Install Release Management server and client

• Install Release Management Server

• Install Release Management Client

Install Release Management Server

Tip

If your team project is hosted on Visual Studio Online, you can skip buying and maintaining a server and use Release Management as a service on Visual Studio Online instead. See Manage your release.

If you are upgrading to Release Management 2013 Update 4, first uninstall Release Management server. No data will be lost when you uninstall because the SQL Server instance is not removed. Then install Update 4 for the server and client. When you configure the latest update for your Release Management server, use the same SQL Server instance that you used before for the database server.

You’ll need access to a SQL Server instance to complete the install. You can use the same SQL Server instance that you use for TFS or you can download SQL Server Express.

Required permissions

To install Release Management Server, you must be a member of the Windows Administrators security group on the computer where you will install the Release Management Server and a member of sysadmin Server role in SQL Server. 

1. Obtain the Release Management software (see Install Release Management), and launch rm_Server.exe. Read and accept the license to choose Install. If you want to install to a specific location in the file system, choose the browse button (...) next to the default install location.

   

   Restart your computer, if prompted, and then choose Launch.

   Tip: If you join the Visual Studio Experience Improvement Program, you can opt out at any time. For more details, see “Q&A” in this topic.

2. Specify the SQL Server instance to host the Release Management Server database and then choose Test to verify connectivity. Accept the default values for the service account and web port (Network Service and port 1000) or specify alternates.

   Important

   If you specify an alternative account as the identity for the service, this must be in the form domain\user. Do not use the format user@domain.

   Do you need more information about ports or service accounts? Ports required for installation of Team Foundation Server, Accounts required for installation of Team Foundation Server

   

   Release Management Server uses the identity set here for its Application Pools in IIS and the Release Management Monitor Windows service.

3. Choose Apply settings.

   

   After the success message appears, close the configuration summary and the server console and then install the Release Management client. Most Release Management configuration and administration takes place in the client.

Install Release Management Client

If you are upgrading to Release Management 2013 Update 4, first uninstall Release Management client.

Required permissions

To install Release Management Client, you must be a member of the Windows Administrators security group on the computer where you will install the client.

1. Obtain the Release Management software (see Install Release Management), and launch rm_Client.exe. Read and accept the license to choose Install. If you want to install to a specific location in the file system, choose the browse button (...) next to the default install location.

   

   Restart your computer, if prompted, and then choose Launch.

   Tip: If you join the Visual Studio Experience Improvement Program, you can opt out at any time. For details, see “Q&A” in this topic.

2. Enter the name of the Release Management Server. If you’re installing the client on the same computer that is running Release Management Server, you can use localhost to connect to the server.

   

   Tip: If you changed any of the default options in your Release Management Server deployment, you can change the protocol or port number here so that you can connect to the server.

Next steps

After you set up the server and client, you might want to set up an environment by installing the deployment agent. See Install deployment agent and set up machines for an environment