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Team Foundation Server Backup and Restore Planning

40 posts · Jan 2006 – Nov 2017

What this trail covers

This thread tracks the evolution of Team Foundation Server (TFS) and Azure DevOps Lab Management capabilities, focusing on setting up and running automated build-deploy-test workflows. It details the installation of Test Controllers, configuration of Build Controllers and Agents, creation of standard environments using Microsoft Test Manager, and the execution of build-deploy-test definitions. The post also outlines how to extend this to a more realistic scenario with separate test machines and introduces unattended installation capabilities for TFS 2012/2013, allowing for pre-setting configuration parameters via command-line and INI files for efficient deployment of various TFS instance types (Basic, Standard, AT-Only, Build, Proxy, SharePoint Extensions, Upgrade).

All Microsoft trails
  1. Monitoring Team Foundation Server 2018This post recommends using System Center Operations Manager with SQL, IIS, and Windows management packs, supplemented by custom monitors and web application transaction monitoring (specifically hitting the ProjectCollections REST endpoint), for monitoring on-premises Team Foundation Server deployments. It advises against shipping a TFS management pack for TFS 2018, as the existing TFS management packs are deemed less valuable and noisier than the recommended approach. It also details how to monitor the TFS Job Agent and Build Agents using the Windows Service management pack template and existing documentation.
  2. How to perform Lab management operations in Build and Release.This post details the migration of Lab Management features from deprecated XAML builds to the modern Build/Release hub in TFS and VSTS. It explains how to leverage the SCVMM extension and task for environment creation and management (VM creation from templates, start/stop VMs, checkpoint management), build-deploy-test automation (replacing XAML build definitions with Release definitions and tasks for deployment and test execution), and self-service creation of network-isolated environments using SCVMM Network Virtualization. It provides step-by-step guidance and screenshots for implementing these functionalities within the Build/Release pipelines.
  3. Test Controller, Test Agent versions and their usage in different scenariosThis post clarifies the version compatibility of Test Controllers and Test Agents with different Visual Studio and TFS versions for both TC/TA scenarios and Team Build/Release Management scenarios. It details which agent versions can be used for which scenarios and which Visual Studio versions they can run tests built with. It also provides instructions for creating offline installers for Test Agents and explains the agent version selection capabilities in TFS 2017 Update 1's 'Visual Studio Test Agent Deployment' task.
  4. Breaking change in TFS 2015 Update 1 for server-side pluginsIntroduced a breaking change in the server object model for server-side plugins in TFS 2015 Update 1, converting Microsoft.TeamFoundation.Framework.Server.TeamFoundationRequestContext to IVssRequestContext to improve testability. This requires plugins compiled against TFS 2015 to be modified. A readiness check is included in the upgrade wizard to detect broken plugins. Support is available via email for assistance.
  5. New Environment Verification fails Saying invalid 'Domain User Name' using Microsoft Test ManagerThis post addresses a specific failure mode in environment verification within Microsoft Test Manager when configuring domain join settings. It details the problem where using a System Center Virtual Machine Manager run-as account for domain joining leads to an 'invalid Domain User Name' error. The solution provided is to use the 'Specify credentials to use for joining the domain' option instead of the run-as account.
  7. Practical guidance for TFVC and TFS on Azure IaaSThis post highlights new and updated practical guidance for Team Foundation Server (TFS) on Azure Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), including planning and setup based on real-world deployments. It also announces the third version of the Version Control guidance, split into separate topics with updated content and friendlier strategy names like 'Release Isolation'.
  8. Import virtual machines or template operation of Microsoft Test Manager throws 'Object reference not set to an instance of an object’'This post addresses a specific bug in Team Foundation Server 2012 Update 4 with System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 R2 where importing VMs or templates with no description in the VMM library share to Team Foundation Server library using Microsoft Test Manager throws an 'Object reference not set to an instance of an object' error. It provides a workaround to add descriptions to all VMs/templates and a PowerShell script to identify VMs/templates lacking descriptions.
