Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

Asher F. — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 18:48:25 GMT

Here are my 0.02$....

The most important things for me, as someone who deployed TFS are:

1. a smooth migration from TFS 2005 (with or without SP1) to TFS Orcas. maybe an analysis step before doing the actual migration.

a well defined guidelines on how to perform a rollback in case the migration fails.

2. TFS Web access - (we didn't deploy it yet, I was playing with it a couple of month ago).

Currently - one of the supported deployment scenarios of TFS Web Access is on a DMZ, i.e. when the server running TFS-WA is not a member of the domain, please make sure this keeps working.

also (seen this in the forum) an easy way to cut out access from TFS-WA. i.e:

1. enable/disable specific features (source control, work item, etc...)

2. enable/disable access to certain projects from it (I might want to prevent web access to specific projects even if the user has access rights to them).

3. lock to a specific TFS server, currently (if I remember correctly) the WA login screen asks the address/URL of the TFS server.... this is really bad(IMHO)

that's all!

keep up the good work.

DT on DC

onovotny — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 20:21:12 GMT

At the very least, can you please enable the DT to run on a DC in multi-tier mode? It works flawlessly once the install-time check is removed. I'm sure that there are issues with SharePoint and RS running on a DC, but SQL Server runs on it just fine.

Thanks,

--Oren

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

bharry — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 21:02:26 GMT

Yes, you will be able to use a SQL Server running on a domain controller in a 2 tier TFS install. In Orcas, we no longer have an installer that runs on the SQL machine. Because of this, we don't check anything on the SQL machine any more other than the fact that we can properly access the SQLServer.

Brian

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

onovotny — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 03:35:41 GMT

Brian, that's great news about the data tier.

One other pain point that I've come across (partially due to WSS 2) is changing the AT name to a FQDN. It would be really nice if the installer prompted for a FQDN rather than assume the hostname of the machine and installed appropriately. The TfsAdminTool should also work with this, updating SharePoint and all .config files to use a new hostname.

I recall that trying to setup a FQDN for the v1 product was painful, largely due to hostname/site creation issues with WSS. If that could all be ironed out so that it's simple to change the FQDN, it would be a huge headache-saver.

Thanks again!

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

bharry — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 15:06:31 GMT

I was just talking to the team about this one. I know we have some customers who do this so I wanted to understand the issues better. They agree that it would be nice if the setup program made this an option but are a bit worried that it would be complicating the more common case to make the less common case simpler. We'll think about this some more though.

The "sanctioned" way to do this is to install with the default machine name and then run the utility:

tfsadminutil activateat fqdn

where fqdn is the fully qualified domain name you want to use. This should update the name everywhere it needs to be updated. If this isn't working for you, we'd like to know so we can fix it in our Orcas release - this is a pretty important scenario for us.

Brian

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

onovotny — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 15:54:58 GMT

The biggest issue in v1, and over the weekend I'll check with the March CTP TFS Image, had to do with the fragility of the site creation wizard for WSS.

It's not enough to have the sharepoint site listen on port 80 for any dns names; I wanted to have it to have a host-header so that I could share the instance with a trial version of team plain (before it was acquired).

I also wanted to setup SSL-only mode for TFS using the fqdn and prohibit non-secure connections. I had to modify a few .config files, even after using tfsadminutil.

The SharePoint issues affect both day-to-day and install/upgrade time (sp1). There were all sorts of errors from the PCW saying that the site could not be found. There were also SharePoint issues in the way it works with host-headers in IIS and site mappings. None of these are impossible to overcome, but it's definitely not the easiest thing.

One of the things that could help (and reduce the need for host-headers on the AT) is if TFS + WSS + TeamPlain could be structured to work on a a single IIS site (using different app pools). A large part of the trouble was that I wanted the system to be usable externally with only ports 80 and 443. I never could get TFS and SharePoint playing nice together, nor could I get TP working with the other two on a site. I ended up using ISA Server to publish everythin on port 443 and have it redirect to the right port internally based on the request path...

One of the frustrations with the setup program was that it was all-or-nothing. There was no manual install where I could configure the system to work in my environment the way I wanted it to. The installer (and SP1) assumed certain hostnames and values and would fail to install if something happened along the way. Retries were very hard as it was difficult to know what failed unitl afterwards. It would really help if there was an "advanced/custom" install mode where it would install the bits but then let me create the IIS App Pools, Virtual Directories, SharePoint, etc. Long as a document existed that walks through the steps need to setup/configure the various parts manually (after the tfs setup puts the bits on the disk), it would have alleviated many pains as I could have adjusted things as necessary along the way.

