Setup and Administration FAQ's for TFS 2008

I found a good resource for FAQ's for TFS 2008 on the MSDN forums and am posting it here for future reference.  Here is the link

Upgrading Existing SSIS Packages to TableDifference Component 2.0

I am an avid user of Alberto Ferrari's SQL Server Integration Services "Table Diff" component, which you can download from http://www.sqlbi.eu.  He recently released the new, improved version 2.0 of the component (the .dll still says that it is 1.0 though?) and I am upgrading a mid-size solution that makes heavy use of the prior version of TableDiff (1.x) to use the new component.  Here are my observations of both the upgrade and the new capabilities of the component.

Here is a typical Type 1 style update package (in this case an import table, not a dimension) that uses TableDifference at its core to compare the new and old data flows and direct output accordingly.  Behind the scenes, I overwrote the TableDifference.dll file with the new one in both the .NET Assembly Cache and the \PipelineComponents directory.  When I opened the package, everything is working except the Update and Insert components have red X's.  These are easily fixed by simply double-clicking on each to open properties, accepting the new automatically matched column references and saving the package.  That's it, there is nothing else required to update your pacakages from TableDifference 1.x to the newly released 2.0.

Upgrading from TFS 2005 to 2008

A couple of things about upgrading from Team Foundation Server 2005 to 2008 that I wanted to highlight:

1.) The new version of TFS Explorer does not work with VS 2005.  However, you can use the TFS 2005 Explorer to connect to TFS 2008 Server and do 95% of what you need to do.  Just install the VS 2008 version on at least one machine to get the extra features if needed, and it will work fine in a side-by-side deployment.  If you want the TFS 2008 Explorer, you can download the stand-alone install here.

2.) If you are not doing an in-place upgrade and want to move your source code items and work items (with history), there is a tool on Codeplex that will let you do that (even between TFS 2005 and TFS 2008).  You can find it here.

3.) You can download TFS Web Access for 2008 and it presents a very nice UI for interacting with TFS.  The Visual Studio interaction is still a little scattered in my opinion.

4.) If you were using Changeset Comments in 2005, you will need to add the TFS 2008 Powertools to get that feature back.

5.) You MIGHT have a problem with adding items to 2008 if you already had 2005 on the same dev machine.  I was having problems with phantom workspaces after I deleted them, connections to the 2005 server that wouldn't disappear no matter how many times I deleted them, Can Not Connect To Server errors when I tried to add items to the new 2008 server, etc.  HERE IS THE BRUTE FORCE ANSWER: run devenv.exe /resetuserdata and everything will work.  *Warning* Your personal Visual Studio settings will be erased if you do this, but that is not the worst thing in the world.

Team Foundation Server 2008 RTM and 64-bit

Bad news - Microsoft is pushing 64-bit (as they should), but one of their newest enterprise products does not yet support it.  Team Foundation Server 2008 only supports 32-bit.  They have said that 64-bit support will be in the next version of TFS, "Rosario".

At least they support 64-bit SQL and SSAS, but definitely not MOSS 64-bit.  We have deployed 64-bit MOSS 2007 and it turns out that it doesn't even support 64-bit SharePoint when SharePoint is running on a different server from TFS, it doesn't even recognize that MOSS is installed:

SQL Server Default Ports

It seems like it is always hard to track down the ports that SQL Server uses, so thought that I would post them here for when I need them.  These are the SQL Server default ports.

SQL Component	TCP Port
SQL Service	1433
SQL Browser Service	1434
SQL Monitoring	1444
SQL Server Analysis Services Redirector	2382
SQL Server Analysis Service	2383
SQL Server Reporting Services	80

Excel 2003 Add-in for Analysis Services

If your company (like most companies) is still using Excel 2003 and you are implementing a data warehouse which contains SSAS cubes, you might be interested in the Microsoft Excel 2003 Add-in for SQL Server Analysis Services.  I have not used this tool extensively, but it does bring Excel 2003 closer to Excel 2007 in terms of OLAP capabilities.  Here is the blurb from the download page, I will post more as I spend time with the tool.  This is not a new find, nor is it likely news to anybody, but worth noting so I am putting it here.

The Excel Add-in for Analysis Services enables users to access and analyze data from multiple Analysis Services Cubes, and to create rich, customized reports directly in Microsoft Office Excel 2003 or Microsoft Excel 2002. This download can improve data analysis, shorten reporting cycles, and enhance your company's ability to respond to customers.
This download not only reduces the time and resources required to train users, but it also eliminates the need for organization’s to support specialized reporting systems and tools. The key business benefits of Excel Add-in for Analysis Services include:

• Visibility in Excel into business trends
• Increased speed and quality of decision-making
• Streamlined data analysis that shortens reporting cycles and saves resources
• Increased reporting flexibility through rich, highly customized, and refreshable reports
• Access to relevant information from multiple data sources

About the Excel Add-in for Analysis Services
With the Excel Add-in for Analysis Services, individual users can manage the reporting cycle from beginning to end and eliminate the need to cut and paste data from multiple systems.

• Access: Easily create and maintain live data connections to multiple Analysis Services cubes, ensuring data consistency and integrity, and combine data from multiple sources into a single report.
• Analyze: Conduct detailed analysis using native Excel capabilities. Extend the richness of analysis through “what if” and drill through capabilities.
• Author: Easily personalize and refresh report layouts. Minimize end user training and reduce reliance on IT due to Excel’s popularity and ease of use.

The Data Warehouse Lifecycle Toolkit 2nd Edition is now available

The first one is a great reference, but was published in 1998.  Since then the art and science of building the data warehouse has matured significantly.  I don't think that the word BI really existed in 1998. . . Actually I don't know since I didn't start working in the DW/BI world until 1999 with Brio, then Business Objects.

The original had a lot of great material for organizing the pro cess around preparing for, implementing and maintaining the data warehouse, including a nice set of documents.  Here is a link to the new book on Amazon.