  9. Create Lab Environment using TFS Lab Management APIsThis post introduces a C# code example demonstrating how to programmatically create lab environments using the TFS Lab Management APIs. It shows how to obtain a reference to the LabService, create LabSystemDefinitions and LabEnvironmentDefinitions, and finally create a LabEnvironment. This adds programmatic control and automation capabilities to the lab environment setup process.
  10. TF255356: Known Issue with Configuring TFS 2013 RTM Express and BasicThis post reports a known issue (TF255356) with configuring TFS 2013 RTM (Basic, Express, or Upgrade) on a server with SQL Express 2008 R2 (SP1 or SP2) installed, specifically when it's a default instance named 'SqlExpress'. The configuration fails during the servicing phase with misleading errors related to database configuration, but the root cause is the failure to upgrade the SQL Express instance to a compatible version. A workaround is provided: manually upgrade SQL Express using the TFS installation executable with specific command-line arguments (/ACTION=Upgrade /UpdateEnabled=false /INSTANCENAME=SqlExpress /SKIPRULES=RebootRequiredCheck), then reconfigure TFS. For upgrade installations, database backups must be restored before reconfiguring. For Basic/Express installations, a partial TFS_Configuration(Failed) database may be created and can be optionally dropped.
  11. Verification step of Standard Environment creation fails with team foundation server Lab Management can give error "Microsoft Test Manager can not install agent on the machine because another environment is being created using the same machine"This post addresses a specific failure mode during Standard Environment creation in Team Foundation Server Lab Management where the 'Microsoft Test Manager can not install agent on the machine because another environment is being created using the same machine' error occurs. It details the cause as the 'TestAgentInstaller' service not self-destructing and provides a workaround involving killing the process, deleting the service, removing a specific folder, and restarting the machine.
  12. Creating Fence Environments using Team Foundation Server 2013 Preview Lab Management can put Lab Environment in “Not Ready” stateThis post addresses a specific issue where creating fence environments using Team Foundation Server 2013 Preview Lab Management can result in the Lab Environment being in a "Not Ready" state. The cause is identified as the test agent firewall exception for TCP port 6910 not being correctly applied to the public profile when the guest OS is Windows 2012 R2 Preview. A workaround is provided: installing agents for the Lab Environment once. This post also references a known bug in Lab Management 2013 Preview.
  13. Creating Fence Environments using team foundation server 2013 Preview Lab Management can give error “The given key is not present in the dictionary..”Introduced a workaround for a known bug in Lab Management 2013 Preview and SCVMM 2012 R2 Preview where creating network isolated environments can fail with a 'The given key is not present in the dictionary..' error. The workaround involves repairing the lab environment. The cause is identified as SCVMM returning a failure to Lab Management even when network creation succeeds.
  14. Error TF254027: TFS Install and Language Restrictions in SQL Server (Express)Addresses language restrictions when installing SQL Server Express with TFS Express, detailing how OS language settings must match SQL Server's language for successful installation. Provides specific OS settings (UI Language, System Format, System Locale) and their corresponding Windows API calls to verify and correct mismatches. Links to external resources for further information on SQL Server language requirements and Windows language setting changes.
  15. Unattended Installation of Team Foundation Server 2012/2013Introduces unattended installation for Team Foundation Server 2012/2013 via command-line tools (`tfsconfig unattend /create` and `tfsconfig unattend /configure`). This allows administrators to pre-set all configuration parameters using INI files, eliminating manual input during the Configuration Wizard. It supports various TFS instance types (Basic, Standard, AT-Only, Build, Proxy, SPInstall, SPExtensions, Upgrade) and provides details on creating configuration files, specifying inputs, and running the configuration process. The post also clarifies that the 'unattend' commands perform configuration, and a separate install command is needed for the initial bit deployment.
