Visual Studio Team System (VSTS) Blog - by Neno Loje : For IT-Administrators

Be aware: don't use underscores in server names

neno — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 12:07:53 GMT

An underscore ("_") is not a supported character for a server name according to the RFC standards and therefore Windows will warn you when trying to use it as part of a DNS name.

Symptoms

ASP.NET applications that use session state, like Team System Web Access, will work when invoked using the IP (http://1.1.1.1:8090/) but will fail after some crazy redirecting with a DNS error when using the server name (http://my_tfs:8090/).

Workaround

You can add a DNS alias and avoid using underscores in server names in the future.

(Thanks to Hakan Eskici from Microsoft for pointing this out.)

Update: Hakan now blogged about this: Strange TSWA connection issue if the server name contains an underscore character.

Update #2: Microsoft published KB article 968549 about this.

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

FIX: TFS 2008: Delete lost when you merge from delete-branch to trunk

neno — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:22:00 GMT

> KB article

> Hotfix download

Your TFS user base is growing? Scale up or out!

neno — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:52:41 GMT

Are you concerned about performance?

You can scale out by...

installing a TFS proxy which will cache all version control downloads and therefore reduce the load on your TFS app tier.
splitting your single-server TFS installation in an separate application tier and data tier (dual-server-configuration).
moving the data warehouse (SQL Server Analysis Services) database to a separate server.

Or scale up by...

moving to another hardware configuration.

Beware of configuration changes - TFS might not like them

neno — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:48:47 GMT

If one of the following action are planned you should ready the appropriate documentation:

Documentation on how to troubleshoot TFS issues

neno — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:45:23 GMT

Check the Windows Event Log.
Run TFS Best Practices Analyzer.
(part of the Power Tools, requires PowerShell to be installed first)
TFS-Team Explorer 2008 Troubleshooting Guide (@ MSDN Forums)
Have a look at the available troubleshooting documentation on MSDN:
For connection trouble have a look at:
Troubleshooting connections to TFS

Screen Gallery: Creating a Team Project in TFS 2008

neno — Sun, 11 May 2008 16:30:31 GMT

Screenshots from a successful team project creation.

Screen Gallery: Upgrading WSS 2.0 to WSS 3.0

neno — Sun, 11 May 2008 11:40:57 GMT

You updated to TFS 2008, but since the upgrade process doesn't touch your already installed WSS you are responsible for upgrading it yourself.

Official Guidance:

Upgrading SharePoint Products and Technologies for Team Foundation Server

Step 1: Run Prescan.EXE

Resulting log file:

Resulting XML file:

Step 2: Install WSS 3.0

Step 3a: Upgrade (invoked automatically by setup)

(Be aware: if you do not use the same port as your TFS is configured to talk to today you need to change the TFS registration using TFSAdminUtil afterwards!)

Step 3b: Still Upgrade (not in the web browser)

Step 4: Finalization (manual step)

Step 5: Uninstall WSS 2.0 (manual step)

Step 6: Install & configure TFS Extensions for WSS (located on the TFS media)

Step 7: Verify success by creating a new team project

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

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!

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

Enabling email functionality in Team System Web Access (TSWA)

neno — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 16:28:42 GMT

By default, the email functionality in Team System Web Access (TSWA) is disabled and users will receive the following message when trying to use it:

“Sending email is not enabled. Please contact your administrator.”

To enable you need to change TSWA’s web.config file, which can be found under %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team System Web Access\Web.

Change the setting “sendingEmailEnabled” to true.
And specify your SMTP server name under “host”.

Optionally you can specify which account to use when authenticating with the SMTP server and if SSL should be enabled as well as the default email address for the sender.

Where can you use the email functionality?

You can send…

single work items (from the work item form)
multiple work items, i.e. the result of a work item query

The email function can be found in the “Tools” menu.

The “Send Email” window allows you to specify the sender’s (“From”) and receiver’s (“To”) email address, as well as subject and message.

After hitting send a message box confirms that the mail was successfully routed to the email server.

This is how the receiver will see the message if it’s about a single work item:

… or about a work item query result:

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

Make it speak your language! Switch to a localized TFS version

neno — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 18:40:00 GMT

You have the english version of TFS and would like to change to a localized one, like Korean, Japanese, German, Italian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Spanish, and French?

No problem: just grab documentation on how to do it and the tools from this package:

Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server Language Change Packages

Brief Description

The Language Change package provides international customers with the instructions and tools necessary to convert an existing Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server (English) to a localized version of Team Foundation Server.

[Download]

Keep it running: Tips for Periodical Maintenance

neno — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 17:07:00 GMT

All tasks that should be performed on a regulary basis are listed here.

Deleting old load test results (via Bill Barnett's blog)

The list in this post will be constantly updated. If you have any suggestions please write a comment!

Team Foundation Server for Administrators

neno — Sat, 09 Jul 2005 12:24:00 GMT

Tips & Tricks

VSTS Tip How to unlock an item locked by another user

Forums & Discussion

Visual Studio Team Foundation Server Setup & Administration, Microsoft Technical Forums