KMoraz's Sandbox

New Microsoft ALM Study by Forrester

2013-04-10T03:30:00Z

“Microsoft ALM Increases Productivity, Lowers Costs, And Creates More Agile IT Organizations”

Source: Microsoft ALM : 3 year ROI of 295% and a payback period of 6 months ! According to Forrester

TFS 2012 Update 2 – Top 5 ALM Reasons To Update

2013-04-06T02:20:00Z

TFS Update 2 Offers Settings Preservation for In-Place Upgrades
No more uninstalling the previous TFS version
Work Item Tagging
Tag and filter work items easily
Web based Test Hub
Manage Test Plans from the web
Email Work Items from Web Access
Email a query or a single work item directly from the web
Web version control Improvements
Get more control and outlook on the source code over the web

Make Files Always Writable With Custom Pre-Build Task

2013-03-29T19:16:00Z

A customer has a code generation project which requires all included files to be writable, or the build fails.

MSBuild makes this easy by including our own custom targets before the core build in the optional Custom.After.Microsoft.Common.targets file:

Create files named Custom.After.Microsoft.Common.targets and Custom.targets under C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\v4.0\ (or ‘v2.0’ for MSBuild 2.0 engine).

Copy the following contents:

Custom.targets

            1: <Project ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">

           2:     

           3:     <!-- RemoveReadOnly task -->

           4:     <UsingTask

           5:         TaskName="RemoveReadOnly"

           6:         TaskFactory="CodeTaskFactory"

           7:         AssemblyFile="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.Build.Tasks.v4.0.dll" >

           8:         <ParameterGroup>

           9:             <Files ParameterType="Microsoft.Build.Framework.ITaskItem[]" Required="true" />

          10:         </ParameterGroup>

          11:         <Task>

          12:             <Using Namespace="System.IO"/>

          13:             <Using Namespace="Microsoft.Build.Framework"/>

          14:             <Using Namespace="Microsoft.Build.Utilities"/>

          15:  

          16:             <Code Type="Fragment" Language="cs">

          17:   <![CDATA[

          18:       

          19:           Log.LogMessage("RemoveReadOnly: About to get attributes of {0} files", Files.Length);

          20:  

          21:           if (Files != null)

          22:           {

          23:                 foreach (var item in Files)

          24:                 {

          25:                     var file = new FileInfo(item.ItemSpec);

          26:  

          27:                     if (!file.Exists) continue;

          28:  

          29:                     var attrib = file.Attributes;

          30:  

          31:                     if (!attrib.HasFlag(FileAttributes.ReadOnly)) continue;

          32:  

          33:                     attrib &= ~FileAttributes.ReadOnly;

          34:                     Log.LogMessage(MessageImportance.High, "{0} was made writable", file);

          35:                     file.Attributes = attrib;

          36:                 }

          37:           }

          38: ]]>

          39:             </Code>

          40:         </Task>

          41:     </UsingTask>

          42:  

          43: </Project>

The Custom.targets defines the custom RemoveReadOnly task using MSBuild 4.0 Inline Tasks. Of course this task can be implemented explicitly as a normal ITask as well.

Custom.After.Microsoft.Common.targets

           1: <Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">

           2:  

           3:     <Import Project="Custom.targets" />

           4:  

           5:     <PropertyGroup>

           6:         <CompileDependsOn>

           7:             GlobalBeforeBuild;$(CompileDependsOn)

           8:         </CompileDependsOn>

           9:     </PropertyGroup>

          10:  

          11:     <ItemGroup>

          12:         <FilesToSetWritable Include="..\**\*.*" />

          13:     </ItemGroup>

          14:  

          15:     <Target Name="GlobalBeforeBuild">

          16:  

          17:         <Message Text="&#9556;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9559;%0a&#9553; CUSTOM TARGET: GlobalBeforeBuild &#9553;%0a&#9562;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9552;&#9565;"

          18:                          Importance="high" />

          19:  

          20:         <RemoveReadOnly Files="@(FilesToSetWritable)" />

          21:  

          22:     </Target>

          23:  

          24: </Project>

line 3: import of the custom target file. The main common targets file should be clean of custom tasks definitions.
lines 5-9: inject our custom target before the common targets by overriding MSBuild’s CompileDependsOn property.
lines 11-13: define a group of files to pass the custom task.
line 20: call to our custom RemoveReadOnly task defined in Custom.targets.

When the next time any project compiles, the custom targets executed before the core compilation.
The boxed label makes will make our custom target stick out – to let anyone know the default behavior was overridden.

Conclusion

Extending MSBuild with custom tasks is sometimes a project-wide requirement. Just drop a Custom.Before.Microsoft.Common.targets or Custom.After.Microsoft.Common.targets in the MSBuild directory and let the fun begin.