  16. Getting Started with PreEmptive Analytics for Team Foundation ServerThis post provides a step-by-step tutorial for getting started with PreEmptive Analytics for Team Foundation Server (PA for TFS). It details the installation of PA for TFS, including setting up the Exception Endpoint and Exception Aggregator, and configuring the connection to the TFS server and provisioning Team Projects with extensions. The post elaborates on instrumenting applications by adding specific attributes (ApplicationAttribute, BusinessAttribute, SetupAttribute, TeardownAttribute, ExceptionTrackAttribute) and explains how to use Dotfuscator to build a new version of the executable. It also covers configuring the Aggregator by adding subscriptions, specifying Company ID and Application ID GUIDs, and setting thresholds. Finally, it outlines the deployment of the instrumented application and how to create queries for incident-type work items in TFS.
  17. Microsoft Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2012 Power Tools ShipsThis post announces the release of Microsoft Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2012 Power Tools, which includes a 'Team Foundation Server Backups' component. This component likely provides utilities or guidance for backing up TFS instances, complementing the existing feature thread's focus on application issue analysis and diagnostics.
  18. What is this Lab Management network traffic: QueryLabSystemDeploymentTasks, QueryTestMachines, QueryLabEnvironments etcThis post explains the network traffic generated by a configured Test Controller in TFS, specifically detailing queries like QueryLabSystemDeploymentTasks, QueryTestMachines, and QueryLabEnvironments. It clarifies that these packets are expected synchronization calls for managing deployment tasks, environments, and test machines within build-deploy-test workflows and automation test runs.
  19. Test Attachment, Version Control and Database sizes in Team Foundation serverExtended the TFS Administrators Toolkit to include functionality for determining the size of test attachments per team project, cleaning projects directly from the UI, updating reports from templates, updating work item types across multiple team projects, getting the size of team projects in source control, and searching for large files in source control.
  20. Microsoft Internal Usage of TFS: January - June 2012This post provides an internal usage analysis of Team Foundation Server (TFS) from January to June 2012, detailing growth trends in instances, unique users, team project collections, team projects, work items, source code files, builds per month, and test cases. It also highlights the top 10 IT-supported TFS instances across several categories and provides detailed usage statistics for each instance in June 2012.
  21. Lab Management walkthrough using Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview Virtual MachineThis post details a walkthrough for using the Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview Virtual Machine to try out Lab Management. It covers installing the Test Controller, configuring Build Controllers and Agents, creating a standard environment with Microsoft Test Manager using the same VM as the test machine, and creating/running a Build-Deploy-Test definition. It also provides instructions for a more realistic scenario involving a separate 'Test Machine' and configuring it for Coded UI Tests.
  22. What's new for Microsoft Test Manager in Visual Studio 11 BetaThis post details significant performance gains in Microsoft Test Manager (MTM) for various scenarios (connecting to a plan, displaying tests, starting testing, saving bugs, listing runs, creating lab environments) for both LAN and WAN connections. It introduces a new 'exploratory testing' activity for creating bugs and regression test suites without a pre-existing plan, supporting rich bug filing with video logs, screenshots, and attachments. Multi-line support for test steps is added using ALT+ENTER, similar to Excel, and rich text formatting is now available for test steps. Test data reduction is implemented by default, uploading only trx and data collector attachments, not deployment items or test binaries, with an option to change this behavior. The ability to clone test suites across plans using the tcm.exe utility is introduced. Usability improvements to the test steps grid include a splitter for adjusting space and accessibility fixes. Test case work items are now accessible in the Test Runner via a hyperlink, opening a read-only view. Test case results can be marked as passed or failed directly in the 'Run Tests' activity without launching the Test Runner. The 'Results' tab in the Plan Activity provides a view of test plan result status, sortable by testers or test suites.
  23. Microsoft Test Manager stuck in "waiting for test controller" stateThis post addresses a specific issue where Microsoft Test Manager (MTM) remains in a "waiting for test controller" state after test execution. It provides a by-design behavior explanation (manual refresh needed in MTM 2010), and detailed troubleshooting steps for persistent issues. These include enabling MTM and Test Controller tracing, reviewing logs, verifying MSDN article settings, ensuring the Test Controller service account has read permissions on build drop locations, confirming Test Controller and Agent readiness, adding executables to firewall exceptions, and verifying the service account has "view test run" permission on the team project.
