Welcome to the Team Foundation Server 2012 Starter. This book has been especially created to provide you with all the information that you need to speed with Team Foundation Server 2012 (TFS 2012). You will learn how to set up TFS 2012, get started with version control, work items, continuous build and manual functional testing, and learn some best practices and useful tricks of the trade. You will also learn to access the TFS from other tools including Excel, and utilize the Web Access for those roles who don't use Visual Studio as their daily tool.
This document contains the following sections:
So what is TFS 2012? – find out what TFS 2012 actually is, what you can do with it, see common scenarios for use, and why it's so great.
Installing TFS 2012 – this section shows the different upfront choices regarding the adaption of TFS 2012 to your organization that you have to make, how to install it in different setups, and how to configure it for maximum benefits
The section covers:
Local install
On-premises single server setup
TFS Services (Azure) setup
Quick start – after installing TFS 2012, learn how to quickly get started with your first project. This section covers:
Creating a new Team Project with the appropriate process template
Creating a product backlog and planning a sprint
Adding a solution to source control
Creating a Continuous Integration build
Top features you need to know about – TFS 2012 is more of a platform than a fixed product. It can be configured, adapted, and extended to match your needs to a very high degree. This section will cover the use of the fundamental features of TFS 2012, which do not require any adaption. You will learn about the following:
Version control – the following topics will be covered here:
The fundamentals of TFS 2012 version control, using changesets, checkins, and history
Retrieving code from any version, annotation, labels, and so on.
How to structure your source code according to best practices and plan for future branching
How to branch and merge your code
Migration from Visual Source Safe
Work items – the following topics will be covered here:
The fundamental work items types and how to use them
Creating work items
Querying work items
Transferring work items to other tools, such as Excel
The Agile workbench – the following topics will be covered here:
How to use the new Agile Workbench
Setting up teams and areas
Planning iterations
Using the backlog
Using the task board
Build – the following topics will be covered here:
You can't live without the TFS Build! Here you learn how to use it!
Setting up a minimum build system
Configuring a Continuous Integration build for your solution
Monitoring builds
Functional test – the following topics will be covered here:
How to do functional testing—manually or automated
Setting up a test plan
Performing a test run
Doing exploratory testing
People and places you should get to know – in this day and age, it is impossible to live without the Internet and it is here that you can find resources as well as help for your possible TFS 2012 woes. This section provides you with many useful links to the project pages and forums, as well as a number of helpful articles, tutorials, blogs, and the Twitter feeds of TFS 2012 super-contributors.