Deployment Best Practices II

Avoid large (over 100 MB) MSI files. Large (over 100 MB) MSI files may not be deployed within the transaction time-out of the COM+ components used by BizTalk Server during application deployment, causing the deployment to fail. You should deploy smaller MSI files or modify the default transaction time-out for the deployment COM+ objects.

· Document your deployment process. Even the most complex deployment scenario can be simplified with documentation. You should document the deployment environment, steps for deploying the solution, and custom configuration settings for hardware and software.

· Configure a binding file for each environment and computer. You can control settings by environment or server by packaging additional binding files in your solution's exported MSI file.

· Customize your MSI file with pre- and post-processing scripts.

· Ensure that only BizTalk administrators have access to the assemblies, binding files, and policy files. These files may contain sensitive business data such as connectivity and configuration information. If you deploy applications through a network share, configure the discretionary access control list (DACL) on the network share so that only BizTalk administrators can view its contents.

· Verify the security settings on virtual directories before exporting an MSI file. Be aware that the security settings on the virtual directory are those in effect when the MSI file is generated. If you are deploying an application with a virtual directory and the virtual directory already exists in the destination environment, the security settings on the existing virtual directory will be in effect.

Source: Microsoft