Visual Studio Team System (VSTS) Blog - by Neno Loje : Downloads

Hotfix available: The Create Unit Test dialog opens up empty

neno — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 23:02:25 GMT

Did you ever experience one of the following behaviours:

The Create Unit Test dialog opens up empty, and no interfaces are shown in the list
Clicking on the Code Coverage Tab in the .testrunconfig file makes the dialog box disappear.

A hotfix was made available by Microsoft.

Read the KB article 962866.

Tool for creating direct links to TSWA

neno — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 03:38:55 GMT

Buck Hodges from Microsoft blogged about all the possible links you can construct to point to TSWA pages.

For example the following URL opens the Work Item Editor:

Open the existing work item with ID 1234: http://mytfs:8090/wi.aspx?id=1234

To make it simple I created a small tool that helps you construct those URLs in an easy way:

You can download the source from here:

File Attachement: WebAccessLinkCreator.zip

Reports for measuring TFS performance

neno — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 11:30:00 GMT

Grant Holliday, who runs the busiest TFS at Microsoft, posted 6 handy reports you can easily import into your TFS to monitor system performance.

"We have a responsibility to ensure that the server is performing as expected and to identify any efficiencies that can be made in the server or the tools. To do this, we have created a number of reports that we use ourselves and make available to our own users."

Link: Read the full story and download the Report Pack.

Q: Can I install SP3 for SQL Server 2005 on my TFS?

neno — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 07:08:21 GMT

Answer: Yes, you are free to do so.

Microsoft has done "functional, perf and stress testing" on TFS 2008 SP1 on SQL Server 2005 SP3 to ensure it works properly.

Additionally we installed and tested it on our TFS instances without any issues.

Note: Be aware that the installation takes some time (~ 10-25 minutes depending on your hardware) and it requires a reboot.

Download: SP3 for SQL Server 2005

TFS Branching Guide 2.0

neno — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 12:12:04 GMT

Original announcement:

Since the first release, we have received lots of feedback and change requests. Most feedback indicated a desire for a more practical approach to branching compared to the first release which is more theoretical. With that in mind, we decided to reduce the conceptual part and focus on branching practices with Team Foundation Server.

What is in the package?

TFS Branching Guide - Main 2.0

This is the main article which briefly explains branching concepts and introduces 3 levels of the most common branching scenario

TFS Branching Guide - Scenarios 2.0

A collection of less common branching scenarios

TFS Branching Guide - Q&A 2.0

A set of most frequently asked questions with answers

TFS Branching Guide - Drawings 2.0

A set of branching drawings in different formats including a large branching poster

TFS Branching Guide - Labs 2.0

A couple of examples for hands on labs with step by step instruction for practicing the branching scenarios

Download: here

Skype Collaboration Provider for TFS

neno — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:09:34 GMT

The Team Foundation Server Power Tools (October 2008) introduced a new "Team Members" node, which offers the ability to quickly identify which subteams and actual team members belong to a TFS team project. Additionally you can see their online status.

Support for Office Live Communicator and Windows Live Messenger is already built-in. There is an API to extend this to other IM software as well.

Nico Orschel from our team used this API to implement support for Skype, which is the IM we primarily use at AIT TeamSystemPro Team.

Our Skype Collaboration Provider (including source code) can be found on Codeplex at:

http://www.codeplex.com/tfscollab

Some screenshots:

A very Basic Process Template to start with

neno — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 22:34:22 GMT

If you want to start small with your team project you might consider the "Basic Process Template" instead of the built-in MSF Agile and MSF CMMI process templates. It can find on MSDN. From the description:

The basic process template includes:

one work item type: bug,
three queries: AllWorkItems, MyWorkItems, and MyWorkItemsAllTeamProjects,
a basic Windows SharePoint Services team portal (created from the default site template),
and a SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services site that has the following reports on it: Builds, Bug Rates, Quality Indicators, Tests Failing Without Active Bugs and Load Test Summary.

Use this process template as a basic starting point and an alternative to the MSF for Agile Software Development or the MSF for CMMI Process Improvement templates.

Step 1: Upload the process template to your TFS

Step 2: Create a new team project (using the new process template)

Step 3: Discover what's been created

Link: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms194993(VS.80).aspx

Visual Studio 2008, .NET 3.5 and TFS 2008 Service Pack 1 released

neno — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 10:31:00 GMT

Service Packs for VSTS/TFS do not only contain bug fixes, but quite a few nice new features as you can read here (more general) and here (TFS-specific).

Download links:

TFS Installation Guide
Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server Service Pack 1 (full)
(updates TFS, Team Build and TFS Proxy)
Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 (Online installer)
Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 (ISO)
(updates Visual Studio and Team Explorer; requires 4.225 MB free HDD space)
.NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 (Online installer)
.NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 (full)

If you have trouble installing SP1 look here and here.

Tip #1: Uninstall Visual Studio Hotfixes first

If you previously installed a Visual Studio 2008 Hotfix, you must run the Hotfix Cleanup Utility before installing Visual Studio 2008 SP1. For more information, see Visual Studio 2008 Hotfix Cleanup Utility for Installing Visual Studio 2008 SP1.

