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Before calling TFS support… ideas and information to collect

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Often when people call TFS support the first thing we do is have them list off pertinent information about their setup. In my case, that line of questioning takes the form of this template:

Before we get started, please gather the following information for me:

(1) What exact version of TFS are you using (complete with service pack)?
(2) Is your TF server install single or dual tier?
(3) Please outline your domain structure, including any domain trust relationships involved.
(4) What version of WSS are you using?
(5) Is WSS installed on the AT or a separate machine?
(6) What version of SQL server are you running (complete with service pack)?
(7) Is this a workgroup install or domain joined?
(8) Have you enabled SSL on your TFS installation?
(9) On what OS version(s) including service packs is TFS installed?
(10) Would you be willing to run a BPA scan (more info here <msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/tfs2008/bb980963.aspx>)?

Ten simple questions (well, about 60 actually when you consider all the information the BPA collects for us) that really help us understand the set up and allows us to get down to resolving the issue.  NOTE: We have an internal BPA here at Microsoft which is usually more up to date (collects more info) than the one in the Power Tools. This is simply because we can update it more quickly and often. So, if you are going to call and plan to have a Power Tools BPA run results ready for us… hold off. We’ll probably just ask your  to run ours anyway.

 

We also have a connectivity template developed by members of our CSS team (Chris Cooper and others) which provides good information about what may be happening when you cannot connect to TFS:

 

Connectivity/Problem Isolation

General Connectivity

1) Can you connect from Team Explorer on the client?

Using FQDN? Using NetBIOS? Using IP Address?

2) Can you browse Localhost:8080/Services/v1.0/ServerStatus.asmx?op=CheckAuthentication? (must be done on the AT). Use https:// and change the port number if using SSL.

3) Can you connect from Team Explorer on the AT? If Yes for 1 and 2, Skip to section Specific Connectivity.

Using FQDN? Using NetBIOS? Using IP Address?

4) Can you browse localhost:8080/Services/v1.0/Registration.asmx ? (must be done on the AT) Use https:// and change the port number if using SSL.

5) What are the results from TFSSecurity /IMX <Domain>\<User Name> /Server:<Server Name>?

 

Specific Connectivity – continue with the node that cannot connect below:

Work Items

1) Can the client connect at all to work items? If no, does it work from the server?

2) What are the results from TFSSecurity /IMX <Domain>\<User Name> /Server:<Server Name>?

3) Double-click on SourceControl node. Do you get an error?

Documents

1) Highlight the documents node in Team Explorer and copy the URL from the properties window. Paste that URL into IE and browse. What are the results?
2) Has the user been granted permissions in WSS?

Reports

1) Highlight the reports node in Team Explorer and copy the URL from the properties window. Paste that URL into IE and browse. What are the results? Can you navigate to the root of the reports site?
2) Has the user been granted permissions in SSRS?

Source Control

1) Figure out which groups the user is in using:

TFSSecurity /IMX /Server:<Server Name> <Domain>\<User Name>

Then using that information run, check the group’s and individual’s permissions using TF Permission:

TF Permission $/ -r /server:<servername>

What are the results of TF Permission? Should the user have access?

 

Technorati Tags: Team Foundation Server,Connectivity,Troubleshooting

Comments

  • Anonymous
    August 10, 2009
    Any way to get hold of this internal BPA tool? I am leading a TFS implementation and the BPA tool is picking up an error and all proposed fixes are verified to already be in place. However, I can successfully create a team project, which based on the severity of the BPA error I expected to fail. What should I trust: team project creation success or BPA?

  • Anonymous
    August 10, 2009
    Trust team project creation.

  • Anonymous
    August 10, 2009
    That was my inclination as well. The error BPA reports is that the admin account logged in as is NOT an admin account. But when I create a team project (using that same account) it works. Is this anything known to you or the group? Just a BPA false report?

  • Anonymous
    August 10, 2009
    The error might be caused by the fact that the BPA is not able to get a list of users that belog to the TFS Administrators group.

  • Anonymous
    February 15, 2010
    I've never had great success getting the BPA to run; even when project creation and everything else appears to work fine. It's frustrating, but it's not really clear what to do about this. (BPA complains about permissions, web services call failures, etc, etc, but in operation, things are okay.)

  • Anonymous
    February 15, 2010
    Ross, I would be more than happy to take a look at the BPA scan from your server. Please feel free to send it to lszomoru@microsoft.com, I will review it and get back to you. Thanks, Ladislau