Note the distinction between the before - before the core targets, which means well-known properties will be overridden by common tasks and after - after the core targets have been defined by MSBuild, allowing overriding them with our custom definitions.

Download Sources MSBuildMakeFilesWritabe.zip

Visual Studio 2012 Branching Bug?

2013-02-28T01:49:38Z

An unusual bug discovered on a customer site related to Visual Studio + TFS 2012 branching I've posted it on connect:

#780177: A newly created branch contains historical partial merges on a server upgraded from 2010 to 2012 causing unexpected conflicts

The odd part is, the 2nd workaround we've found exposes unexpected difference when running from Visual Studio UI, where tf.exe command does not seems to reproduce the problem.

Workarounds

1. Running "tf.exe merge /recursive /discard <parent> <child>" seems to fix the issue.

2. Use the command line "tf.exe branch <parent> <child>" to create the branch. Visual Studio UI seems to have different results!

Visual Studio 2012 Update 2 CTP 2

2013-01-31T22:20:00Z

Visual Studio 2012 Update 2 CTP 2 was released and brings some more fixes and improvements including the long awaited feature to send work item email from TFS web access and UI testing support for Windows Store apps.

New features in TFS:

Agile Planning

New work item tags provide lightweight metadata for work items

"Connect" dialog box is added to Team Explorer to locate different team project connections and projects

Ability to send a work item as an email message in TFS Web Access

Test Case Manager (Web Access)

Ability to view and edit test cases in a test plan from TFS Web Access
Ability to run manual test cases and file bugs from TFS Web Access

For the full list of fixes and improvements: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2797912

Download: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=273878

TFS 2012 Build Controller - Zombified by SSL Binding

2013-01-04T00:20:00Z

Problem

On the client, queued builds get stuck on the queue and never start.

On the server, build service is running, but both the Build Controller and Build Agent appear as 'Ready' with 'Stopped' icon.

After more digging, the Build-Services\Operational event viewer log revealed the reason:

Build machine build lost connectivity to message queue tfsmq://buildservicehost-2/.
Reason: Please contact your administrator. There was an error contacting the server.
Technical information (for administrator):
 HTTP code 500: System.ServiceModel.ServiceActivationException

Solution

TFS was running in SSL binding but the build service was failing to bind. First, we need to make sure the Message Queue is configured with httpsTransport binding by modifying the web.config on the App Tier under:


C:\Program Files\Microsoft Team Foundation Server 11.0\Application Tier\Message Queue\web.config

If only SSL is used, replace httpTransport with httpsTransport. Otherwise add httpsTransport.

<bindings> 
  <customBinding> 
   <binding name="TfsSoapBinding"> 
    <textMessageEncoding messageVersion="Soap12WSAddressing10" /> 
    <httpsTransport authenticationScheme="Ntlm" manualAddressing="true" /> 
   </binding> 
 </customBinding> 
</bindings>

Restart IIS (iisreset) and restart the build service.

Updated: Presenting on ALM with Team Foundation Server 2012 at John Bryce Open House

2012-12-25T17:49:00Z

A new date was published for the "ALM with Team Foundation Server 2012" event: Tuesday, February 26, 2013 where I'll be presenting the new agile features in TFS 2012. This is an open event hosted by CodeValue and John Bryce.

Click here for details and registration.

Abstract

Customers today demand faster software delivery with higher quality. ALM strategies, such as various agile methods can help. These are often backed up by powerful tools, such as TFS 2012. See how the new TFS 2012 can help your team become more agile and productive

Agenda

09:00 – 09:30 – Assembly

09:30 – 10:30 – Alon Fliess: Overview of ALM and what it means in the agile methodologies toolset.

10:30 – 10:45 – Break

10:45 – 12:00 – Kobi Moraz: Managing blocks, sprints and tasks using TFS 2012; continuous integration; working with storyboards and more.

TF400744 SetRecoveryModelToSimple.sql Failed While Applying TFS 2012 Update 1

2012-12-11T05:09:00Z

While updating TFS 2012 with update 1, the following error was thrown towards the end of the process:

[Info   @18:14:02.866] Execution results:
[Info   @18:14:02.866] Overall result: Success
[Info   @18:14:02.866] Nodes completed: 51
[Info   @18:14:02.866] Nodes succeeded: 51
[Info   @18:14:02.866] Nodes skipped: 23
[Info   @18:14:02.866] Nodes with errors: 0
[Info   @18:14:02.866] Nodes with warnings: 0
[Info   @18:14:02.866] Number of error messages: 0
[Info   @18:14:02.866] Number of warning messages: 0
[Info   @18:14:02.866] Number of info messages: 2
[Error @18:16:51.645] TF400744: An error occurred while executing the following script: SetRecoveryModelToSimple.sql. Failed batch starts on the line 1. Statement line: 1. Script line: 1. Error: 5069 ALTER DATABASE statement failed.

