I have successfully "pushed" Apex Class and Visualforce(VF) code changes via the Change Set 
mechanism between different Sandboxes, tested and everything is working fine.  

The closest I have managed to get to deploying Apex and VF changes to Production was uploading an Outbound Change Set to Production, and clicking 'VALIDATE' to the inbound Change Set in Production. The 'VALIDATE' operation worked fine reported no errors. 

(I managed to overcome the issue(without help) with Apex Test Class coverage, as it is a requirement that tests run >74% if attempting to deploy Apex code to Production ). I have tested rigourously numerous Outbound Change Sets and Inbound Change sets involving Apex and VF between Sandboxes with no issues.

The only step I need to take now is to DEPLOY the Apex and VF code to Production. Is it safe to assume that if I have tested the Apex and VF rigorously in the source Sandbox Org, uploaded the Outbound CS(Containing Apex and VF) to Production, VALIDATE the Inbound CS (with no errors/issues to report) in Production, then the actual DEPLOY operation to Production should work without a problem as the deployment is an all-or-nothing(atomic) operation?

Can anyone please reassure me, need to perform the Release soon, this is quite urgent!

Thanks!
 

I plan to make Apex and Visualforce changes and 'deploy' to Production using either the Change Set mechanism or Force.com IDE. Which is the preferable(or standard industry practice) way to deploy these changes? If there is a prefered method, then why is one prefered over the other?

Also, are Apex and Visualforce changes treated just as metadata changes, so if I am able to modify the metadata for these specific changes, and 'commit' these changes using Force.com IDE, can I effectively 'rollback' any Apex or Visualforce changes already deployed to Production?

Can someone please advise?

Many thanks!

I am planning to perform a major release to our Production Org very soon using the Change Set mechanism. I want a way to be able to backup (and most importantly restore) the metadata of our Production Org to a particular point-in-time so that if the release to Production 'goes wrong', I can easily 'revert' the metadata back to where it was before the Release.  

Was researching and investigating a way to backup and restore metadata. Evaluated a couple of third party tools, and although they both have the capabilities to backup the metadata at a particular point in time, they BOTH DO NOT offer the capability to RESTORE the METADATA to a target Production Org to a particular point-in-time.

Both third party backup solution providers recommended I use the Force.com IDE as a method of 'restoring' the metadata, but were not able to give me the exact specifics of how to do this. (As a precaution, I already created a Force.com IDE project mapped to our Production Org, and downloaded ALL metadata on the project, and then backed it up to a secure cloud location)

I really need more specifics of how to easily 'restore' the metadata using Force.com IDE. Failing that, any other 'free' methods(and how to perform the steps) to achieve the same end result would be most welcome! 

Really need an answer asap as this is quite urgent!!

Thanks!

I am planning to perform a major release to our Production Org very soon using the Change Set mechanism. I want a way to be able to backup (and most importantly restore) the metadata of our Production Org to a particular point-in-time so that if the release to Production 'goes wrong', I can easily 'revert' the metadata back to where it was before the Release.  

Was researching and investigating a way to backup and restore metadata. Evaluated a couple of third party tools, and although they both have the capabilities to backup the metadata at a particular point in time, they BOTH DO NOT offer the capability to RESTORE the METADATA to a target Org to a particular point-in-time.

Both third party backup solution providers recommended I use the Force.com IDE as a method of 'restoring' the metadata, but were not able to give me the exact specifics of how to do this. (As a precaution, I already created a Force.com IDE project mapped to our Production Org, and downloaded ALL metadata on the project, and then backed it up to a secure cloud location)

I really need more specifics of how to easily 'restore' the metadata using Force.com IDE. Failing that, any other 'free' methods(and how to perform the steps) to achieve the same end result would be most welcome! 

Really need an answer asap as this is quite urgent!!

Thanks!

I understand that when 'pushing' Apex code from a Sandbox to Production using the Change Set mechanism, test code coverage must be 75% or greater. Does the same constraint apply when using the Force.com IDE(clicking the 'Deploy to Server' button and selecting Production as the Target Org) to 'push' Apex code changes from a Sandbox to Production? I've used the Force.com IDE to push Apex code changes between Sandboxes with no issues to report. Any help would be appreciated as this is urgent!!!!

I have successfully "pushed" Apex Class and Visualforce(VF) code changes via the Change Set 
mechanism between different Sandboxes, tested and everything is working fine.  

The closest I have managed to get to deploying Apex and VF changes to Production was uploading an Outbound Change Set to Production, and clicking 'VALIDATE' to the inbound Change Set in Production. The 'VALIDATE' operation worked fine reported no errors. 

(I managed to overcome the issue(without help) with Apex Test Class coverage, as it is a requirement that tests run >74% if attempting to deploy Apex code to Production ). I have tested rigourously numerous Outbound Change Sets and Inbound Change sets involving Apex and VF between Sandboxes with no issues.

The only step I need to take now is to DEPLOY the Apex and VF code to Production. Is it safe to assume that if I have tested the Apex and VF rigorously in the source Sandbox Org, uploaded the Outbound CS(Containing Apex and VF) to Production, VALIDATE the Inbound CS (with no errors/issues to report) in Production, then the actual DEPLOY operation to Production should work without a problem as the deployment is an all-or-nothing(atomic) operation?

Can anyone please reassure me, need to perform the Release soon, this is quite urgent!

Thanks!
 

I plan to make Apex and Visualforce changes and 'deploy' to Production using either the Change Set mechanism or Force.com IDE. Which is the preferable(or standard industry practice) way to deploy these changes? If there is a prefered method, then why is one prefered over the other?

Also, are Apex and Visualforce changes treated just as metadata changes, so if I am able to modify the metadata for these specific changes, and 'commit' these changes using Force.com IDE, can I effectively 'rollback' any Apex or Visualforce changes already deployed to Production?

Can someone please advise?

Many thanks!

I understand that when 'pushing' Apex code from a Sandbox to Production using the Change Set mechanism, test code coverage must be 75% or greater. Does the same constraint apply when using the Force.com IDE(clicking the 'Deploy to Server' button and selecting Production as the Target Org) to 'push' Apex code changes from a Sandbox to Production? I've used the Force.com IDE to push Apex code changes between Sandboxes with no issues to report. Any help would be appreciated as this is urgent!!!!