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TFS Upgrade - Post Upgrade Checklist

By now you have completed the steps to upgrade to Team Foundation Server 2015. The last remaining items are to run through the post upgrade checklist. Once you have completed the checklist, you should be able to announce a successful upgrade.

The steps below are taken from the TFS Upgrade Guidance and updated for Team Foundation Server 2015. If you didn't install certain components, such as SQL Reporting Services, then modify your checklist accordingly.

NOTE:

  • The Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) has been deprecated for 2015.
  • CHM files: For 2015 users should use the online documentation and download pages for offline use.
  • BPA, Power Tools and the CHM files are still great resources for 2013 and previous.
Context When the upgrade is finished, you have to check everything works as expected/wanted.
Personas Dave, the TFS Administrator, performed the TFS upgrade, Garry, the Dev Lead, is one of the core users of the environment and Jane, the Infrastructure Specialist, owns access to environment impacted by the upgrade.

Verifications

Environment Verification

After the upgrade is completed, the first step is to check the environment to make sure that these services are up and running: Services from The Data Tier as well as from the Application Tier, Test and Build Controller and Lab Management.

Operations Verification

You may notice that the Operations verification may overlap with some of the environment verification processes.  Therefore, if you can connect from a supported client (Team Explorer, Visual Studio, Web access, Excel, SharePoint, etc.,) to your upgraded TFS Instance, that is an indication that most of your services are up and running.  For other validations, such as SharePoint or Reporting Services, you would need to ensure that they do not point to the old environments. In addition, the old environment should be in quiesced or offline at this point.

Checklists

NOTE: In case the warehouse rebuild was part of the upgrade, you may not have the reports and TFS Cube working correctly for a while.  You can skip the related validations and return to them later when TFS is operational.

Server side validations

Application Tier

Step

Instructions

1. Windows Services ꙱ - Done
  • At the Run prompt, open Services.msc to open the Services MMC and verify that the following services are in Running state as shown in figure below.  clip_image001
  • Verify the following TFS services are running:
    • Visual Studio Team Foundation Background Job Agent
    • Visual Studio Test Controller
    • Visual Studio Online Build Agent
    • Visual Studio Standard Collector Service
    • Visual Studio ETW Event Collection Service

2. Event Logs ꙱ - Done
  • Run eventvwr from the Run Command and review Application and System Event Logs for any possible errors.

3. IIS Management Console ꙱ - Done
  • Verify that the following TFS Web sites are started:
    • Team Foundation Server

4. TFS Admin Console ꙱ - Done
  • Verify that the TFS admin console can be opened.  Opening the admin console successfully provides some basic assurance that the installation or upgrade ran smoothly.
  • Run TFS admin console and verify the following:
    • Verify all URLs, connection strings and settings for all components are accurate
    • Verify all project collections that they are attached, enabled and pointing to the right SharePoint and Reporting Services locations
    • Analyze TFS logs and look for any errors coming from the upgrade process.

5. Team Web Access ꙱ - Done
  • You can run Team Web Access from Visual Studio or from the following URL, and browse through each team projects, backlogs, code and work items. https:// <ServerName>:8080/tfs/DemoCollection/CmmiTeamProjectDemo

6. TFS Web Services ꙱ - Done
  • You can run TFS Web Services from a browser to verify some of the TFS components. To check the warehouse status, access the URL: https://<ServerName>: 8080/tfs/TeamFoundation/Administration/v3.0/WarehouseControlService.asmx?op=GetProcessingStatus.

7. TFS Admin Interface ꙱ - Done
  • Access additional monitoring tools via Web Access to view Activity Log and Job Monitoring. 
  • Launch the link https://your-server:8080/tfs/_oi and navigate to “Job Monitoring”.
  • Verify that all the jobs are running correctly.
  • Review the “Job History” tab and verify if any Jobs have failed.

Data Tier

Step

Instructions

1. SQL Config Manager ꙱ - Done

2. Event Logs ꙱ - Done
  • Review Application and System Event Logs for any possible errors.

3. SQL Server Management Studio ꙱ - Done

  • Connect to your SQL Instance and verify that all necessary databases are attached and running in multiuser mode.

  • Connect to Analysis services and verify TFs_Analysis database is present and that you can browse Team System cube.

Report Server

Step

Instructions

1. Windows Services ꙱ - Done
  • Verify Reporting Services are running by navigating to Windows Services and ensuring that SQL Server Reporting Services is running.

2. Event Logs ꙱ - Done
  • Review Application and System Event Logs for any possible errors.

3. Reporting Services Configuration Manager ꙱ - Done
  • Run the Reporting Service Configuration tool (RSConfigTool) from the Run Command  and verify the settings:
    • Service Account
    • Web Service and Report manager URL
    • Database

SharePoint Server

Step

Instructions

1. Windows Services ꙱ - Done
  • Run services.msc from the Run Command window and verify that SharePoint services are running:
    • SharePoint Administration
    • SharePoint Tracing
    • SharePoint Timer

2. Event Logs ꙱ - Done
  • Review Application and System Event Logs for any possible errors.

3. IIS Management Console ꙱ - Done
  • Verify that the SharePoint Web sites are started:
    • SharePoint Central Administration
    • SharePoint – 80 (or other web application used by TFS)

4. SharePoint Central Administration ꙱ - Done
  • Run the SharePoint admin console and verify the following system settings:
    • System Settings: Manage servers in this farm
    • System Settings: Manage services on server
    • Monitoring: Review problems and solutions
    • Monitoring: Check Job Status

Client side validations

Visual Studio

Step

Instructions

1. Connect to TFS ꙱ - Done
  • Connect to your TFS using Visual Studio Team Explorer.
  • Verify that you can see all the Team project Collections and Team projects under each Collection.
  • Choose a project collection on which to perform the client side validations.

