The deploy() and retrieve() calls are used to deploy and retrieve a .zip file. Within the
.zip file is a project manifest (package.xml) that lists what to
retrieve or deploy, and one or more XML components that are organized into folders.
A component is an instance of a metadata type. For example, CustomObject is a metadata type for custom objects, and
the MyCustomObject__c component is an instance of a
custom object.
The files that are retrieved or deployed in a .zip file might be unpackaged components
that reside in your org (such as standard objects) or packaged components
that reside within named packages.
You can deploy or
retrieve up to 10,000 files at once. The maximum size of the deployed or retrieved
.zip file is 39 MB. If the files are uncompressed in an unzipped folder, the size
limit is 600 MB or 629,145,600 bytes. The size limit in bytes is calculated as 600 x
1024 x 1024.
Managed packages use different limits: First-generation managed
packages that have passed AppExchange Security Review can contain up to 35,000
files. Second-generation managed packages can contain up to 10,000 files.
-
Metadata API base-64 encodes components after
they’re compressed. The resulting .zip file can't exceed 50 MB, which is the
limit for SOAP messages. Base-64 encoding increases the size of the payload, so
your compressed payload can't exceed approximately 39 MB before encoding.
- You can perform a retrieve() call for a big
object only if its index is defined. If a big object is created in Setup and
doesn’t yet have an index defined, you can’t retrieve it.
- Limits can change without notice.
Every .zip file contains a project manifest, a file that’s named
package.xml, and a set of directories that contain the
components. The manifest file defines the components that you're trying to retrieve or
deploy in the .zip file. The manifest also defines the API version that's used for the
deployment or retrieval.
You can edit the project manifest, but be careful if you
modify the list of components it contains. When you deploy or retrieve components,
Metadata API references the components listed in the manifest, not the directories
in the .zip file.
Note: If you’re retrieving any components that have dependencies by
using the rootTypesWithDependencies
parameter in the RetrieveRequest object,
the dependent metadata components are added to the returned .zip file and package.xml file in the same directory as the root type that’s
being retrieved. This directory has a JSON file for each component with
dependencies in the format ComponentName.roottype.dependencies-meta.json.
The following is a sample package.xml file. You can retrieve an
individual component for a metadata type by specifying its fullName
field value in a members element. You can also
retrieve all components of a metadata type by using <members>*</members>.
The following elements can be defined in package.xml.
-
<fullName> contains the name of the server-side
package. If no <fullName> exists, the
package.xml defines a client-side unpackaged package.
-
<types> contains the name of the metadata type
(for example, CustomObject) and the named
members (for example, myCustomObject__c) to be
retrieved or deployed. You can add multiple <types> elements in a manifest file.
-
<members> contains the
fullName of the component, for example MyCustomObject__c. The listMetadata() call is useful for
determining the fullName for components of a particular
metadata type if you want to retrieve an individual component. For many metadata
types, you can replace the value in members
with the wildcard character * (asterisk)
instead of listing each member separately. See the reference topic for a specific
type to determine whether that type supports wildcards.
You specify Security
in the <members> element and Settings in
the name element when retrieving the SecuritySettings component
type.
-
<name> contains the metadata type, for example
CustomObject or Profile. There is one name defined for each metadata type in the
directory. Any metadata type that extends Metadata is a valid value. The name that’s entered
must match a metadata type that’s defined in the Metadata API WSDL. See Metadata Types for a list.
-
<version> is the API version number that’s used
when the .zip file is deployed or retrieved. Currently the valid value is 65.0.
For more sample package.xml manifest files that show you how to work
with different subsets of metadata, see Sample package.xml Manifest
Files.
To delete components, see Deleting Components from an
Organization.
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