Team Foundation Server

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Azure DevOps Server
Basic data

developer Microsoft
Publishing year 2006
Current  version 2019 Update 1.1
(December 10, 2019)
operating system Microsoft Windows
programming language C ++
category Software development
License proprietary
German speaking Yes
visualstudio.com/de/tfs/

The Azure DevOps Server , formerly Team Foundation Server ( TFS ), from Microsoft is a platform for collaborative software projects . It can be used to plan , create and manage projects . He can manage up to 2000 developers and 500 projects. For small projects there is the Express Edition, which is available free of charge for a maximum of five users. TFS runs on servers under Windows and is the successor to Microsoft Visual SourceSafe in the history of Microsoft's source code management systems . With version 2019, the product was renamed Azure DevOps Server .

Support of the development process

The TFS supports various development processes based on the process templates . Templates for the standard CMMI , agile software development or Scrum procedures are included. Other manufacturers offer further process templates. All process templates are in the form of XML files, so that an (XML) editor is generally sufficient for editing them. However, for easier and faster adaptation, a tool is available with which the adaptations can be made directly in the development environment. The documentation supplied with the process ("Process Guidance") is static, but can be adapted and recreated thanks to the available source files.

Components of a process template are work items , reports , queries and various documents.

The team members involved can edit process steps with various tools (for example Microsoft Visual Studio , Microsoft Excel , Microsoft Project , Microsoft InfoPath , Microsoft Word or Microsoft Outlook ) and initiate the corresponding work steps (“ workflows ”). The programs mentioned are integrated directly into the TFS so that one can work on a uniform platform.

While developers usually install the TFS Office integration with Visual Studio, non-developers had to install Team Explorer including Visual Studio Shell for a long time - since TFS 2015, the lighter Team Foundation Server Office integration has been sufficient to work with, for example, Excel or Project Use TFS or Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS). Alternatively, the web interface of TFS and VSTS, which is much more powerful than earlier versions, can be used with a browser . Depending on the task, the use of Excel continues to offer significant advantages, including the possibility of working offline and greater work efficiency when changing large amounts of data or using external data sources.

Features

Version control

TFS integrates its own version control for the source code of the managed projects. The common operations of a version control system are supported.

Build

The TFS building engine is called TFBuild (also: Team Foundation Build or Team Build ) and enables the automatic creation ("build") of the developed product, optionally with documentation. You can also run unit tests and generate statistics or reports. It is also possible to integrate external applications, for example, to analyze assemblies that have been created or to check security guidelines.

The 2005 and 2008 versions of TFBuild are based only on the MSBuild build tool . Version 2010 also uses the Windows Workflow Foundation to run builds together. A new feature of version 2015 is to use other build engines such as Apache Ant or Apache Maven for the builds as an alternative to MSBuild .

At least the 2015 version of TFBuild can be used not only with Team Foundation Server, but also with Visual Studio Online.

Reports

Reports are automatically created via an integrated data warehouse (including metrics , error statistics, performance analysis ). The reports are tailored for different target persons (those responsible for costs, developers, project managers) and each give an overview of the project status. The technical basis is a so-called “report server”, which generates its output via a Microsoft SharePoint server . This means that the reports can be used both directly and in Microsoft Project, Excel and within Visual Studio.

User administration

The TFS can either be operated as a server in an Active Directory or individually. For user administration, the server knows the Windows users and groups as well as other groups in the TFS. When creating a project, four groups are created automatically: Read access (Readers) , write access (Contributors) , Administrators (Project Administrators) and an internal group for build management (Build Services) .

The authorizations for the “Sharepoint Server” and the “reporting system” must be set manually by the administrator. For this reason, it is advisable to define and use Windows groups.

Server structure

The TFS was developed on the principle of a layer architecture . The application and data layers can be installed on a single server or on separate servers.

The TFS requires the following software:

From version 2010 the Team Foundation Server can also be installed on a client operating system. A basic configuration is offered for this, which uses the express version of Microsoft SQL Server for data storage. This type of installation is intended for individual developers who want to use the Team Foundation Server. Microsoft would like to establish the Team Foundation Server as the successor to the Microsoft Visual SourceSafe product , which is no longer maintained by Microsoft.

The individual components, with the exception of the Windows server operating system and the SQL server, are part of the product.

Interoperability

There is a utility that provides interoperability between TFS and other version control systems. There is one for Git as a cross-platform Java helper program (Git-tf) or as a pure Windows program (Git-tfs) . An exchange platform for PTC Integrity is also available.

See also

literature

  • Roland Puffer, Markus Wippel: Working with the Teamfoundation Server 2010. Microsoft Press Germany 2010, ISBN 978-3-86645-441-5 .
  • Steven St. Jean et al .: Professional Team Foundation Server 2013. John Wiley & Sons, Indianapolis 2014, ISBN 978-1-118-83634-7 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Teamwork with Visual Studio 2005 (heise.de)
  2. ↑ Overview of Team Foundation
  3. ↑ Team Foundation Server - Planning Roadmap
  4. ↑ Team Foundation Server Express 2013 (heise.de)
  5. ↑ Holger Schwichtenberg: Azure DevOps is the successor to Visual Studio Team Services and Team Foundation Server. In: Heise Online. September 10, 2018, accessed April 3, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Process Templates and Tools
  7. ↑ Customizing MSF Process Guidance
  8. ^ Team Foundation process guides
  9. ↑ Work with VSTS (or TFS) Work Items from Excel without installing Team Explorer , published August 7, 2017, accessed August 20, 2018.
  10. ^ Sayed Ibrahim Hashimi, William Bartholomew: Inside the Microsoft Build Engine: Using MSBuild and Team Foundation Build. Second Edition, Microsoft Press, Redmond 2010, ISBN 978-0-7356-4524-0 , pp. Xxi.
  11. ↑ Team Foundation Server Reporting
  12. ↑ Using Reports and Metrics
  13. ↑ Manage permissions
  14. ↑ Model-based tool integration and data exchange platform agosense.symphony (agosense.com)