How can I access files held in TFS source control without installation of Visual Studio?
You can check out the Team Explorer Everywhere as an alternative way to get at your Team Foundation source code.
The actual source code is stored in a SQL Server database that the Team Foundation Server installs.
On Windows, the Team Explorer installation (included with the TFS install) will install enough of Visual Studio to access TFS. It also installs the command line tool (tf.exe) which can be used to perform most operations without needing to start Visual Studio.
Installing the TFS PowerToys will optionally add a PowerSehll module that includes cmdlets for most version control operations, and integrates nicely into PowerShell.
On other OSs look at Team Explorer Everywhere (as marc_s has already answered).
Related
It seems, based on what I'm seeing in Team Explorer, the TFVC VCS is built to support .NET applications.
Can it reasonably support other languages as well (PHP, Ruby, Java, Python, etc)? By reasonably, I mean, not being tied to an IDE like Eclipse or command-line. That is, using a GUI client that's built to support non-.NET projects as well. It seems Team Explorer, the client for TFS does not think so:
Using Team Explorer without starting a new project or solution
Sure, TFVC is the version control part that is stored on a Team Foundation Server. Team Explorer is the version control provider that integrates directly into Visual Studio and offers a high level of integration as well. You can also make use of the Source Control explorer functionality of Team explorer without having to load a Visual studio Solution. All you need is to map a source control folder to a local folder to start working.
This way you are not making use of any Project type in Visual Studio, but you're solely using the TFS client built into the Visual Studio Shell. You can do any operation using the Source control Explorer as if it were a stand-alone client.
Extending Visual Studio to support extra languages
One way to make use of TFS for other languages is to extend visual Studio to support the langauges you want. There are all kinds of plugins for Visual Studio to support: Ruby, Python and PHP.
Eclipse, Cross Platform and 3rd party
There is direct integration available for Eclipse using Team Explorer Everywhere, which can cover the needs of a Java development team. The development studio's from JetBrains also offer a native TFVC client as part of the product.
Commandline & windows explorer integration
After installing Team Explorer or Team Explorer Everywhere you'll also get a command line client (tf) that allows you to do source control operations from the commandline. You don't need to ever open Team Explorer after setting up your TFS server connection. Team Explorer Everywhere ships with a Java based version of that same client, which works on Mac and Linux as well.
You'll be able to use the Tortoise-like Windows Explorer integration offered by the Team Foundation Server Power Tools, so you'll be able to check-in files directly from Windows.
SourceSafe compatibility
There's the MSSCCI (pronounced mis-key) provider that allows applications to use the old "SourceSafe" API to connect to TFS. This includes many, many IDE's and tools.
Almost all of these solutions at least require the installation of Team Explorer or Team Explorer Everywhere, but as you can tell, they're not the only way to access TFS.
Bridges
And if that doesn't work, there are a few tricks you could apply as well. There's a Subversion bridge for TFS that allows TFS to mimic a Subversion repository and you can use git-tf to create a local git repository that can push to TFS.
Git support in TFS 2013 and VSO
And finally TFS 2013 and Visual Studio Online support hosting a Git repository instead of a TFVC repo. You can use any Git compatible client (inclucing Visual studio 2012 and newer) such as Eclipse (eGit) or XCode to connect to TFS. For cross platform TFS usage, this is by far the way with the broadest support as it comes to 3rd party products.
Are there any TFS client options that do not involve Visual Studio? I'm at an MS shop but we want to be able to version everything include Excel spreadsheets and Access databases (etc, etc). I am surrounded by a bunch of Excel macro jockeys and they want to version all their spreadsheets (and included macros). Can TFS handle this with a machine that won't have Visual Studio installed?
Yes, I realize that TFS may not be ideal, but it's the hand I'm dealt. So, please, no, "why not use X instead" answers.
You can use TFS for source control with Access and Excel.
Install Team Explorer (Team Explorer is the client software that you use to access the Team Foundation Server functionality.)
Install Team Foundation Server MSSCCI Provider 2012
Then you will need to install the extensions for your Office application.
For MS Access 2010
Have you looked at TF? http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg413282(v=vs.100).aspx
TFS 2013 also has git integration (so checkin via git clients). Not sure if that would be an option for you?
Do I need VS installed in order to connect to TFS?
If I'll download ONLY Team Explorer without VS, will I get some UI (similar the one I get in VS) to connect to TFS?
Team explorer installs a Visual Studio shell, so you get the same GUI as if you had VS installed. In addition you get tf.exe which allows you to do all source control functions from the command line.