--Oren

VSTS Links - 04/06/2007

Team System News — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 16:41:00 GMT

Rob Caron on Expression Studio for Team Suite with MSDN Premium. Brian Harry on Update on Team Foundation...

New Team System Roadmap posted

Dave's Team System Blog — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 17:36:46 GMT

See Brian Harry's blog here: http://blogs.msdn.com/bharry/archive/2007/04/05/update-on-team-foundation-server-roadmap.aspx

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

Bill Essary — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 19:32:04 GMT

We are planning to improve our admin tools for helping to configure a system to use SSL. You cite the limitations of tfsadminutil activateat <fqdn> and you are right. That command was originally designed to help with the case where a customer wants to use the FQDN externally to access the machine. It does what you might consider to be a shallow rename. It does not touch the name of the server in server-to-server communication channels. That is why it does not update things like TfsNameUrl in config files. We are hoping to add a command in Orcas that is an expanded form of the shallow update to touch protocol, machine name and port in all of the external communication paths. Adding an option to do a deep update would allow us to cover the case where a TFS system is running SSL on all communication channels (SSL-only) and the case where all externally “leaked” URLs use the HTTPS protocol, but where internal traffic flows over HTTP.

You probably found the best available solution for port consolidation by using an ISA Server reverse publishing proxy. While it is not easy to get TFS and SharePoint to play nicely together, it is possible. The key to getting it to work is to use a <location> element to embed TFS web.config settings in the root web.config for the shared site. While that works, it is also likely to cause servicing problems down the road (hotfixes, etc.). The ISA Server path is safer because you have a “stock” TFS configuration sitting behind the proxy.

We hear you (and others) on the need for more flexibility in deploying and servicing systems. We are planning to move to more of a copy/configure sort of experience. You will see incremental improvements to setup in Orcas, but the most significant changes will come in the releases that follow.

Team Foundation Server Roadmap

Matt Little's Blog — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 18:44:20 GMT

Visual Studio Code Name Orcas Available!

bharry's WebLog — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 22:05:02 GMT

Orcas Beta 1 is now available for download . I don't think all of the SKUs are available yet - they will

Visual Studio Orcas Beta 1 Ships

Willy-Peter Schaub's Cave of Chamomile Simplicity — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 23:48:34 GMT

If you want to take a look at the next generation of Visual Studio and TFS, then you will find the bits

Visual Studio "Orcas" beta 1 klar for nedlasting på MSDN

Geir Morten Allum's MS application platform hvor, hva, når, hvorfor, osv... — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 13:43:42 GMT

Orcas beta 1 er nå lagt ut på MSDN for de som er nysgjerrig på denne. Det er lagt ut images for Professinal,

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

Andy B — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 00:33:32 GMT

Any word on being able to run the app tier on an x64 OS?

Orcus Beta 1

Paul Mooney — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 14:06:58 GMT

Visual Studio Code Name Orcas Available! Orcas Beta 1 is now available for download. One thing to...

Orcas Beta 1 has shipped - summary of Team Build beta 1 features and links

Buck Hodges — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 18:04:15 GMT

As you probably already know, Orcas Beta 1 has shipped. Internally, the product team is focused on finding

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

aarnovitz — Wed, 16 May 2007 14:26:24 GMT

Error messages need to be more detailed - including security issues. It makes it kind of tough to figure out what is wrong when all you get is essentially an "error occurred and contact your administrator" and you ARE the administrator. It would also would be helpfull if each error number was for a unique problem. Again, it makes it tough when you get a error number and there is are a hundred different situations that it applies to. The error logs where a bear to go through - unless you worked on the source code for the installation process. Please keep in mind that we have (unrealistic) schedules to keep and we need to be able to resolve issues quickly.

Thanks.

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

Jon — Wed, 30 May 2007 10:38:10 GMT

Does anyone know if Project Server will be integrated into VSTS at any point?

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

bharry — Wed, 30 May 2007 20:42:01 GMT

We are working on Project Server and TFS integration for our Rosario release.

