Inside VSTS

Upgrading to Team Foundation Server 2010

Mickey explores what's involved in upgrading to Team Foundation Server 2010.

• By Mickey Gousset
• 05/27/2010

Upgrading From Previous Versions of Team Foundation Server

There are plenty of organizations out there still using Team Foundation Server 2005 and 2008. Upgrading from both of those versions to Team Foundation Server 2010 is fully supported. You can upgrade to Team Foundation Server from the following previous editions:

• Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2005 with Service Pack 1
• Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2008
• Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2008 Team Foundation Server with Service Pack 1

When considering an upgrade scenario, one decision you will have to make is whether to continue using your existing hardware, or if you will move to new hardware at the same time you perform the upgrade. These are called "in-place" upgrades, and "migration" upgrades, respectively.

With an "in-place" upgrade, you will continue to use the same hardware that was used with the previous Team Foundation Server system. With an in-place upgrade, the following general steps are used:

• Shutdown the old Team Foundation Server
• Backup all the databases related to Team Foundation Server
• Uninstall the previous version of Team Foundation Server
• If necessary, do the following:
•     Install/Upgrade SQL Server 2008 Database Engine
•     Install/Upgrade SQL Server Reporting Services and SQL Server Analysis Services
•     Install/Upgrade Windows Sharepoint Services 3.0 or Microsoft Office Sharepoint
• Install Team Foundation Server 2010
• Run the Upgrade Wizard

With a "migration" upgrade, you will upgrade your hardware while you upgrade to Team Foundation Server 2010. The following general steps are used when conducting a migration upgrade:

• Backup the old Team Foundation Server
• Shutdown the old Team Foundation Server
• Backup all databases, including team portal data
• Install/Upgrade the SQL Server 2008 Database Engine
• Install/Upgrade SQL Server Reporting Services and SQL Server Analysis Services
• Install/Upgrade Windows Sharepoint Services 3.0 or Microsoft Office Sharepoint
• Restore old databases to new hardware
• Install Team Foundation Server 2010
• Run the upgrade wizard

One nice feature of performing an in-place migration is the old system is still up and running. This allows you to run the old and new system simultaneously, allowing you to work with Team Foundation Server 2010 before you fully commit to moving to the platform.

So which type of upgrade should you perform? As with most questions with computers, the answer is: it depends. An in-place upgrade is usually easier and less complex to perform, but a migration upgrade allows you to improve the scalability and performance of your system by installing more powerful hardware.

Other Things To Consider
When upgrading from a previous version of Team Foundation Server, there are some software infrastructure pieces you may have to upgrade, of which you should be aware.

Team Foundation Server 2010 requires SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2008 R2 for the database backend. If you are going to be using the reporting pieces of Team Foundation Server 2010, then you will also need to install SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services and SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services. If you are running SQL Server 2005 as the backend of your current system, you will need to update SQL Server appropriately.

One thing to consider when installing Reporting Services is if the Report Server is not installed on the same server as Team Foundation Server, then users who connect to projects using Team System Web Access will not be able to click on links to reports.

Also, Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 is no longer supported. In order to use the portal aspects of Team Foundation Server, you will need to upgrade to either Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 or Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. SharePoint products are NOT installed during the Team Foundation Server installation, so any SharePoint installs/upgrades need to be performed BEFORE the Team Foundation Server installation.

As with Reporting Services, if the portal server is not installed on the same server as the Team Foundation Server, then users who connect to projects using Team System Web Access will not be able to click links to documents.

Finally, you do not have to upgrade your project portal when you upgrade Team Foundation Server. You have the ability to add a portal to your Team Foundation Server environment at a later time. If you do this, remember you will have to manually create links between your upgraded projects and the portal.

Updating An Upgraded Team Project
Once you have upgraded your Team Foundation Server (and subsequently the team projects on that Team Foundation Server), you may want to update your team projects to have some of the new features provided by Team Foundation Server 2010. The following are some of the features and functionality you can add access for:

• Use of the Product Planning and Iteration Backlog workbooks
• Use of Microsoft Test Manager to manage test efforts
• Continue to use customized reports in the upgraded team project
• Provide dashboards and reports in Microsoft Excel
• Use most current reports to monitor team progress
• Synchronize custom person-name fields by using Active Directory or a workgroup

To add these new features, you will have to manually update the upgraded team project. This link (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=187509) provides information and detailed steps on how to add the above features to your upgraded team project.

Conclusion

Upgrading from a previous version of Team Foundation Server to Team Foundation Server 2010 might seem to be a daunting process, but with appropriate planning and consideration, the upgrade is a straightforward process. For more information on installing and upgrading Team Foundation Server 2010, the first place you should look is the Installation Guide and the Administration Guide. The MSDN Forums are also a great place to look for answers and ask for help concerning your upgrade