  24. How To: Bulk edit action recording?Introduced a sample code solution to address the customer need of bulk editing existing action recordings in Microsoft Test Manager (MTM) to update UI Map changes, thereby avoiding manual re-recording of tests.
  25. QFEs and Hotfix Rollup Package for Microsoft Test Manager 2010This post announces the release of several Quick Fix Engineering (QFE) updates and a Hotfix Rollup Package for Microsoft Test Manager 2010. The updates address user feedback and include multi-line support for editing test cases, a reduction in the size of test data saved to the TFS Database, performance improvements for loading automated test cases from build-drop paths, and performance enhancements for publishing test results on test suites with thousands of test cases.
  26. Team Foundation Server on Windows Azure: A Rangers dog fooding perspectiveThis post details the Visual Studio ALM Rangers' experience 'dog-fooding' Team Foundation Server on Windows Azure. They migrated existing Team Projects using the TFS Integration Tools and created new projects on the platform. Key features highlighted include zero maintenance and administration for users due to regular back-end updates, an intuitive drag-and-drop interface for backlog maintenance that updates priority in real-time, and real-time burn-down charts and visual status of work details on the backlog, eliminating the need for manual report refreshes. The post also provides statistics on adoption, with 24 team projects and 120 members.
  27. Installing the Advanced Configuration of TFS 11 from the BUILD Conference in AnaheimThis post details the advanced configuration option for installing TFS 11, which allows for customization of default installation options. It highlights the integration of SharePoint Foundation 2010 as the default portal and its significant hardware requirements (4GB RAM minimum, 64-bit hardware, Quad core CPU). The post provides a step-by-step walkthrough of the installation wizard, covering SQL Server and Reporting Services prerequisites, service account configuration, website settings, Analysis Services, report reader account, and SharePoint installation/configuration. It also references existing guides for TFS 2010 installation and SQL Server setup, indicating that many steps remain the same.
  28. Manage and Track Your Software Project Portfolio in both Team Foundation and Project ServerThis post announces the beta release of the Team Foundation Server 2010 and Project Server Integration Feature Pack. It enables data flow from TFS work items to Project Server enterprise project plans, allowing project managers to manage portfolios across agile and formal software teams. It details three methods for managing projects, the synchronization process, and configuration options for integrating the two server products.
  29. Draft Documentation Update for Moving Team Foundation Server from One Hardware Configuration to AnotherThis post addresses an undocumented change in the `renameDT` command that invalidates existing documentation for moving Team Foundation Server (TFS) from one hardware configuration to another. It provides a draft revision of the topic to correct the inaccurate MSDN documentation.
  30. New Draft Documentation: Mirroring the Team Foundation Data-Tier ServerIntroduced draft documentation on mirroring the Team Foundation data-tier server, including configuration steps and failover procedures.
  31. DRAFT DOCUMENTATION: How to: Fail Over to a Mirrored Data-Tier Server if the Principal Data-Tier Server is UnavailableThis post details how to configure a mirrored data-tier server for Team Foundation Server to provide failover capabilities if the principal data-tier server becomes unavailable. It outlines the steps for setting up the mirror, including SQL Server configuration, and explains how to manage the failover process.
  32. DRAFT DOCUMENTATION: How to: Fail Over to a Mirrored Data-Tier ServerThis post details the configuration of failover for mirrored data-tier servers within Team Foundation Server (TFS) Lab Management. It provides documentation on how to set up a mirrored data-tier server to ensure high availability and resilience for the TFS environment, enabling a seamless failover process in case of primary server failure.
  33. Answer to an e-mail comment on Move TFS from one Domain to anotherAddresses a specific issue encountered during domain migration of TFS: SQL Server database ownership problems where the original domain account is no longer valid. Recommends the use of 'TfsAdminUtil ChangeAccount' to resolve this database ownership issue.
