Collection command

You can use the Collection command to attach, detach, or delete a team project collection from a deployment of Visual Studio Team Foundation Server (TFS). You can also use the Collection command to duplicate the database of an existing collection, rename it, and attach it to the deployment. This process is sometimes referred to as cloning a collection. However, you cannot use the Collection command to create a team project collection.

To manage collections interactively or to create a collection, you can use the Team Project Collections node in the administration console for Team Foundation. See Manage team project collections.

Requirements

To use the Collections command, you must be a member of the following groups:

• the Team Foundation Administrators security group and the Administrators security group on the server or servers that are running the administration console for Team Foundation

• the sysadmin group on the server or servers that are running the instance of SQL Server that hosts the databases for Team Foundation Server

• the Farm Administrators group for the farm from which you are deleting the site collection, if your deployment uses SharePoint Products and you are using the /delete option.

For more information, see Permission reference for Team Foundation Server.

Note

Even if you log on with administrative credentials, you must open an elevated Command Prompt window to perform this function.

TFSConfig Collection {/attach | /detach | /delete} [/collectionName:CollectionName] [/collectionDB:ServerName;DatabaseName] [/clone]

Parameters

Placeholder	Description
CollectionName	Specifies the name of the team project collection. If the name of the collection contains spaces, you must enclose the name in quotation marks (for example, "My Collection").
ServerName	Specifies the name of the server that hosts the configuration database for TFS, and the name of the instance if you want to use an instance other than the default instance. If you specify an instance, you must use the following format: ServerName\InstanceName
DatabaseName	Specifies the name of the configuration database. By default, the name of this database is TFS_ConfigurationDB.

Option	Description
/attach	Required if neither /detach nor /delete is used. If you specify this option, you must also use the /collectionDB option. As an option, you can also use /collectionName and /clone with this option. If you use the /attach option, the specified collection database will be added to your deployment of TFS.
/detach	Required if neither /attach nor /delete is used. If you specify this option, you must also use the /collectionName option. If you use the /detach option, the database for the specified collection will be stopped, and the collection will be detached from your deployment of TFS.
/delete	Required if neither /detach nor /attach is used. If you specify this option, you must also use the /collectionName option. If you use the /delete option, the database for the specified collection will be stopped, and the collection will be permanently detached from TFS. You will not be able to re-attach the collection database to this or any other deployment. Tip The /delete option will not delete the collection database from SQL Server. After deleting the collection database from TFS, you can delete the database manually from SQL Server.
/CollectionName:CollectionName	Required if either /detach or /delete is used. If you use this option with /detach or /delete, it specifies the collection that will be detached or deleted. If you use this option with /attach, it specifies a new name for the collection. If you use this option with both /attach and /clone, it specifies the name for the duplicated collection.
/CollectionDB:ServerName;DatabaseName	Required if /attach is used. This option specifies the name of the server that is running SQL Server and the name of the collection database that is hosted on that server.
/clone	If you specify this option, the original collection database will be attached as a clone in SQL Server, and this database will be attached to TFS. This option is primarily used as part of splitting a team project collection.

Example

The following example shows how to permanently remove the "Contoso Summer Intern Projects" team project collection from a deployment of Team Foundation Server.

Note

The examples are for illustration only and are fictitious. No real association is intended or inferred.

TFSConfig Collection /delete /CollectionName:"Contoso Summer Intern Projects"

TFSConfig - Team Foundation Server Configuration Tool
Copyright © Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Deleting a team project collection is an irreversible operation. A deleted collection cannot be reattached to the same or another Team Foundation Server. Are you sure you want to delete 'Contoso Summer Intern Projects'? (Yes/No)
Yes
Found Collection 'Contoso Summer Intern Projects' Deleting...
The delete of collection 'Contoso Summer Intern Projects' succeeded.

The following example shows how to duplicate the "Contoso Summer Interns Projects" team project collection, name it "Contoso Winter Interns Projects," and attach the duplicate collection to the deployment of Team Foundation Server.

TFSConfig Collection /attach /collectiondb:"ContosoMain;TFS_Contoso Summer Interns Projects" /CollectionName:"Contoso Winter Intern Projects" /clone

See Also

Concepts

Back up and restore TFS

Other Resources

TFSConfig: Manage TFS server configuration

Move a team project collection

Split a team project collection