdmDocument> /r import1 /r import2… /SearchPath <path to your files> /SearchPath <path to System.Flow.Sdmdocument and other references>

    Note

    When compiling SDM documents, specify the name of the output file using the same name as the original file and the .sdmDocument extension.

    For most files, you need to reference only those documents that are listed with <import> tags in the SDM document. However, the deployment diagram (.dd) file requires some unlisted references such as System.Flow.sdmDocument and System.Constraints.sdmDocument as well as references to its child documents and all the references that those child documents require.

  2. Compile any system diagram (.sd) files.

  3. Compile the logical datacenter diagram (.ldd) file.

  4. Compile the deployment diagram (.dd) file and use the required /ConfigReport switch to specify the deployment report name. Without this switch, the deployment report will not be generated.

    Note

    When compiling the deployment diagram, reference all documents listed with <import> tags such as System.Flow.sdmDocument, System.Constraints.sdmDocument, and all references used to compile the previous .ad, .sd, and .ldd documents. The compiler will list any missing document references if you attempt to compile without specifying the required list. However, do not reference System.sdmDocument even though most documents list this in the <import> tag. If System.sdmDocument is referenced, the compiler will return an error.

Security

The data that a deployment report contains might include sensitive or confidential corporate or institutional data. Be aware of this consideration prior to distributing or disposing of the report.

See Also

Other Resources

Creating Deployment Reports