Expect everything to change...

1) Check user activity log to ensure no users are currently doing UAT and let CI know before deployment.

2) Backup existing database

3) Restore fresh database over existing, which may require processes to be deleted using SQL Server - Activity Monitor from the bottom up.

4) Run cmd as Admin and run .bat file from SQL Patches, ensuring no other scripts are in the folder especially SELECT

5) Do a local publish of website to C:\setups\date
Remove files that should not be overwritten such as Web.config
Remove Logging folder etc

6) Deploy to staging area on dev server C:\inetpub\dev

7) As always DO NOT OVERWRITE CONFIGS if not necessary

8) Make sure Logging folder still has full permissions for IIS_IUSRS

9) Sending emails from server, dont set the config EmailSMTPServerName setting to an IP. I copied the value from the service config which was set to "spamfilter.ap.ie". The IP is the only thing works from my own dev machine which is why it's like that in the config by default. IT guys sometimes change firewall rules which makes the email server name/IP a little iffy sometimes