Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 White Paper: Team Foundation Server Version Control Setup

 Brian Harry mentioned this on his blog, and similarly, I’ve frequently been asked about integration and options for developers building solutions in Dynamics. We’ve finally got an answer, and this whitepaper talks about setting up the solution for version control integration with TFS.

Download details: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 White Paper: Team Foundation Server Version Control Setup

Aspiring Architect Series 2008

From one of my colleague, Mohammad Akif, comes this year’s Aspiring Architect series…

Aspiring Architect Series 2008

Last year we held a Web Cast series for aspiring architects that was attended by over 1200 individuals and covered a number of strategies that can help developers and IT professionals to transition to the architect roles. The Aspiring Architect Series 2008 builds on last year’s content and covers a number of topics that are important for architects to understand. Please make sure that you have gone through the 2007 series which can be found at http://blogs.msdn.com/mohammadakif/archive/tags/Aspiring+Architects/default.aspx . We are hopeful that you will find the upcoming series to be a very useful investment of your time.

June 16^th, 2008 – 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. – Introduction to the aspiring architect Web Cast series

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032380836&Culture=en-CA

June 17^th, 2008 – 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. – Services Oriented Architecture and Enterprise Service Bus – Beyond the hype

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032380838&Culture=en-CA

June 18^th, 2008 – 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. – TOGAF and Zachman, a real-world perspective

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032380840&Culture=en-CA

June 19^th, 2008 – 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. – Services Oriented Architecture (Web Cast in French)

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032380842&Culture=en-CA

June 20^th, 2008 – 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. – Interoperability (Web Cast in French)

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032380844&Culture=fr-CA

June 23^rd , 2008 – 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. – Realizing dynamic systems

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032380846&Culture=en-CA

June 24^th, 2008 – 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. – Web 2.0, beyond the hype

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032380848&Culture=en-CA

June 25^th, 2008 – 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. – Architecting for the user experience

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032380850&Culture=en-CA

June 26^th, 2008 – 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. – Conclusion and next steps

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032380852&Culture=en-CA

Moving Towards Team Development with Microsoft Visual Studio Team System

Very cool. Another series from Programmer’s…

May 22:  Why Team Development? Why
Microsoft Visual Studio Team System?

In this first 1-hour webinar session – we will introduce the basic concepts and practices of collaborative software development. The webinar leader -- a team development consultant -- will discuss key software development and implementation challenges and new and changing application lifecycle management (ALM) approaches to developing software.

We will introduce the concepts of team development and explain how this model can make your design, development and test, deployment and ongoing maintenance more effective and efficient. Throughout the webinar, you'll hear practical insights on how your development team can use Microsoft's Visual Studio Team System to support collaborative development. REGISTER NOW »

Register at https://programmers.webex.com/mw0305l/mywebex/default.do?nomenu=true&siteurl=programmers&service=6&main_url=https%3A%2F%2Fprogrammers.webex.com%2Fec0600l%2Feventcenter%2Fprogram%2FprogramDetail.do%3FtheAction%3Ddetail%26siteurl%3Dprogrammers%26cProgViewID%3D0

Osellus Visual Studio Team System Webinar

These guys really know their stuff… Osellus has been on board with VSTS since before we shipped, and they focus on the process portion of the tooling, both from a expertise, and a product point of view.

Check out http://www.starshot.com/microsoft/Osellus/May29/index.html for more details on the session! Highly recommended!

Osellus Visual Studio Team System Webinar

Visual Studio Team System 2008 Licensing

Yes, it’s true. Sometimes our developer tools licensing can be thought of as complicated.

This whitepaper gives an overview of the licensing for VSTS, and describes some typical deployment scenarios as examples.

Download details: Visual Studio Team System 2008 Licensing

Microsoft Web Deployment Tool - Tech Preview 1 - x86

A common request from customers is a way to manage moving web applications and configuration from development to staging, to production, etc….

This tool, created by Microsoft, seems to fit the bill:

Microsoft has created the Microsoft Web Deployment Tool, which provides deployment and migration support for Internet Information Services versions 6.0 and 7.0. This tool incorporates many features that enable web server administrators to deploy, sync and migrate sites, including configuration, content, SSL certificates and other types of data associated with a Web server.

IIS.net : Microsoft Web Deployment Tool - Tech Preview 1 - x86 : Download : Microsoft Internet Information Services

SharePoint Load Tests

"If you are deploying SharePoint, you really need to load test the servers before putting them into production to make sure you've sized your servers properly."  That statement about says it all.