No, you do not need VS to connect to TFS. TFS also provides web based interface to manage TFS.
Once Team Explorer is installed, you get access to the TF.EXE command line tool, but also worth looking at the TFS Power Toys for the tftp.exe command line tool and the PowerShell Snapin for more command line operation.
Is it possible to get a standalone TFS client on a server that does NOT have Visual Studio installed? We'd like a way to "reach into" a TFS project from a server, without having to install Visual Studio?
Possible? I've seen Team Explorer, but will that work without Visual Studio?
Team Explorer 2008 will allow you to connect to TFS, but it will install a Visual Studio shell.
Team Explorer Everywhere has Web access. Martin Woodward wrote a great article about it.
Download the TFS power tools. The "Windows Shell Extension" component allows one to perform most operations with TFS via Windows Explorer. Note that the Power Tools installer states that Visual Studio 2010 (or Visual Studio Team Explorer 2010) is a prerequisite for the following features:
Command-line interface
Visual Studio Integration
Check-in Policy Pack
Process Editor
Windows Shell Extension
PowerShell Cmdlets
It's 2017 and Microsoft (re)introduced the standalone Team Explorer.
https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/visualstudioalm/2017/04/05/reintroducing-the-team-explorer-standalone-installer/
If you remember back to 2013 (and before), we released standalone installers for Team Explorer. In VS 2015, we did not release a standalone Team Explorer since customers had free options with Express SKUs and Community, which included Team Explorer functionality.
Customers have continued to request a standalone installer for Team Explorer for non-developers, however. And so today, with the Visual Studio 2017 Update release, the standalone Team Explorer installer is back.
Download - https://www.visualstudio.com/thank-you-downloading-visual-studio/?sku=TeamExplorer&rel=15
Included with Team Foundation Server there is a free web front end called "TFS Web Access". In TFS 2008, the Web Access was a different installation and it came as a Power Tool to the TFS. In TFS 2010, the Web Access is installed automatically and is part of the TFS.
In order to get to the Web Access in TFS 2010 do the following:
In your preferred browser type:
http://[YourServerName]:8080/tfs/web/
YourServerName is the tfs name for example: http://tfs-srv:8080/tfs/web/
Also, if you need Agile planning and a Task Board with TFS Web Access, take a look at Urban Turtle - http://urbanturtle.com. According to Microsoft, this is the premier Scrum tooling for TFS.
Discloser: I work with the Urban Turtle team. So do not take my words. Instead, read what Microsoft blogs said about Urban Turtle.
http://blogs.msdn.com/search/SearchResults.aspx?q=urban%20turtle§ions=3652.
There now seems to be a more generic Team Explorer Everywhere for TFS - perhaps that will give us non-VS users desktop access to TFS :)
It includes an Eclipse plug-in and usefully, a command line client.
While it appears to be a dead project. If you like having version control outside an IDE (or independant of the IDE). There is SVN Bridge, which allows you to use TortoiseSVN to talk to your TFS server.
https://svnbridge.codeplex.com/
You can install Team Explorer (on the TFS install DVD, or you can download it from MSDN) without needing to have VS2010 installed - Team Explorer will install a 'shell' VS2010 with only the TFS features available - none of the IDE components.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=fe4f9904-0480-4c9d-a264-02fedd78ab38
Does anyone know how you can install/run the TFS Team Explorer in stand alone mode when Visual Studio 2008 is installed on the same machine?
Additional Information: I should have been a little more clear in my question. I'm trying to access the Work Items.
The TFS Team Explorer will always integrate with a version of Visual Studio (apart from Express) if it is installed and there is no way of running it stand-alone.
If you install the TFS 2008 Power Tools, then you can have it so that you get Windows Explorer integration for TFS which many people enjoy. You might also want to look at Team System Web Access to provide a mechanism for accessing TFS from just a web browser (but obviously doesn't include full version control capabilities)
Finally, the company I work for has a completely standalone TFS client called Teamprise Explorer that is implemented in Java, however this is a commercial product.
Hope that helps,
Martin.
The answer is that there really isn't a standalone version. When you install VS Team Explorer on a machine without Visual Studio, the installer will install a Visual Studio shell. Then, when you run Team Explorer in standalone mode, you are actually running a Visual Studio shell.
Martin had a good point about Team System Web Access, which probably would do the job nicely. Plus it has the added benefit that it allows non Visual Studio users access to work items. But, it was decided that it was too much trouble to get permission to install it here (working for the US Army can have its issues).
My solution for now is to run another instance of Visual Studio and access the Team Explorer tools from there.