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This is a mirror of Richard Hundhausen's (aka The DBAgilist) blog "Tales from the Doghouse."
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It's generally known that if you want to run any tests, code analysis, or database
project build/deployment that you need to install one or more Team Edition of VSTS
on your build server. What's not so well known are the licensing ramifications around
these scenarios.
Fortunately Jeff Beehler,
Team System Chief of Staff, has posted
on this subject.
To summarize:
If the users creating the builds are licensed users of the edition in question
(or Team Suite), that license extends to Team Foundation Build and you don't need
to purchase an additional license. One way to think about it is: the people that are
using the Team editions need to be properly licensed which in turn ensures the that
the build machines are covered as well. Users who merely queue (execute) and review
the automated builds are only required to have a Team Foundation Server CAL.
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I know. I know. This doesn't sound like a very interesting post, but it saved me time,
and hopefully it can save you some too.
When you install Visual Studio 2008, Microsoft creates a "Visual Studio 2008 Command
Prompt" shortcut, under that program group.
I like to take this shortcut and drop it on my Quick Launch toolbar:
The problem is that when you install the Team Foundation Server Power Tools (or other
new command line utilities) you need to put them in the path.
Well, if you look at the file the shortcut calls, it's vcvarsall.bat, but don't
bother editing that file because it calls vcvars32.bat, but don't bother editing
that file, because it calls vsvars32.bat. If you go ahead and edit that file,
you can find where the PATH is getting set, and add the Power Tools path to it:
@set PATH=C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Common7\IDE;C:\Program Files\Microsoft
Visual Studio 9.0\VC\BIN;C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Common7\Tools;C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5;C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727;C:\Program
Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\VC\VCPackages;C:\Program Files\Microsoft Team
Foundation Server 2008 Power Tools;%PATH%
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I just came across this download at
Microsoft. It provides an introduction to the concepts and step by step instructions
for creating and customizing TFS reports.
The zip file contains instructional PDF documents as well as several sample reports.
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Thanks to the Team System Rangers (an elite squad of TFS experts inside Microsoft)
for putting together this document, which serves as a single point of entry into the
world of TFS Operations as well as Microsoft's recommended operational best practices.
So, start learning/mastering TFS operations by clicking here.
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Microsoft has released a new version of VSTS Web Access Power tool. This
release is a Community Technology Preview (CTP) of what will ultimately be the 2008
version of the VSTS Web Access Power Tool.
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Built against the TFS 2008 object model - In previous versions
of Web Access you had to install Team Explorer 2005 on any machine you were installing
Web Access on. With this version, you will now be installing Team Explorer 2008
instead. In some future version, Microsoft hopes to remove the requirement
to install any version of Team Explorer.
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Custom control support - added support for web based work item custom
controls and have included a folder of documentation and samples on how to create
them.
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Build queuing - added UI for the new TFS 2008 feature
of build queuing. You can start new queued builds and view the build queue (in
addition to the preexisting abilities - like viewing build details).
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Localization support - added support for localizing the web
interface. Microsoft will also be localizing text for the final 2008 Power
Tool release.
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Bug fixes & Performance improvements - Microsoft has received
a number of reports and done more testing on the current version of the
Power Tool, and has fixed everything thus far.
This release (and the final 2008 release) can be used with either a TFS 2005 or a
TFS 2008 server. In either case, you will need to install a TFS 2008 Team Explorer
on the machine you install Web Access on. Since TFS 2005 did not support build
queuing, that functionality will not be available when this and future versions of
Web Access are used with a 2005 server.
You can download it here and
read more about it at Brian
Harry's blog posting. 
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Microsoft's Patterns
& Practices group recently released the final version of the “Team Development
with Team Foundation Server” Guide. This guide has been in beta for the last couple
of months.
It shows you how to get the most out of Team Foundation Server to help improve
the effectiveness of your team-based software development. Whether you are already
using Team Foundation Server or adopting from scratch, you’ll find guidance and insights
you can tailor for your specific scenarios. It's a collaborative effort between patterns
& practices, Team System team members, and industry experts.
Some quick facts:
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496 – Total number of pages
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18 – Total number of chapters in this guide
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11392 – Total number of downloads of the Beta version of this guide
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8 – Number of attempts to get the Adobe build to work to generate the guide in .pdf
format
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60 – Number of external and MSFT contributors and reviewers
Download the guide from CodePlex. 
