Upgrading to TFS 2015 in production - DONE
I am onsite today with a customer in London to do an upgrade of their production system to TFS 2015. We have a backup of the databases and a snapshot of the VM and are good to go.
Unable to load task handler PowerShell for task VSBuild
If you are setting up to run Team Foundation Server’s vNext build system that Microsoft is previewing on VSO you may hit a “Unable to load task handler PowerShell for task VSBuild with version 1.0.1” error when you try to build on Windows Server Technical Preview.
It's that time again; get ready to upgrade to TFS 2015
With the release of Team Foundation Server 2015 CTP you should be starting to plan your upgrade strategy. It’s going to be a tough one but you should get ready to upgrade to TFS 2015 now.
Using the Build vNext capabilities and demands system
Using the Build vNext capabilities and demands in VSO is one of the new cool features of the vNext build system being developed by Microsoft on VSO. Download Team Foundation Server 2015 today Microsoft has released a CTP of TFS 2015 that includes the vNext build system. You can download TFS 2015 and try it out today. Remember that this is not a go-live version and you should not install it in production.
ALM Events and public courses in 2015 Q2
I have had a lot of folks asking for dates of the public courses that I will be running in the next few months. When I moved back from the USA and started consulting I initially alighted at my parents’ house as the house I was in before moving out was still being rented. Well that house was sold and so, for my one day a week visit home between engagements, I have been staying at my parents. I know… I am sure there is a joke in there somewhere. I have been getting many requests for online live ALM training, and unfortunately my parents has had no room to run them.
Create a Build vNext build definition
I am going to show how to create a Build vNext build definition on VSO. Microsoft recently announced the creation of a brand new build system for TFS and VSO at the Connect event last year. This new build system will eventually replace the current one and be much more modular and friendly. Happily I am in the early adopter program and the product team just made an early alfa of the service available for that program and I have been giving it a spin.
My journey into Professional Scrum
It has been just over a year since I returned from 3 years in the USA and started naked ALM Consulting, and things are going well.. So far. The key to success in software development is, I believe, Professional Scrum.
Managing your Azure VM's with your Phone
I have been doing quite a bit of ALM Training recently and have been trying to figure out how best to manage my training VM’s. Download Mobile Azure Manager from US Store
The benefits of Visual Studio Online for the Enterprise
I last posted on why you should use Visual Studio ALM due to a customer ask, and now I have been asked to justify a move to Visual Studio Online for a company looking to use it for about 5,000 people.
Do you need an expert in Visual Studio ALM, TFS, or Scrum?
Due to the decimation of the oil prices one of my larger customers has had to cancel our engagement for February. I am suddenly and surprisingly available in February! I usually have engagements booked out up to 3 months in advance and that makes for some difficult conversations with potential customers that want me onsite within two weeks. I have been trying to limit any one customer to no more than 2 consecutive weeks to mitigate this, but customers can be demanding. I did have an engagement booked in Oslo for February. I was going to be migrating over 20 Team Projects into a single uber Team Project. I was really looking forward to it… then a barrel of oil dropped to below $50…
Could not load file or assembly while configuring Build vNext Agent
If you are using Windows Server 2012 R2 to test out the new vNext build agent then you may run into an error where it could not load file or assembly while configuring Build vNext Agent.
Configure a Build vNext Agent
I am going to show how to configure a Build vNext Agent on VSO. Microsoft recently announced the creation of a brand new build system for TFS and VSO at the Connect event last year. This new build system will eventually replace the current one and be much more modular and friendly. Happily I am in the early adopter program and the product team just made an early alpha of the service available for that program and I have been giving it a spin.
Creating nested teams in Visual Studio ALM
I just got a question on Teams without areas using Team Field in TFS and I decided that it warranted a bigger answer. The question was around creating nested teams and how to achieve it. Now, this applies to both Visual Studio Online and Team Foundation Server if you are using area path, and only TFS if you are using Team Field.
Why should I use Visual Studio ALM
I see many organisations looking at TFS and trying to make the decision on why should I use Visual Studio ALM. Often you already have some tools and you want to move to TFS, or you have TFS and you are evaluating other tools as part of a reorganisation.
Join a machine to your azure hosted domain controller
Now that you have finished moving your Domain Controller Azure VM to a Virtual Network ] you need to be able to join a machine to your azure hosted domain controller.
Understanding TFS migrations from on-premise to Visual Studio Online
I have recently been doing a lot of migrations and Willy asked me to write a white-paper about understanding TFS migrations from on-premise to Visual Studio Online.
Create log entries in Release Management
I have been working through my demos for NDC London next week. And I found it almost impossible to create log entries in Release Management where I wanted. While in London for NDC 2014 I was in the same building as the filming of Mission Impossible 5. I worked on a TV show for my work experience at school and ended up with an IMDB profile and what always struck me was how much time was spent getting one a few minutes or even seconds of footage. If you ever get a chance to even be in the audience for a 30 minute comedy show, be warned… you will be there for at least 6 hours to get only 25 minutes of air time.
NDC London 2014: Why TFS no longer sucks and VSO is awesome
I was in London last week to do a talk on why TFS no longer sucks entitled “ Second Look, Team Foundation Server & VSO ”. I had a tone of preparatory work to do too make the demos smooth. The great god Murphy was however not smiling, but he was not angry. Some errors occurred, but no blue screens.
Create a Standard Environment for Release Management in Azure
Next week I will be speaking at NDC London 2014 and I have been working on my demo. Since Connect() everything for a little bit easier and I need to create an environment for Release Management for Visual Studio 2013.
Create a Release Management pipeline for Professional Developers
Now that I have it configured I want to show how to create a Release Management pipeline for Professional Developers and Development Teams. I was speaking at NDC London 2014 this week and as my talk is all about how Team Foundation Server does not suck like it used to back before 2012 I need to demonstrate automatic environment deployments as part of my demos with a Release Management pipeline. This session is specifically geared towards users of 2005, 2008, or 2010 that got frustrated with the lack of some features. Specifically hierarchical work item relationships and teams among others. I want to show that the advances since the 2012 release of the product really make it worth considering again.
