BizTalk Tools

BizTalk Tools

Familiarize yourself with the variety of BizTalk tools available: application deployment, Business Activity Monitoring (BAM), SDK utilities, and CodePlex tools. Application Deployment Tools BTSTask.exe A command-line tool that you can use to perform application deployment tasks, including the following: ·         Import an application as an MSI file ·         Export an application as an MSI file ·         List all applications in the BizTalkMgmtDb database ·         Remove an application from the BizTalkMgmtDb database ·         Uninstall an application from the computer BTSTask can greatly improve deployment time. For more information about the BTSTask commands available, see BTSTask Command-Line Reference. BTSWebSvcPub.exe A command-line tool that you can use to publish an orchestration as a Web service. Once you specify the BizTalk assembly, you can set such things as allow anonymous access, specify the namespace, expose a one-way operation as a request-response, and create receive locations. If you prefer a wizard to publish an orchestration as a Web service, the BizTalk Web Services Publishing Wizard is also available. For more information about the BTSWebSvcPub.exe commands available, see BTSWebSvcPub Command-Line Reference.  BAM Tools BM.exe The BAM Management Utility is a command-line tool for all sorts of BAM tasks, including: ·         Create and deploy the BAM databases, including BAM Primary Import and BAM Archive ·         Deploy, update, and remove a BAM definition ·         Get and update the BAM configuration ·         Get a list of deployed activities, get the activity duration, and set the activity duration ·         List and remove deployed views ·         Get, add, and remove users/groups from a view For more information about the BM.exe options available, see BAM Management Utility. BTTDeploy.exe The Tracking Profile Deployment Utility is a command-line tool that you can use to apply tracking profiles and remove tracking profiles. For more information, see Tracking Profile Deployment Utility. ProcessBamNSFiles.vbs You can use this Notification Services command-line script to customize SQL Server Notification Services for BAM Alerts. Specifically, it can be used for the following: ·         Get the Notification Services application definition file (ADF) and configuration file from the BAM Primary Import database and save to a folder ·         Update the Notification Services ADF and configuration file To see how to use this script, see BAM Command-Line Script for Notification Services Configuration Files.  SDK Utilities There are several SDK utilities that a BizTalk developer should be aware of. All SDK Utilities are located at \Program Files (x86)\Microsoft BizTalk Server 2009\SDK\Utilities. AS2 Sender Allows you to send an AS2 message to a Web site that uses the BTSHTTPReceive.dll ISAPI filter on a single computer. This tool simulates sending an AS2 message from a separate computer. AS2 Sender is also customizable. This is a great tool when configuring AS2 and testing party functionality. For more information, see AS2 Sender Utility. BatchTerminator If there are many batching orchestration instances running, you can use the Batch Terminator utility to terminate them. It can also reactivate the previously terminated orchestrations instances. When doing any database maintenance with EDI, consider taking advantage of this tool. For more information, including the available switches, see BatchTerminator Utility. MQRTLarge Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) has a 4-MB message size limit. The MQRTLarge.dll add-on within BizTalk Server allows processing for messages larger than 4 MB by exposing the MQSendLargeMessage and MQReceiveLargeMessage APIs. For more information, see BizTalk Message Queuing Large Message Extension. Certificate Wizard Allows you to import a certificate from a private key (.pfx) or a public key (.cer). With the Useridentity switch, you can specify the BizTalk service account, which will import the certificate into the appropriate certificate store. This can save some time, since you do not have to log on to BizTalk Server as the BizTalk service account and then import the appropriate keys. This tool is a must-use when working with certificates, including AS2. For more information, see Certificate Wizard Utility. Pipeline Tools There are six pipeline tools that allow you to test pipeline functionality without configuring BizTalk Server. These tools can dump a document schema structure, run the flat file assembler and disassembler, run a send or receive pipeline, and run the XML assembler and disassembler. For more information, see Pipeline Tools.  CodePlex Tools Deployment Framework for BizTalk (BTDF) This tool helps with deploying and configuring BizTalk solutions and is getting rave reviews. It supports BizTalk Server 2006 and later versions. For more information, see Deployment Framework for BizTalk (BTDF). BizTalk Sftp Adapter This Sftp adapter is also getting good reviews and has been downloaded over 800 times. For more information, see BizTalk Sftp Adapter. PowerShell Provider This PowerShell snap-in allows users to perform administrative tasks in BizTalk Server. For more information, see PowerShell Provider. BizTalk Server Pattern Wizard This wizard allows users to capture, share and re-use orchestration best<br/>practices. For more information, see BizTalk Server Pattern Wizard. BizTalk Benchmark Wizard This tool can be used to compare your BizTalk environment with a set of statistics. For more information, see BizTalk Benchmark Wizard.