Monthly Archives: August 2007

Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 Service Pack 1

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Somehow I missed the announcement that SP1 was released for Virtual Server 2005 R2.  Given that I run nearly all my development (and some non-development) environments on R2, I’m surprised I didn’t catch wind of SP1!

You can download SP1 here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=BC49C7C8-4840-4E67-8DC4-1E6E218ACCE4&displaylang=en.  It’s interesting to note that Vista flavors are listed as supported host operating systems, yet include a “non-Production only” caveat.

I run Virtual Server 2005 R2 on Vista Business without any problems (well, if you know some tricks).  As I upgraded I noted the following:

  • When installing SP1, be sure to turn off the Virtual Server service, else you will receive the following warning:

warning 

  • It will detect the previous version and force you to upgrade:

image

  • I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure that some of these options are new.  Sorry, I haven’t had the time to research them – when I do, I promise I’ll post my findings.

image

The upgrade seemed to go without a problem.  I was able to mount and start my virtual machines without any problems whatsoever.

Viewing help files in Windows Vista

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I know this is old news, but this post is primarily a reminder to myself — I keep forgetting!  If you try to open a recently downloaded (or installed) help file (*.chm) in Vista, you will get the following message:

Navigation to the webpage was canceled

Navigation to the webpage was canceled.  Retype the address.

In order to view the help file, you have to right-click the file, choose Properties, and then click Unblock.

CHM properties

Thanks to Bill Evjen’s for the reminder.

Deleting Team Project in TFS doesn’t really delete the Team Project

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One of the things I learned while setting up a virtual Team Foundation Server (TFS) environment is that there are definitely a few “gotchas.”  I encountered one of these while writing up some documentation on how to integrate a Web Application Project (WAP).

Before I began documenting the procedure, I went through and confirmed that everything would work.  When I was finished, I figured I would delete the Team Project and start over.  However, this didn’t work as I expected.  Here’s what I did:

  1. Created Team Project.
  2. Added my WAP to the Team Project source control.
  3. Created a new Build Type.
  4. Ran the new build.  Worked fine.
  5. Deleted the Team Project.
    • Clicked Start -> All Programs -> Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 -> Visual Studio Tools -> Visual Studio 2005 Command Prompt
    • Typed the command: TFSDeleteProject /Server:<ServerName> <TeamProjectName>
  6. Created a new Team Project with the same name.
  7. Added the WAP to the Team Project source control.
  8. Created a new Build Type.
  9. Ran the build and received the following error:

TF50608: Unable to retrieve information for security object $PROJECT:vsts:///Classification/TeamProject/<guid, it does not exist.

TF50608: Unable to retrieve information for security object $PROJECT:vsts:///Classification/TeamProject/<guid, it does not exist.

Turns out that when you delete a Team Project, it isn’t really deleted.  Parts of the project, including version control and work items, are maintained in the Team Foundation Data Warehouse and aren’t removed when the project is deleted.  Consequently, when you recreate a Team Project there is lingering data.

This is pretty disappointing; it seems that, for all intents and purposes, TFS is corrupt.  The only way I could move forward was to create a new Team Project with a different name.

Anyone have any insight?

Setting up a virtual Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server

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Although it has its share of issues, I am a big fan of Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server (known as TFS for short).  Often you’ll see people only leverage it for a source code repository, but if that’s all you are using it for then you are missing out.  In addition to storing source code, TFS also supports:

  • Code analysis
  • Build automation
  • Support for continuous integration
  • Automated testing
  • Reporting
  • Project tracking

I have found TFS to a very useful tool for all my custom development projects, especially Commerce Server 2007.  From a developer’s perspective, I find that I am much more excited about cod analysis, build automation, continuous integration, and testing; the project tracking and management functions are great, but it’s the developer tools that really tickle my fancy.  As such, I have included around 15 to 20 pages of content in my book Professional Commerce Server 2007 on how to successfully integrate Commerce Server 2007 and TFS.

To support my writing efforts, I needed to have a TFS environment available during the writing of these chapters.  I virtualize nearly all my non-production environments, and it was no different when I setup this server.

To save myself some time, I started with one of my base servers that had the following characteristics (it is extremely handy to have one of these servers archived):

  • Windows Server 2003 Standard R2 with Service Pack 2 (and all updates applied)
  • IIS installed and configured
  • .NET 2.0 installed with latest hotfixes
  • Visual Studio 2005 Team Developer installed w/ Service Pack 1
  • SQL Server 2005 Database Services with Service Pack 2

This gave me a huge head start in setting up my TFS environment.  For the rest, you should utilize the Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Installation Guide.  Below are some notes I took on what I did to finish the installation and configuration of TFS.

Install and Configure TFS

(Wow, for some reason Live Writer did an awful job with this list – the RSS feed is a mess!  Sorry!)