Tip #2: Have enough disk space available on your primary hard drive:

You can read here why.

Tip #3: If you have Team Explorer or TSWA on your TFS you need to install... (Thanks to Hakan Eskici)

... Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 and TFS 2008 Service Pack 1 (in that order!).

Tip #4: Integrate installation of TFS and SP1 ("Slipstream")

The steps to produce a so-called "slipstream" installation package are documented in the TFS Installation Guide in the chapter "How to: Integrate the Installation of Team Foundation Server and Service Pack 1".

There are a few reasons why you must do that (e.g. upgrading to SQL Server 2008) you can read in Brian Harry's blog post.

Tip #5: Ignore Windows Update reboot prompt (Thanks to Brian Harry)

If you get a Windows Update prompt to reboot during SP1 installation, ignore it (don't reboot). Wait until after the SP1 installation completes and then reboot.

Tip #6: Uninstall and reinstall Team System for Database Development GDR (Thanks to Brian Harry)

If you have a prerelease of the Team System for Database Development GDR (that supports SQL 2008) installed, you will need to reinstall it after upgrading to SP1.

Screenshots from applying TFS 2008 SP1:

Screenshots from applying VS 2008 SP1 (online installer) on at TFS with only Team Explorer installed:

Screen Gallery: Installing TFS Power Tools 2008

neno — Sun, 11 May 2008 11:29:36 GMT

Screenshots from a successful Power Tools installation

Step 1: Installing Windows PowerShell

Step 2: Installing TFS Power Tools

FIX: An unexpected error occurred while trying to add a web part to a project portal in TFS 2005

neno — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:42:00 GMT

Due to a lot of requests about this pretty common problem.

Steps you did:

You browsed for a web part:
You selected one and hit "Add":
You got the error message: "An unexpected error occurred."

This is a know issue with WSS 2.0 and a hot fix [1] can be requested at Microsoft which corrects this behavior.

I tried this with various customers and we could then successfully add new web parts after applying it.

Enjoy!

[1] http://support.microsoft.com/kb/915746/en-us

Can't find Team Foundation Server 2008 Standard Edition?

neno — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 23:21:00 GMT

TFS 2008 is released! Well… at least the Workgroup and Trial Editions are available. And the Standard Edition won’t be available until January (when the product keys are available as well).

So the solution for now Microsoft recommends you to use the Trial Edition and upgrade it to the full-blown Standard Edition later.

Enjoy!

V-Modell XT Generator creates TFS Process Templates

neno — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:07:00 GMT

Microsoft Germany [1], The Center of Software Concepts at the Technical University of Munich [2] and Zühlke [3] released the V-Modell XT Generator [4] that creates process templates for working with the V-Modell, which is a process modell widely asked for by German customers working for the public sector. It is available via Codeplex.

Congratulations to Marcus Alt [5] from Microsoft and the whole team for realising this project which was quite a bit of work as I experienced first hand!

[1] http://www.microsoft.de/

[2] http://zfs.in.tum.de/

[3] http://www.zuehlke.com/index.php?id=2&L=2

[4] http://www.codeplex.com/VModellXTTFS

[5]http://blogs.msdn.com/marcalt/

Some impressions:

CollabXT V-Modell® XT Generator

Instantiated V-Modell® XT in TFS

V-Modell® XT Work Items in in TFS

V-Modell® XT Work Items in WebAccess

Whitepaper: Operations Guidance for Team Foundation Server

neno — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 12:25:02 GMT

Summary: You can manage your deployment of Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server more effectively if you create your own operations plan. As you create your plan, you should understand key elements of the architecture of Team Foundation Server and how your deployment topology affects operations. This white paper explains those elements in detail, so that you can avoid common problems with your deployment.

Contents

Overview

Understanding Your Team Foundation Server Topology

Managing Service Accounts

Managing Groups, Users, and Permissions

Managing Backup and Recovery

Managing Configuration Information

Monitoring Team Foundation Server

Creating an Operations Plan

Conclusion

Author Bio

Additional Information

Link: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb663036(VS.80).aspx

Free Add-On: Team System Web Access (TSWA) Power Tool by Microsoft

neno — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 16:10:07 GMT

Microsoft now offers version 2.0 of the Team System Web Access (formerly known as TeamPlain Web Access from DevBiz, which was acquired by Microsoft ) free of charge as a Power Tool with official Microsoft Customer Service support!

Download it from here.

Get a detailed list of all improvements here.

Make sure to read the Visual Studio Team System Web Access FAQ.

Copy area and interation structure using the Area Import/Export Tool

neno — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 19:21:48 GMT

If you look for a way to export and import your area and/or iteration structure the Team Foundation Object Model (TFOM) is your friend.

However it’s only your friend if you know where to look for.

While the export works perfectly using the WorkItemStore, the import is only possible through the ICommonStructureService (and could be used for export as well).

At the bottom you can download the source code of TFS Area Import/Export Tool.

It saves your area and/or iteration structure into a text file and lets you import it into another project (even on another Team Foundation Server).

Feedback is appreciated.