The MOSS perf team has released sample web tests and load tests for testing Windows SharePoint Services, Office SharePoint Server, and Excel Server on CodePlex, at http://www.codeplex.com/sptdatapop 

Ed Glas's blog on VSTS load testing : SharePoint Load Tests

InCycle VSTS Info

You know, in my job at Microsoft Canada, I get the pleasure of working with lots of really awesome partners and customers. It's sometimes nice to take a step back and review how really amazing some of our closest VSTS partners are...

InCycle Software is an example of what I'm talking about. Through sheer determination and hard work, they have built a thriving business all around Visual Studio Team System, and have some great successes to show for it! They were one of the first partners to embrace VSTS and build services around it, and have deep expertise in the product, and in lifecycle optimization.

I'm particularly thrilled to see their comprehensive Team Ready Framework for improving at software development, a step-by-step approach to optimization.

If you're looking for a top-notch partner to move your .net development teams towards more successful delivery, I don't thing you can go wrong with InCycle!

InCycle VSTS Info

Just a refresher… Managing and Resetting Service Accounts and Passwords

Team Foundation Server includes several services and service accounts that run on either the server or servers hosting the logical Team Foundation data-tier, or the server hosting the logical Team Foundation application-tier, or both. Your actual services will vary. It depends on which features of Team Foundation you have installed on your data tier and application-tier servers. For example, if you have opted for a single-server setup, you will have both logical data-tier and application-tier services that run on the same physical server.

Although there are several service accounts used in Team Foundation Server, you can choose to use the same physical account for all of the service accounts. For example, you can use the same domain account as the account for both the Team Foundation Server service account (TFSSERVICE) and for the Reporting Services data sources account (TFSREPORTS). For clarity, each of the service accounts is referred to explicitly by its functional service placeholder name.

If you have deployed Team Foundation Server in an Active Directory domain, you should set the Account is sensitive and cannot be delegated option for service accounts. For example, in the following table, you should set that option for the Team Foundation Server service account TFSService. For more information about required service accounts and placeholder names used in Team Foundation Server documentation, see the topic "User Accounts Required for Installation" in the Team Foundation Installation Guide. For more information about the installation guide, see

For more information about service accounts for SQL Server, see the Microsoft Web site (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=62398).

On the Team Foundation Server application-tier server, you must change the password for the Team Foundation Server Web Services application pool, as well as for the TFS Server Scheduler and Team Build Service services. This depends on your operational needs.

See

Over time, you might need to change the password of the account that you specified as the Team Foundation Server reporting services account when you installed Team Foundation Server. This is referred to as the TFSReports account. To make this change, you must use the TFSAdminUtil utility with the ChangePassword argument. Also, you must manually update the password information in the SQL Server Reporting Services data sources.

You can also choose to replace the TFSReports account with another account. To make this change, you must use the TFSAdminUtil utility with the ChangeAccount argument and the /ra option. This tool updates Team Foundation servers by replacing the old TFSReports account information with the new information. However, it does not update SQL Server Reporting Services. You must update that information manually. In addition, be sure that the new TFSReports account has the Log on as a service permission. Finally, you must also change the msiproperty.ini file to reflect the new account name for the TFSReports account.

Required Permissions

To perform these procedures, you must be a member of the Administrators group on the Team Foundation application-tier server, a member of the SQL Server Administrator group on the Team Foundation data-tier server, and a member of the Domain Administrators group in Active Directory (if you are running Team Foundation Server in an Active Directory domain). For more information about permissions, see

For more information about how to grant the Log on as a service permission, see the Microsoft Web site (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=62101).

To grant the log on as a service permission to the account you want to use as a new reporting services service account on a Team Foundation Server in an Active Directory domain

1. On the Windows Taskbar, click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type mmc, and then click OK.
3. On File menu of the Console window, click Add/Remove Snap-in.
4. In the Add/Remove Snap-in dialog box, click Add.
5. In the Add Standalone Snap-in dialog box, double-click Group Policy Object Editor in the Available Standalone Snap-ins pane.

   The Group Policy Wizard starts.

6. On the Select Group Policy Object page, click Browse.
7. In the Browse for a Group Policy Object dialog box, find the policy object you want to modify, and then click OK.
8. Click Finish on the Select Group Policy Object page.
9. On the Windows taskbar, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Local Security Policy.
10. Expand Local Policies in the Explorer pane of the Local Security Settings window.
11. Click User Rights Assignment.
12. Double-click Log on as a service.
13. Click Add User or Group in the Log on as a service Properties dialog box.
14. Type the name of the new service account in the Enter the object names to select box.
15. Click OK.

