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Lesson 3: Adding Package Configurations

Package configurations let you set run-time properties and variables from outside of the development environment. Configurations allow you to develop packages that are flexible and easy to both deploy and distribute. Microsoft Integration Services offers the following configuration types:

  • XML configuration file

  • Environment variable

  • Registry entry

  • Parent package variable

  • SQL Server table

In this lesson, you will modify the simple Integration Services package that you created in Lesson 2: Adding Looping to take advantage of package configurations. You can also copy the completed Lesson 2 package that is included with the tutorial. Using the Package Configuration Wizard, you will create an XML configuration that updates the Directory property of the Foreach Loop container by using a package-level variable mapped to the Directory property. Once you have created the configuration file, you will modify the value of the variable from outside of the development environment and point the modified property to a new sample data folder. When you run the package again, the configuration file populates the value of the variable, and the variable in turn updates the Directory property. As a result, the package iterates through the files in the new data folder, rather than iterating through the files in the original folder that was hard-coded in the package.

Important

This tutorial requires the AdventureWorksDW sample database. For more information about how to install and deploy AdventureWorksDW, see Considerations for Installing SQL Server Samples and Sample Databases.