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Yesterday, Microsoft released a
tool to migrate from IBM ClearCase to
TFS.
Find more information on TFS migration topics, keep an eye on this blog.
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Microsoft has published a detailed KB
article about the problems fixed by SR1. The article includes a link to download the
update.
Aside from many fixes, there are three major improvements found in this release:
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Cross-database references - support is improved so that you can reference objects
within different databases by using database project references or by referencing
a database metafile (.dbmeta). This support reduces or eliminates the cross-database
reference warnings within a database project
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Improved file support within SQL Server file groups - you can define files within
file groups as database project properties instead of having to create files and file
groups within the pre-deployment storage script.
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Variables - a Variables page is added to the database properties. This new page
enables you to define setvar variables for use in the deployment scripts.
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Not only did Microsoft just recently post Beta
2 of Visual Studio 2008 (Orcas) a few days ago, but yesterday Microsoft made a CTP
of the next generation of Visual Studio Team System (codename Rosario) available for
download. Craziness ... which do I spend my time with? It's like having two mistresses
to pick from.
Anyway, here are the details, if you want to start playing with Rosario: (keep in
mind that it won't ship until some time [6,12,18?] months post Visual Studio 2008,
so at least 2009):
Finally, and most important, provide feedback to the team using http://connect.microsoft.com.
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Over the past few years, a few of my clients have deployed Team
Foundation Server Proxy to improve the performance of their remote/distributed
teams. It boosts network performance by caching copies of source control files
in a remote location, local to the developer needing the files but away from the main
source control location. In short, the proxy helps each user avoid a costly
download of the files to their workspace across the slower connection.
So why wouldn't this work for Team Build?
In today's VSTS
chat, I asked if anyone had done this. I should have expected that Buck
Hodges would have, and even blogged
about it.
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Still trying to decide if Team System is right for you and if you can afford it. I
would say you can't afford *not* to have it. Check out this list of case
studies from other companies and teams who agree with me.
Thanks to Rob Caron,
for putting together this consolidated list of the "top" Visual Studio Team System
case studies. They support a wide range of propositions by showcasing
real customers who have gone through the adoption process and have great stories to
tell.
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Microsoft just released their Team
System Web Access Power Tool (formerly known as TeamPlain).
This is a Web interface to Team Foundation Server.
If you have team members that don't want Visual Studio/Team Explorer installed on
their desktop, but they still want to participate with the project lifecycle, this
is a great, web-based approach to getting everyone connected quickly/easily. Here
are some of the features:
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Add new work items or edit existing ones
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Work with any type of work item, including custom ones
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Add new work item queries or edit existing ones
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View, download, upload, check-in and check-out documents on SharePoint team portal
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View reports, export as PDF or Excel
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Browse source control repositories, download files, view changesets, diffs, histories,
and annotated views
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View build results, start or stop builds
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Search for keywords in work items
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Authentication Modes: Integrated Windows Authentication or Forms Based Authentication
(Recommended to use with SSL)
Read more about it in Brian Harry's blog
posting.
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Join members of the Visual Studio Team System product group to discuss features available
in Visual Studio Team Foundation Server, Architecture Edition, Development Edition,
Database Edition, and Test Edition. In addition, discuss what's new in Visual
Studio 2008 Beta 2.
Microsoft will be holding two sessions:
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Join the chat on Wednesday,
August 1st, 2007 from 10:00am - 11:00am Pacific Time. Add
to Calendar
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Join the chat on Wednesday,
August 1st, 2007 from 4:00pm - 5:00pm Pacific Time. Add
to Calendar
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Bookmark this
page. For the next several weeks, Scott
Golightly (Microsoft Regional Director from Utah) and I will be publishing several
instructional videos around Team System.
Currently, there are two videos posted:
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How Do I: Customize TeamPlain?
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How Do I: Create Custom Work Items in Team Foundation Server?
More coming each week. Stay tuned ...
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This week Microsoft released the Visual Studio Team Foundation Server – Project
Server 2007 connector as a CodePlex
project. The project has been up for a few weeks, but is now being broadly advertised.
The TFS-PS2007 connector is designed to integrate the project management capabilities
of TFS with Project Server 2007. It's been developed by the Visual Studio Team System
Rangers in response to significant customer demand for a connector solution. Future
versions of Team System will have native integration with Project Server, in the meantime
this Connector solution is the best way to integrate the two Microsoft products. This
solution builds on the previous PS2003 VSTS Connector, published on GotDotNet.
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