To grant the log on as a service permission to the account you want to use as a new reporting services service account on a Team Foundation Server in a workgroup

1. On the Windows taskbar, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Local Security Policy.
2. Expand Local Policies in the Explorer pane of the Local Security Settings window.
3. Click User Rights Assignment.
4. Double-click Log on as a service.
5. Click Add User or Group in the Log on as a service Properties dialog box.
6. Type the name of the new service account in the Enter the object names to select box.
7. Click OK.

To assign a new reporting services service account to all Team Foundation Server services

1. On the Team Foundation application tier server, from the command line, find the TFSAdminUtil utility.

   By default, it is located in <drive>:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Team Foundation Server\Tools.

2. At the command line, type TFSAdminUtilChangeAccount/raoldAccountnewAccountnewPassword, and then press ENTER.

   You must enter the user name for the old TFSReports account (oldAccount), in addition to the user name and password for the new account (newAccount and newPassword).

The TFSAdminUtil utility iterates through the services and only changes those that run under the old account.

To change the msiproperty.ini file

1. On the Team Foundation application-tier server, open a text-based editor such as Notepad. Start Notepad, click Start, click Run, type Notepad, and then click OK.
2. Open the msiproperty.ini file in the text-based editor.

   The default path for the msiproperty.ini file is %programfiles% \Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Team Foundation Server\Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Team Foundation Server - ENU.

3. In the msiproperty.ini file, change the value of the VSTS_RS_USERID property to the new name of the account, where TFSReports is the name of the new TFSReports account:

   VSTF_RS_USERID=TFSReports

4. Save the file and close the text-based editor.

Over time, you might need to change the password of the account that you specified as the Team Foundation Server service account when you installed Team Foundation Server. This is referred to as the TFSService account. To make this change, you must use the TFSAdminUtil utility with the ChangePassword argument. This tool updates Team Foundation servers by replacing the old service account password information with the new information.

You can also choose to replace the TFSService account with another account. To make this change, you must use the TFSAdminUtil utility with the ChangeAccount argument. This tool updates Team Foundation servers by replacing the old service account information with the new information. Be sure the new service account has the Log on as a service permission. You must also change the msiproperty.ini file to reflect the new service account name for the TFSService account.

Required Permissions

To perform these procedures, you must be a member of the Administrators group on the Team Foundation application-tier server, a member of the SQL Server Administrator group on the Team Foundation data-tier server, and a member of the Domain Administrators group in Active Directory (if you are running Team Foundation Server in an Active Directory domain). For more information about permissions, see

For more information about how to grant the Log on as a service permission, see the Microsoft Web site (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=62101).

To grant the log on as a service permission to the account you want to use as a new service account on a Team Foundation Server in an Active Directory domain

1. On the Windows Taskbar, click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type mmc, and then click OK.
3. On File menu of the Console window, click Add/Remove Snap-in.
4. In the Add/Remove Snap-in dialog box, click Add.
5. In the Add Standalone Snap-in dialog box, double-click Group Policy Object Editor in the Available Standalone Snap-ins pane.

   The Group Policy Wizard starts.

6. On the Select Group Policy Object page, click Browse.
7. In the Browse for a Group Policy Object dialog box, locate the policy object you want to modify, and then click OK.
8. Click Finish on the Select Group Policy Object page.
9. On the Windows taskbar, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Local Security Policy.
10. Expand Local Policies in the Explorer pane of the Local Security Settings window.
11. Click User Rights Assignment.
12. Double-click Log on as a service.
13. Click Add User or Group in the Log on as a service Properties dialog box.
14. Type the name of the new service account in the Enter the object names to select box.
15. Click OK.

To grant the log on as a service permission to the account you want to use as a new service account on a Team Foundation Server in a workgroup

1. On the Windows taskbar, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Local Security Policy.
2. Expand Local Policies in the Explorer pane of the Local Security Settings window.
3. Click User Rights Assignment.
4. Double-click Log on as a service.
5. Click Add User or Group in the Log on as a service Properties dialog box.
6. Type the name of the new service account in the Enter the object names to select box.
7. Click OK.

To assign a new service account to all Team Foundation Server services

1. On the Team Foundation application tier server, from the command line, locate the TFSAdminUtil utility.

   By default, it is located in <drive>:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Team Foundation Server\Tools.

2. At the command line, type TFSAdminUtilChangeAccountoldAccountnewAccountnewPassword, and then press ENTER.

   You must enter the user name for the old TFSService account (oldAccount), in addition to the user name and password for the new account (newAccount and newPassword).

The TFSAdminUtil utility iterates through the services and only changes those that run under the old account.