2. Version Control ꙱ - Done
  • Run Source Control Explorer and verify that you can run various operations:
    • Browse and see your files
    • See history
    • Manage workspaces
    • Get latest version

3. Work Items ꙱ - Done
  • Verify that you can see and run work items queries, open the work items, etc.

4. Builds ꙱ - Done
  • Verify that you can:
    • See Build definitions and open them, see the builds history, etc.
    • Manage Build Controllers and you see them online.

5. Reports ꙱ - Done
  • Verify that you can see the Reports folder and open the reports.

6. Project Portals ꙱ - Done
  • Verify the Project Portal setting.  Try to open the portal for a Team Project.

SharePoint Portal

Step

Instructions

1. URL ꙱ - Done
  • Verify that the correct portal address (URL) opens when selected.

2. Layout and components ꙱ - Done
  • Verify that the portal shows correctly dashboards, reports and TFS Web Parts (work items, builds, etc.)

3. TF Web Access Link ꙱ - Done
  • Verify that you can open Team Foundation Web Access.

Additional steps

Step

Instructions

1. Disaster Recovery ꙱ - Done

2. External Applications ꙱ - Done
  • Update connection strings of any applications accessing TFS if necessary, for example after performing a migration-based upgrade.

3. Process Template ꙱ - Done
  • You may want to update your current process templates or existing Team Projects to use new features, especially when upgrading from TFS 2008. 
  • You should pay special attention that custom process templates still work as expected.  You may need to create a New Team Project using your custom process templates.

4. Server Ready! ꙱ - Done
  • Communicate to the users that the system is available and provide a new connection string if necessary, for example, after performing a migration-based upgrade.

5. Post release monitoring ꙱ - Done

Other post configuration steps to consider

Step

Instructions

1. MSF for Agile ꙱ - Done
  • If you have updated a team project based on v5.0 of MSF for Agile, perform manual updates described in Update the Workflow for Agile Team Projects.  For more information, please see Configure Features after a TFS Upgrade.

2. Team Web Access ꙱ - Done
  • If you have team members that will use one or more of the following TWA features, you will need to provide them Full access to TWA.
    • Portfolio Backlogs
    • Feedback
    • Team Rooms
    • Test case management
  • To change access level, please see Change access levels.

3. SMTP ꙱ - Done
  • If your team will use the feedback request and code review features, make sure that you have configured an SMTP server for TFS.

4. Admin Only ꙱ - Done
  • If you are the server administrator for TFS and do not actually contribute to a team, then you may want to remove yourself as a member, and add a project lead as the team administrator.
  • Your user account was added automatically as a team administrator for the team project when you ran the Configure Features wizard.

NOTE: If the farm has multiple Application tiers, you will need to uninstall the existing TFS installation and install TFS 2013. Once installed, use the “Application Tier only” wizard to add the new Application Tiers to the farm.

For more information refer the link https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee259684.aspx .

Related Posts

A special thank you to everyone who laid the foundation on previous and current TFS Upgrade guides: Aaron Hallberg, Ajay Bhosle, Allen Clark, Andre Scripa, Anisha Pindoria, Bijan Javidi, Caroline Williams, Christian Nielsen, Ed Holloway, Ewald Hofman, Fabio, Stawinski, Francisco Fagas, Gordon Beeming, Hosam Kamel, Jeff Bramwell, Jens Suessmeyer, Jim Szubryt, Martin Hinshelwood, Mattias Sköld, Michael Fourie, Mike Abrahamson, Osmar Landin, Patricia Wagner, Petr Moravek, Pierre Donyegro, Pieter Gheysens, Pramod Vasanth, Stefan Mieth, Stephen Olner, Tony Feissle, Thomas Isler, Vlatko Ivanovski, William H. Salazar, Willy-Peter Schaub.

Authored by Caroline Williams
Avatar As the Developer Solution Specialist for Microsoft Netherlands, I support customers regarding Visual Studio, MSDN and ALM. In addition to the commercial aspect, I actively spend time building new ALM communities, particularly in Africa and gladly give my time to various volunteer causes. You can reach me at caroline.williams@microsoft.com

Comments

  • Anonymous
    August 14, 2015
    When we are going to have Power tools for TFS 2015??

  • Anonymous
    August 14, 2015
    Hi Aslam, Per Brian Harry's blog, they should be out in about 2 weeks.

  • Anonymous
    September 01, 2015
    @Aslam, The TFS 2015 Power Tool we released last week: blogs.msdn.com/.../tfs-2015-power-tools-are-available.aspx

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