Version 1.0.1 – compiled against Team Explorer 2008
File Attachment: AreaImportExportTool_1.0.1.zip (25 KB)

Version 1.0.0 – compiled against Team Explorer 2005
File Attachment: AreaImportExportTool.zip (69 KB)

Upgrade your Team Suite 2005 with Team Edition for Database Professionals

neno — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 10:11:21 GMT

You have the Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite installed – containing the Architect, Developer and Tester role. If you haven’t done so you can upgrade your installation (trial or full version) free of charge with the Team Edition for Database Professionals in two steps.

Install Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Database Professionals (Add-On) on top of your current Team Suite installation. (Download it from here.)
Install the updated MSDN Library for Visual Studio 2005 (ships as part of Team Edition for Database Professionals)
Re-apply Service Pack 1 (yes, this will take ages…).
Optionally install Service Release 1 (currently available as a CTP pre-release version).
Verify the installation was successful by looking at Help|About.

Checklist: Things to have prepared before starting a new TFS install

neno — Wed, 02 May 2007 21:29:22 GMT

Especially if you don't have the fastest internet connection and/or are not too organized in storing your MSDN DVDs properly it's worth preparing all files and DVDs before heading towards an install of TFS:

Here's the list of things you'll definitely need for a fresh TFS installation:

Team Foundation Installation Guide (Download latest version here)
In large organizations: Request »TFSService« and »TFSReports«
Don't forget to request the two domain accounts (TFSService and TFSReports) in time!
Windows Server 2003 installation files (media or files)
Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (Download here)
Note: Run Windows Update afterwards and install all Post-SP2 updates.
SQL Server 2005 installation files (media or files)
SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 (Download here)
Note: You do not have to install SP1 or the hotfix provided with TFS if you install SP2 instead.
Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 with Service Pack 2 (Download here)
Team Foundation Server CD (media or files)
Visual Studio Team Foundation Quiescence GDR (Download here; read KB919156)
Apply to: TFS or both tiers if dual-server install
Team Foundation Server SP1 (Download here)
Apply to: TFS or both tiers if dual-server install, and Team Build Server
Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite SP1 (Download here)
Apply to: All machines with Team Foundation Client installed.

Happy Installing!

Posters can make complex things easy to remember

neno — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 15:49:16 GMT

Willy-Peter Schaub [1], a fellow VSTS MVP [2], is our "king of Posters" when it comes to visualize complex things from Microsoft recommendation and best practices papers into nice and easy-to-remember posters!

Microsoft Team System Branching poster [3]
Microsoft Team System Security Mapping
Microsoft Team System Single Server Deployment
Microsoft Team System Source Control
Microsoft Team System
Microsoft Team System Process Overview
Microsoft Team System Source Control
Microsoft Team System Single Server Install
Microsoft Team System Security Mapping
and many more (also not VSTS/TFS-related)

You can download them under Posters at www.drp.co.za [4] and after you discover all the posters you like you probably won't have any free spot on the wall left. :-)

Happy "Wall-Filling"!

[1] http://dotnet.org.za/willy/default.aspx

[2] https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/communities/mvp.aspx?product=1&competency=Visual+Developer+-+Team+System

[3] http://dotnet.org.za/willy/archive/2007/04/24/0202-microsoft-team-system-branching-poster-beta2-posted-on-www-drp-co-za.aspx

[4] http://www.drp.co.za/Media/Posters/tabid/73/Default.aspx

Get the free unlimited TeamPlain Web Access license

neno — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 21:07:30 GMT

Wow, now where TeamPlain Web Access is free for all TFS customers [1] you need to 'upgrade' your license to the unlimited license.

The creators - DevBiz - describe the process (which is as easy as downloading a ZIP file and placing it to a specific directory) in their blog at [2].

Enjoy! :-)

-Neno

P.S. BTW: If you've bought TeamPlain Web Access within the past 30 days before the Microsoft you can reclaim the money, but you need to do it asap since it is only a short time offer (see [1]).

[1] http://blogs.msdn.com/bharry/archive/2007/04/02/update-on-devbiz-acquisition.aspx

[2] http://dev.devbiz.com/blogs/teamplain/archive/2007/03/28/unlimited.aspx

Download: Team Foundation Power Tool v1.2

neno — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 09:56:27 GMT

The Power Tools are always a must-have download. Although they are 'officially unspported' they give you funcionality upfront that is probably going to be in the next version of Visual Studio.

New and added features include:

Team Foundation Server Power Tool Commands (tfpt.exe) - A command-line tool with enhanced functionality for Team Foundation Version Control with graphical user interfaces for some commands.
Process Template Editor - A tool integrated with Visual Studio for authoring custom work item types and some of the associated process template components.
Check-In Policy Pack - A set of handy check-in policies to address needs customers have expressed. These include Custom Path Policy, Forbidden Patterns Policy, Changeset Comments Policy, and Work Item Query Policy.
Test Tools Build Task - A tool that allows running unit tests by simply specifying the DLLs, or by specifying a file name pattern in TfsBuild.proj, instead of using .vsmdi files to specify tests to run.