Brian

TFS "Orcas" and Teamprise

simply complex — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 21:22:48 GMT

As the upcoming release of the next major version of Team Foundation Server (code name "Orcas") gets closer, I want to write a bit about some of the new features that will be available. I'll also detail how Orcas will affect the Teamprise products and

Visual Studio Codename

TrackBack — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 04:26:50 GMT

Visual Studio Codename

TrackBack — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 04:30:40 GMT

Visual Studio Codename

Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2 is now available and includes a "go live" license!

Buck Hodges — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 01:20:04 GMT

Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2, including Team Foundation Server 2008, is now available for download . As

Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2 is now available and includes a "go live" license!

Microsoft News and Technology — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 12:25:54 GMT

Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2, including Team Foundation Server 2008, is now available for download . As

Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2 is now available and includes a "go live" license!

Qwaider Planet — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 12:45:36 GMT

Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2, including Team Foundation Server 2008, is now available for download . As

Team Build Compatibility between 2005 and 2008

Buck Hodges — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 19:19:05 GMT

The following question came up today, and I thought it would be useful to post. One thing I didn't mention

Team Build Compatibility between 2005 and 2008

Noticias externas — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 19:43:24 GMT

The following question came up today, and I thought it would be useful to post. One thing I didn't

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

NathanAW — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 20:58:24 GMT

It would be great if a build machine could run in a different (non-trusted) domain that that of the TFS server.

We'd like to run a build box inside our development domain so that it could execute the unit tests against our dev servers. With the current version of TFS, this does not seem to work.

It sounds like this may be possible in the Orcas version. Can you confirm?

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

bharry — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 17:59:47 GMT

There are a couple of alternatives. The easiest one may not be open to you. That would be to create a one way trust relationship between your domains so that your dev domain trusts your corp domain and then run your build with a service account that belongs to the corp domain.

Another alternative is to use the new Orcas feature that enables configuring client side certificates on your build machine and then have IIS map that client side certificate to a user on the TFS server.

Brian

Отзывы о Visual Studio 2008

Дмитрий Лапшин — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 18:13:59 GMT

Пока слышал только положительные отзывы своих коллег о VS 2008 Beta 2. Поскольку у нас еще немало проектов

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

Marc — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 19:00:18 GMT

#6 on the list of compatibility disconnects is pretty annoying. We are not ready to upgrade from TFS 2005 to 2008 but some of our development platforms have been upgraded from Visual Studio 2005 to 2008. This means that we cannot create new build definitions in TFS 2005 using Team Explorer 2008 until the former is upgraded.

I appreciate that the definitions are just XML files, but it is quite annoying that Team Explorer 2008 is not adequately backwards-compatible.

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

Chris — Thu, 28 May 2009 13:35:06 GMT

Hi Brian,

What is the hardware requirements for 30,000 users for TFS 2008.

Suppose if we want organizational level implementation.

Kindly let me know. Waiting for your response.

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

bharry — Thu, 28 May 2009 16:58:38 GMT

Well, it depends a great deal on what those users are doing. If they are all developers and testers (particularly those writing automation), then that's a lot of hardware. If you just mean the whole company is 30,000 people and you want everyone to be able to occasionally file a bug or look at a report, then it's quite a different story.

To give you some context, internally at Microsoft, we have about 16,000 full time TFS users (developers, testers, etc) that are supported by about 25 TFS servers of varying sizes.

To really size an installation of this magnitude you need to look at what the users will be doing, how big our managed assets are (source code file count, bug count, test case count, etc) and aspects of your processes (how many branches, how big are your merges, how many builds per day do you do, how many test runs, etc).

Brian

Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

DT on DC

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

VSTS Links - 04/06/2007

New Team System Roadmap posted

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

Team Foundation Server Roadmap

Visual Studio Code Name Orcas Available!

Visual Studio ** Orcas ** Beta 1 Ships

Visual Studio "Orcas" beta 1 klar for nedlasting på MSDN

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

Orcus Beta 1

Orcas Beta 1 has shipped - summary of Team Build beta 1 features and links

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

TFS "Orcas" and Teamprise

Visual Studio Codename

Visual Studio Codename

Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2 is now available and includes a "go live" license!

Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2 is now available and includes a "go live" license!

Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2 is now available and includes a "go live" license!

Team Build Compatibility between 2005 and 2008

Team Build Compatibility between 2005 and 2008

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

Отзывы о Visual Studio 2008

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

re: Update on Team Foundation Server Roadmap

Visual Studio Orcas Beta 1 Ships