Solution

As implied from the error, the upgrade process failed to execute a script that sets the SQL Recovery Model to simple. The solution was to set the TFS databases (Tfs_Configuration, Tfs_DefaultCollection and Tfs_Warehouse) Recovery Model from Full to Simple prior to applying the update.

The aggravating part is that error forced us to rollback the entire update. After restoring the database to a point before the update has taken place, we uninstalled TFS 2012 App Tier completely and repeated the update process. On the second attempt when the Recovery Model in simple mode, the update applied successfully. Just need to not forget to switch it back to Full Recovery Model when done.

Presenting on ALM & Visual Studio 2012 Open House

2012-11-26T04:05:00Z

I'll be presenting at the "Special Open House: ALM & Visual Studio 2012 - Latest Features and Updates" event on Monday, December 3, 2012 about the new features in TFS 2012. This is an open event hosted by CodeValue and Microsoft.

Abstract

Visual Studio 2012 provides all the necessary tools for building modern "Apps" for the PC, the Device and the Cloud. Combining With Team Foundation Service, you get an end-to-end ALM solution that handles everything from version control and code reviews to agile planning and automated builds and tests. CodeValue is proud to present Visual Studio 2012 in a half a day professional to professional open house event.

Agenda

08:30-09:00	Gathering
09:00-09:30	Updates from Build 2012 - fresh news and excerpts	Pavel
09:30-10:15	TFS 2012 - See how the new TFS 2012 can help your team become more agile and productive	Kobi
10:15-11:00	QA Automation using VS 2012 - An easy and elegant way to deal with checking the old functionality	Stas
11:00-11:15	Break
11:15-12:00	ALM - The reality - Nova's story	Yaniv
12:00-12:45	Productivity tools - the little helpers - Visual Studio 3rd party tools and extension help developers in coding faster and easier	Igal

How To Fix Post Upgrade TFS 2012 Error "The downloaded file is corrupt. Please get the file again"

2012-11-08T03:09:00Z

"{some path}: The downloaded file is corrupt. Please get the file again."

On the TFS App Tier go to:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Team Foundation Server 11.0\Application Tier\Web Services\_tfs_data\

Delete the cache folder {GUID} folder.

Visual Studio 2012 Update 1

2012-10-30T04:44:00Z

Brian Harry posted about the first update for Visual Studio 2012 under the new release cadence, in which Visual Studio updates get released quarterly. Early adaptors can download the CTP.

"In addition to dozens of new features, we’ve fixed hundreds of bugs that we’ve found and you’ve reported."

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34818

CodeValue at BUILD 2012

2012-10-29T04:05:00Z

I was fortunate enough to join a fantastic group of 10 guys from CodeValue to attend the BUILD 2012 conference at the Microsoft Redmond, WA campus.

I'm looking forward for some great experience, fun moments and fine food. Oh, and for some interesting sessions too ;)

Changing Non-Working Days in TFS 2012 Scrum 2.0 Process Template

2012-10-16T04:21:00Z

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh739073.aspx#calculations

witadmin exportcommonprocessconfig /collection:http://tfs.mycompany.com:8080/tfs/defaultcollection /p:ScrumProject/f:"ScrumProject_CommonConfiguration.xml"

witadmin importcommonprocessconfig /collection:http://tfs.mycompany.com:8080/tfs/defaultcollection /p:ScrumProject/f:"ScrumProject_CommonConfiguration.xml"

TFS 2012 Upgrade on SQL 2012 and Error TF400069

2012-09-04T19:45:00Z

Upgrade of TFS 2010 to TFS 2012 on Windows 2012 Server SQL 2012 Server failed with:

Error: TF400069 A required component is not installed on the application tier. You must install either SQL Server Analysis Services or the SQL Server Client Tools on the application tier to ensure that the Analysis Services object model is present for warehouse processing.

Solution

Installation of SSMS 2012 (requires .NET 3.5 Framework) with Client Tools opt-in made the error go away.

TF257007 Error When Opening TFS Administration Console

2012-08-16T03:14:00Z

…followed by another error thrown on the Build Configuration node:

"The invocation of the constructor type 'Microsoft.TeamFoundation.Contorls.WPF.BusySpinner' that matches the specified binding constraints threw an exception."

These errors may occur when the TFS Power Tools 11 beta installed prior to upgrading the TFS from beta or RC version to the RTM version. The solution is simply to reinstall the Power Tools.