Connect to team projects in Team Foundation Server

To share code, build apps, track work, and collaborate with team members, you connect to a team project in Visual Studio Team Foundation Server (TFS) from one of the following clients:

• Web browser, also referred to as Team Web Access (TWA)

• Visual Studio or Team Explorer

• Eclipse

From each of these clients, you can quickly switch context to a different team project and connect under a different account name. If you work remotely, you can configure your client to connect to a TFS Proxy server.

If you need to create a team project, then start here.

To get started with a code base, set up TFVC or set up Git.

Connect from a web browser (TWA)

1. If you're not a member of a TFS security group, get added as one.

2. Open a browser window and type a URL that uses the following form:

   http://ServerName:8080/tfs/

   For example, to connect to the server named FabrikamPrime, type: http://FabrikamPrime:8080/tfs/.

   The default Port is 8080. Specify the port number and directory for your server if defaults aren’t used.

   When connecting from Visual Studio Online, your URL will have this form:

   https://fabrikamfiber.visualstudio.com/DefaultCollection/

3. When you access the server for the first time, a Windows Identity dialog box will appear. Fill in your credentials and choose the OK button.

   Tip: If you select the Remember me check box you won’t have to enter your credentials the next time you connect to TWA.

4. Choose your team project or team from the set of available links.

   

   To connect to a project on Visual Studio Online, follow the link to your team project…

   

   Or, choose Browse all to select from the list of team project collections, team projects, and teams that have been defined on the server.

To switch context to a different team project

• Choose the team project you want to work on.

  

  To learn more about each hub and the tasks you can perform, see Work in TWA.

To log on with different credentials

1. Open Windows Security from the context menu associated with your name.

   

2. Enter your credentials.

   

To open TWA from Team Explorer

• Open Web Access from the home page.

  

Connect from Visual Studio or Team Explorer

1. If you haven’t already, download and install Visual Studio or Team Explorer.

2. If you're not a member of a TFS security group, get added as one.

3. Check with a team member to determine the names of the server, team project collection, and team project that you will connect to.

4. From Team Explorer, connect to the server and team project collection where your team project is defined.

   

   Select the team projects that you will work on.

   

   If it’s your first time connecting, add TFS to the list of recognized servers.

   

   If you selected just one team project, you’ll see the Home page for that project. The pages that appear differ based on the resources enabled and the source control system selected for your team project.

   Team Explorer with TFVC

   Team Explorer with Git

   To learn more about each page and the tasks you can perform, see Work in Team Explorer.

   If you selected more than one project, from the connect page, select the one you want to work on now.

   

   Your client remembers the set of connections you’ve configured. You can quickly switch from one team project to another from the connect page.

To change accounts when connecting to Visual Studio Online

1. From the connect page, choose the Select team projects link to log on with different credentials.

   

   The Switch User link appears only when you are actively connected to a team project hosted on Visual Studio Online.

2. Sign on using a valid Microsoft account—an account that is associated with a Visual Studio Online team project.

To change accounts when connecting to TFS on-premises

• To run Visual Studio under an account that is different from your logged on Windows account, open the context menu for devenv.exe to access your run as options.

  

  You can locate the executable in the following folder: Drive:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\Common7\IDE\.

Connect from Eclipse

1. If you haven’t already, install the TFS plug-in for Eclipse.

2. If you're not a member of a TFS security group, get added as one.

3. Use the Team Foundation Server perspective in Eclipse to connect to TFS.

   

   Note

   Your TFS perspective may appear in a different pane than what’s shown here.

   The Add Existing Team Project dialog box appears. Choose the Servers… button.

   

   The Add/Remove Team Foundation Server dialog box appears. Choose the Add button.

   

4. Copy your team project's URL from the browser.

   

   If you use Visual Studio Online, connect to http://{your account}.visualstudio.com. If you use an on-premises installation of TFS, use http://{server}:{port}/tfs. The port will usually be 8080, but it could be different for your installation.

5. Select your team project collection, and then select your team project.

   

   Now you’re connected. The pages that appear differ based on the resources enabled and the source control system selected for your team project.

   Team Explorer with TFVC (Eclipse)

   Team Explorer with Git (Eclipse)

   To learn more about each page and the tasks you can perform, see Work in Team Explorer.

Configure Visual Studio to connect to TFS Proxy

If your remote team uses a TFS Proxy server to cache files, you can configure Visual Studio to connect through that proxy server and download files under Team Foundation version control.

1. First, make sure that you have connected to TFS using Team Explorer as described in the previous section.

2. From the Visual Studio Tools menu, open the Options dialog and expand the Source Control folder. On the Plug-in Selection page, confirm that Visual Studio Team Foundation Server is selected.

   

3. On the Visual Studio Team Foundation Server page, enter the name and port number for the TFS Proxy server. Select the Use SSL encryption (https) to connect checkbox.

   

   Make sure you specify the port number that your administrator assigned to TFS Proxy.

To Configure User Tools to associate a file type with a compare or merge tool, see Associate a file type with a file-comparison tool or Associate a file type with a merge tool.

Q & A

Q: What other clients support connection to TFS?

A: To manage work items, you can use Excel or Project. To manage test efforts, you can use Microsoft Test Manager.

For an overview of all Team Foundation clients and the tasks they support, see Choose the Team Foundation client to support your tasks.

Q: What compatibility issues exist between client and server versions?

A: Some tasks or features aren’t available when you connect to a later version of TFS than which your client supports. See Compatibility between Team Foundation clients and Team Foundation Server.

Q: How can I determine the TFS version I’m connecting to?

A: From a web browser and for an on-premises TFS, enter the following address: http://ServerName:8080/tfs/_home/About.

For Visual Studio Online, enter the following address: http://AccountName.visualstudio.com/_home/About.

Q: How do I connect from a Microsoft Office client?

A: To connect to Excel or Project, go here. To link a storyboard to a work item from PowerPoint Storyboarding, go here.

Q: How do I clear the cache on client computers?

A: When the on-premises TFS configuration changes, such as when moving or splitting a project collection, you might have to clear the cache.

1. Log on to your client computer for Team Foundation by using the credentials of the user whose cache you want to clear.

2. Close any open instances of Visual Studio.

3. Open a browser, and browse to one of the following folders, depending on the operating system that is running on the client computer:

   • Windows 8

     Drive**:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Team Foundation\4.0\Cache**

   • Windows Vista or Windows 7

     Drive**:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Team Foundation\2.0\Cache**

   • Windows XP or Windows Server 2003

     Drive**:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Team Foundation\2.0\Cache**

4. Delete the contents of the Cache directory, including all subfolders.

Q: What can I do if I can’t connect?

A: Here’s a list of the most frequently encountered connection problems and what to do about them. Start at the top and follow it in the order indicated.

1. Verify that you have required permissions.

   If the errors that you receive indicate read-only or blocked actions, you might not have permission to act on the data.

2. Verify that your computer is connected to the network and can access network resources.

3. Verify that TFS hasn’t been taken offline. Talk with your TFS administrator.

4. Verify whether your team project has been moved to another team project collection in Team Foundation Server. If it has been moved, you must create a connection to the new server name.

For additional troubleshooting tips, go here.

Q: How do I resolve “This transport isn’t implemented” error when connecting using Git?

A: See this post: Git network operations in Visual Studio 2013.

Q: Why do I get a TF10169 error when I try to roll back my root folder?

A: The team project requires a root folder, so you can’t roll it back. You can, however, delete the team project.