  34. Creating a Visual Studio Setup Project in Team Foundation BuildThis post introduces a walkthrough on configuring Team Foundation Build to create a Visual Studio setup project by using a custom task to invoke denvenv.exe. This allows for the automated creation of setup projects as part of the build process.
  35. re: Scotty's question on Team Foundation Server Move TypesThis post clarifies why the Team Foundation application-tier server name must be changed during restore-based move types. It explains that during a restore-based move, the physical server is new and will have a different MAC address and potentially a new network address. The TFSAdminUtil utility may not correctly point to the new physical server if it's run using the old server name.
  36. Upgrading from Team Foundation Server Beta 3 Refresh to the Release to Manufacturing Version (RTM) of Team Foundation ServerThis post details the specific steps and considerations for upgrading from Team Foundation Server Beta 3 Refresh to the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) version. It outlines the necessary procedures for both single-server and dual-server deployments, including backing up data, running upgrade utilities (TFSUpgrade and TFSUpgradeAT), uninstalling previous versions, installing SQL Server and ASP.NET updates, installing the RTM version, updating the reporting warehouse, and installing Team Explorer. It also covers updating build types and uploading default reports. The post highlights changes between Beta 3 Refresh and RTM, such as modifications to the warehouse cube structure and work item display names, and provides guidance on incorporating customizations and re-creating work item queries and alerts.
  37. Upgrading from Team Foundation Server Release Candidate (RC) to the Release to Manufacturing Version (RTM) of Team Foundation ServerThis post details the upgrade process from Team Foundation Server Release Candidate (RC) to the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) version. It outlines the steps for single-server and dual-server deployments, including backing up data, running upgrade utilities, and performing manual steps for customizations. Key changes between RC and RTM are highlighted, such as modifications to the Date dimension in the warehouse and the need to re-save customized process templates. The post also provides guidance on updating Team Foundation Build Servers and Proxy.
  38. More about SQL and Team Foundation ServerThis post provides links to documentation on the Team Foundation Server data warehouse, planning for current needs, planning for backing up and restoring TFS data, performing a restore of TFS data, moving team project data, and planning for disaster recovery. It also explains that TFS is built on SQL Server 2005 and uses SQL Server Analysis Services for data aggregation and reporting.
  39. Backing Up and Restoring Team Foundation Server DataThis post details the procedures for backing up and restoring Team Foundation Server data. It covers backing up the Reporting Services encryption key using the Reporting Services Configuration tool or the RSKEYMGMT command-line tool. It also outlines how to back up Team Foundation Server databases (ReportServer, ReportServerTempDB, STS_Config_TFS, STS_Content_TFS, TfsBuild, TfsIntegration, TfsVersionControl, TFSWarehouse, TfsWorkItemTracking, TfsWorkItemTrackingAttachments, TfsActivityLogging) using SQL Server Management Studio and maintenance plans for full or incremental backups. Finally, it describes the steps to restore Team Foundation Server data, including stopping application tier services, restoring databases, rebuilding the data warehouse, restarting servers, and forcing client cache updates.
  40. Planning for Disaster RecoveryThis post details the planning considerations for disaster recovery of a Team Foundation deployment. It outlines factors such as responsibility for initiating procedures, identification of critical hardware, frequency and storage of backups, and the impact of server unavailability. It also discusses cost-effectiveness of mirroring or clustering servers to mitigate disaster impact.
  41. Planning for Backup and RestoreThis post details the critical aspects of creating a backup and restore plan for Team Foundation Server deployments. It outlines the data sources requiring backup, including relational databases (work items, source code, build results, reports), OLAP databases, ADAM files for group membership, and project portal data stored in Windows SharePoint Services. It emphasizes the need to shut down IIS and specific services during backup operations. The post also covers key considerations for planning, such as the scope of backups, responsibility assignment, backup storage and retrieval strategies, selection of backup software, and the crucial step of testing backup integrity through trial restorations. It provides scenarios for data-only and server recovery for single and dual-server deployments, and details what to back up for each tier (data and application). Advanced preparation includes recording deployment details and maintaining offsite copies of backups. It also discusses media management for backup sets.