  1. Changed the computer name from “BaseServer to “TFServer.” (reboot)
  2. Updated SQL Server to use the new computer name.  Ran the following script:

    sp_dropserver ‘BaseServer’
    GO
    sp_addserver ‘TFServer’, local
    GO

  3. Deleted all the SQL Server remote logins that I didn’t need.
  4. Restarted SQL Server 2005.  Don’t forget to do this; otherwise, when you run SELECT @@SERVERNAME the old computer name will return.
  5. I think joined “TFServer” to my local domain. (reboot)
  6. You should use domain accounts to manage TFS.  I created the following domain accounts:
    • TFSSetup (make this account part of the local Administrators group on TFS)
    • TFSService
    • TFSReports

  7. Confirmed that IIS 6.0 has ASP.NET enabled, and also confirmed that FrontPage Server 2002 Extensions is not installed.
  8. TFS makes use of more than SQL Server 2005 Database Services.  I Installed the following additional SQL Server components:
    • Analysis Services
    • Reporting Services
    • Integration Services

  9. Shutdown the Analysis, Reporting, and Integration services.
  10. Installed Service Pack 2 for SQL Server 2005 to upgrade additional components.  The Database Services had already been upgraded, so I didn’t have to touch it.
  11. Installed Hotfix for Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 (KB913393) – this is avail on the TFS CD.
  12. Installed Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 with Service Pack 2
  13. I decided to reboot the machine; all the services I previously stopped are turned back on, and then I can login as <domain>TFSSetup.
  14. Configured Reporting Services:

    image_thumb[6]

    • Click Start -> Microsoft SQL Server 2005 -> Configuration Tools -> Reporting Services Configuration.
    • Do the following:
      • Create a Report Server Virtual Directory
      • Create a Report Manager Virtual Directory
      • Apply the Web Service Identity
      • Configure the Database Setup
    • I left the remaining steps alone.

  15. Installed TFS.
    • Selected a Single-Server Installation.
    • Pass the System Health Check .
    • Used <domain>TFSService to run TFS.
    • Used <domain>TFSReports to run Reporting.
    • Enabled Team Foundation Alerts:
      • Configured local server.
      • Setup from e-mail address.
  16. Backed-up the Reporting Services Encryption key:

    image

    • Ran the Reporting Services Configuration Tool
    • Clicked Encryption Keys, and then Backup.

  17. I then browsed to the following URL: http://localhost:8080/services/v1.0/Registration.asmx
    • Clicked GetRegistrationEntries and then clicked Invoke.
    • Ensured that the type was “VSTF” within the XML output.

  18. Installed Team Explorer (on the TFS CD).
  19. Installed Visual Studio Team Foundation Service Quiescence GDR:
  20. Installed Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server Service Pack 1.
  21. Installed Team Foundation Build.
    • Opened the “build” folder on the TFS CD.
    • Ran Setup.exe.
    • Used <domain>TFSSERVICE as the service account.

  22. Ran Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server Service Pack 1 again to update Team Foundation Build.
  23. One final reboot.

Now, to verify that everything was installed and configured properly, I performed confirmed that I was able to create a new Team Project.

Create a Team Project in TFS

  1. Open up Visual Studio 2005
  2. Click View -> Team Explorer
  3. Click Add Existing Team Project

    image

  4. Select your Team Foundation Server, and click OK.

    image

  5. Right-click your Team Foundation Server, and click New Team Project.

    image

  6. Follow the wizard and create a new Team Project.

All together, this process took around 3 hours.  Granted, this would have taken a lot longer if I hadn’t already had a virtual machine that was mostly configured.

I hope this helps!

Milestone: 100 feed subscribers

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I started blogging as a way of archiving tips-and-tricks I learn everyday so that I can go refer back to the post rather than having to constantly re-learn everything.  I have also tried to document ways I have solved various problems and issues that I am confronted with while working with various technologies.  I’ll admit that, originally, this blog was a purely selfish endeavor – I wasn’t motivated by any altruistic reasons, I simply wanted to have a way to archive things I’ve learned so that I could refer back to them.

Recently, though, this has all changed.  I didn’t realize how much satisfaction I’d receive from seeing the that other people are also finding value in my posts.  As readership has increased, and I get more and more feedback from people that found a solution to their problem in one of my posts, I have tried to post better and more useful content.

100 readers

I know that 100 feed subscribers is a small milestone (many of the blogs I subscriber to have thousands of subscribers), but nonetheless I am proud of the slow, organic growth I’ve seen in my feed subscribers and blog visitors.  I don’t try anything gimmicky – all I do is post content based on thing things I do everyday and the things I learn along the way.

I just thought I’d share my feed stats with you.  It’s neat (at least, I think it is) to see the growth of subscribers since the day I started tracking them.  Here are my FeedBurner stats:

Feed Stats Dashboard

At the same time, traffic to the blog itself has continued to grow.  Here are stats from Google over the same period:

Google dashboard

(Amazing how visits just plummet on the weekend!)

Thanks to all of you that subscribe to my blog or occasionally visit.  And special thanks to those of you that e-mail me or leave a comment.  For those of you that haven’t contacted me one way or another, please drop me an e-mail or write a comment once in awhile.  I would love to learn who you are and what you find valuable about my blog.

Thanks!