Ax 2012 Metadata artificats

There are three artifact types that enable the sharing of Microsoft Dynamics AX metadata between environments: XPO files, model files, and model store files.

>XPO files are development artifacts. They are typically used to move metadata between development environments.

> Model files are deployment artifacts and are the recommended vehicle for distributing solutions to customers, and for deploying builds on a test or staging environment.

>Model store files contain the metadata of your entire application, including element IDs and all other element metadata. Model store files are recommended when you deploy a solution from a staging environment to a production environment. When using model store files, you must maintain common element IDs between the source and target systems, as described later in this document.

The following table describes features of these three artifact types.
	XPO files	Model files	Model store files
Installation tool	Microsoft MorphX	AXUtil.exe or Windows PowerShell cmdlets	AXUtil.exe or Windows PowerShell cmdlets
The files can be uninstalled.	No, but elements can be individually deleted.	Yes	No
The files can be signed.	No	Yes	No
Element IDs are preserved in the target model store.	All elements that already exist in the model store preserve their IDs (XPO files don’t contain IDs). For new elements, new IDs are generated.	All elements that already exist in the model store preserve their IDs. For new elements, new IDs are generated.	All element IDs on the target system become equal to the IDs stored in the model store file.
Compilation is required after installation.	Yes	Yes	No
CIL generation is required after installation.	Yes	Yes	No