To change the msiproperty.ini file

1. On the Team Foundation application-tier server, open a text-based editor such as Notepad. Start Notepad, click Start, click Run, type Notepad, and then click OK.
2. Open the msiproperty.ini file in the text-based editor.

   The default path for the msiproperty.ini file is %programfiles% \Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Team Foundation Server\Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Team Foundation Server - ENU.

3. In the msiproperty.ini file, change the value of the VSTS_USERID property to the new name of the account, where TFSService is the name of the new service account:

   VSTF_USERID=TFSService

4. Save the file and close the text-based editor.

Update: Webcast Registration Page is fixed...

Not sure how many people had issues with this, but it seems our webcast registration page was only showing new webcasts up to March 11th, so if you went to sign up for one more recently, you had no link with which to register... it's now fixed:

This session will explore Team Foundation Server 2008, its capabilities and how it supports collaborative development and rich application lifecycle management.

This session will provide an overview of Visual Studio Team System 2008 and will highlight new functionality across different products.

This session will explore Team Foundation Server 2008, its capabilities and how it supports collaborative development and rich application lifecycle management.

This session will explore the new testing capabilities being introduced in Visual Studio Team System in 2008.

sign up for the webcasts at http://msdn.microsoft.ca/vswebcasts

New Visual Studio® Team System 2008 VSTS VPC Image-Dec 2008 Expiry...

This is nice.,.. a new set of VSTS/TFS VPC images, with the VSTS 2008 Hands-on labs is now live. The updated image expires December 2008, which gives folks a LOT of time to try/learn/test VSTS and TFS.

As I mention on my webcasts, and in customer meetings, I consider using this image as the very best way to learn and evaluation the VSTS environment...

Download details: Visual Studio® Team System 2008 VSTS VPC Image (Trial)

Updates to: Visual Studio Team System Code Name "Rosario" Specifications

Some neat updates have been posted to the VSTS "Rosario" specifications. In particular, the three new ones:

Codename “TFS Bug Submission Portal” Power Tool for Team Foundation Server 2008

Send Mail from TFS

Core Linking Work Item Tracking

Check them out at : http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/teamsystem/bb936702.aspx and provide some feedback. It's great to see this stuff being made available up front, so the general community has the ability to provide feedback that may influence the final product.

Visual Studio Team System Code Name "Rosario" Specifications

It's that time of year again...

Well, spring is coming like a lamb this year. Still have snow on the ground (STILL) and got another dusting last night.

Familiar sounds are abound. For my beloved Toronto Maple Leafs, it's been a story of too little, too late. They've been excellent for the latter part of the season (among the best in the NHL), which makes the fact that they were so terrible earlier in the year seem, well... OK, so it's still depressing.

Now, interestingly enough, if you asked me a couple of weeks ago, I could have sworn I heard the distant sound of choking coming from the area around Ottawa... a little quieter now, but I expect that noise to return as the climate warms a bit.

I wish the weather was better, but for the third straight year, my IM picture changes today to:

There's always next year...

Jelle Druyts - Just Released: BuildCop v1.0!

Jelle's tool looks wicked... a great utility when managing regular builds and trying to ensure high quality, particularly in continuous integration scenarios...

BuildCop is a tool that analyzes MSBuild project files (interactively or during e.g. a daily build) according to a customizable set of rules and generates reports - e.g. is strong naming enabled, are certain project properties set correctly, is XML documentation being generated, are assembly references correct, are naming conventions respected, ...

Jelle Druyts - Just Released: BuildCop v1.0!

VSIP Addin Custom CommandBars - jonathan's blog

For some reason, the list below (thanks Jonathan) was eluding me when I was creating my "OpenInBlend" context menu for Visual Studio 2008. I post it here for posterity, as well as hoping others find it easier to locate than I did:

  public readonly static string Standard = "Standard";

  public readonly static string ClassViewItem = "Class View Item";

  public readonly static string WebItem = "Web Item";

  public readonly static string MultiItem = "Cross Project Multi Item";

  public readonly static string WebFolder = "Web Folder";

  public readonly static string ProjectNode = "Project Node";

  public readonly static string Item = "Item";

  public readonly static string Folder = "Folder";

  public readonly static string Project = "Project";

  public readonly static string Solution = "Solution";

  public readonly static string MenuBar = "MenuBar";

  public readonly static string ToolsMenuBar = "Tools";

  public readonly static string StandardMenuBar = "Standard";

  public readonly static string CodeWindowMenuBar = "Code Window";

VSIP Addin Custom CommandBars - jonathan's blog