| name | dtsx-xml-anatomy |
| description | Use when explaining or reasoning about the contents of an SSIS .dtsx file — what each element means, which IDs the managed object model owns, and why hand-editing the XML breaks designer-load and execution. Reference, not a recipe. |
DTSX XML anatomy
.dtsx is a Microsoft-defined XML format (MS-DTSX2 spec) that captures everything an SSIS designer needs to recreate the package: control flow, data flow, connections, parameters, configurations, protection level, layout. It is the SSIS designer's serialization format — the designer holds an object model in memory while you edit, and .dtsx is what it writes to disk.
When to load this skill
The agent never hand-edits .dtsx. So why have this skill? Three reasons:
- To explain to a user why a request to "just edit the GUID" is being refused.
- To map a
dtexec or designer error message ("refId Package\… not found") to the structural cause.
- To reason about a diff in a PR review — what changed in the XML and is the change safe.
Top-level structure
<DTS:Executable DTS:refId="Package" DTS:ExecutableType="Microsoft.Package" …>
<DTS:Property DTS:Name="PackageFormatVersion">8</DTS:Property>
<DTS:Property DTS:Name="ProtectionLevel">0</DTS:Property>
<DTS:Property DTS:Name="DTSID">{GUID}</DTS:Property>
<DTS:ConnectionManagers> … </DTS:ConnectionManagers>
<DTS:Variables> … </DTS:Variables>
<DTS:Executables> … control flow tasks … </DTS:Executables>
<DTS:PrecedenceConstraints> … </DTS:PrecedenceConstraints>
<DTS:DesignTimeProperties> … layout, only used by VS designer … </DTS:DesignTimeProperties>
</DTS:Executable>
PackageFormatVersion 8 = SQL Server 2017+; SQL Server 2022 / 2025 also write 8. ProtectionLevel 0 = DontSaveSensitive.
IDs the OM owns — DO NOT EDIT
| Attribute | Owner | Effect of manual edit |
|---|
DTS:refId | OM | Breaks all cross-references inside the package (precedence constraints, parameter bindings, expressions). |
DTS:DTSID ({GUID}) | OM | Breaks SSISDB execution history correlation; sometimes designer-load. |
lineageId (on data-flow paths and columns) | Data-flow OM | Breaks data-flow column mapping; runtime errors like "no input column found for output column with lineage id N". |
<DTS:Property DTS:Name="ObjectName"> GUID-suffixed values | OM | Designer may rebuild correctly OR may corrupt — never edit. |
DesignTimeProperties
The <DTS:DesignTimeProperties> block stores designer layout (x/y/width/height of each shape in the canvas). It is VS-designer-only; runtime ignores it. Diffs here are cosmetic noise. But: don't delete the block — VS will regenerate it but a missing block can prompt an "unsaved layout" dialog.
Data flow component XML
Data flow tasks contain a <pipeline> element with one <component> per source/transform/destination. Each <component> has <inputs> and <outputs>, each with <inputColumns> and <outputColumns> that reference lineageIds on prior outputs. This is the most fragile part of the file. The OM threads lineageIds across the entire data flow; hand-edits typically break it silently (no XML schema violation, but runtime errors).
Validation tools
| Layer | Tool |
|---|
| XML well-formedness | [xml]$_ = Get-Content <pkg>.dtsx in PowerShell, or XmlReader.Read |
| Schema (XSD) | dtsxschema.xsd ships with SSIS; rarely used standalone — dtexec /Validate covers it |
| Runtime validation | dtexec /File <pkg>.dtsx /Validate /WarnAsError |
| Designer load | [Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.Runtime.Application]::new().LoadPackage(<pkg>.dtsx, $null) |
The toolkit's Test-SsisPackage.ps1 runs the runtime-validation step (dtexec /Validate /WarnAsError); Test-SsisDesignerLoad.ps1 covers designer-load.
References
