Release Operations and Visual Studio Team System

The release manager advocates for the Release and Operations constituencies in the MSF Team Model. This role's goal is to manage the rollout of the product. The release manager coordinates the release with operations or media control. They create a rollout plan and certify release candidates for shipment or deployment.

The release operations workflow is as follows:

• Baseline Configuration Management

• Create Product Requirements

• Establish Project Process

• Manage Change Requests

• Release a Product

Also listed here are links to help release managers adopt the workflow for the MSF Team Model using Microsoft Visual Studio Team System.

Process Guidance

• Finding and Using Process Guidance
  Explains how to find and use process guidance for your team project using Team Explorer, Microsoft Project, or Microsoft Excel.

• Team Foundation Process Guidance
  Provides a conceptual overview about process guidance.

Working with Team Projects

• Team Foundation Team Projects
  Provides an overview of team projects and links to more information.

• Using the Team Project Portal
  Lists topics for working with the project portal.

• How to: Create a Team Project
  Describes how to create a new team project.

• How to: Add or Remove a Team Project
  Describes how to add and remove team projects in Team Explorer.

• How to: Connect to Team Foundation from Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Project
  Describes how to connect a Microsoft Excel work item list or Microsoft Project plan to a team project.

Project Reporting

• How to: Create an Aggregate Report for Team System using Report Designer and the Analysis Services Database
  Describes how to create a new report for a team project.

• How to: Run and View a Report
  Describes how to run a report from Team Explorer or the project portal.

• How to: Delete or Move a Report
  Describes how to delete a report or move a report to another team project.

• How to: Locate and Edit a Report
  Describes how to find a report to edit and change it.

Working with Work Items

• Team Foundation Work Items
  Provides a conceptual overview of work items.

• How to: Add New Work Item Queries
  Describes how to create new queries.

• How to: Run Work Item Queries
  Describes how to run queries.

• Working With Work Item Query Clauses
  Describes how to create complex queries using query clauses.

• How to: Add or Edit Alerts
  Explains how to get notified when a work item changes.

Work Item Integration with Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Project

• How to: Create a Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Project File from a Work Item Query
  Describes how to create a Microsoft Excel work item list or Microsoft Project plan from a query.

• How to: Create a Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Project File from a Work Item Query
  Describes how to create a Microsoft Excel work item list or Microsoft Project plan from a work item query, or from the results list.

• How to: Add Work Items in Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Project
  Describes how to add new work items to the work item database using Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word.

• How to: Connect to Team Foundation from Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Project
  Describes how to connect to a Team Foundation server from Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Project.

• How to: Import Work Items in Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Project
  Describes how to import work items from the work item database into a Microsoft Excel work item list or Microsoft Project plan.

• How to: Add a Link in Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Project
  Describes how to add links and attachments in Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Project.

Work Item Synchronization in Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Project

• How to: Publish or Refresh Work Items in Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Project
  Describes how to publish work items to the work item database, and how to refresh work items with changes from the work item database.

• How to: Resolve Data Conflicts in Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Project
  Describes how to resolve a data conflict that occurs when publishing changes to the work item database.

• How to: Resolve Data Validation Errors in Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Project
  Describes how to resolve a data validation error that occurs when publishing changes to the work item database.

Working with Work Items in Microsoft Excel

• How to: Create a Work Item List
  Describes how to create a work item list in Microsoft Excel.

• How to: Add or Remove Columns in the Work Item List
  Describes how to add or remove columns in a Microsoft Excel work item list.

• How to: Connect a Work Item List to a Work Item Query
  Describes how to connect a work item list to a work item query so that the work item list synchronizes based on the query.

• How to: Remove Work Items in Microsoft Excel
  Describes how to remove work items from a work item list in Microsoft Excel.

Working with Work Items in Microsoft Project

• How to: Remove Work Items in Microsoft Project
  Describes how to remove work items from a Microsoft Project plan.

• How to: Enable or Disable Publishing of Work Items in Microsoft Project
  Describes how to control work item publishing so that some work items are not published to the work item database.

Working with Source Control

• Team Foundation Version Control
  Provides an overview of Team Foundation version control.

• Introduction to Team Foundation for Visual SourceSafe Users
  Explains key differences between Visual SourceSafe and Team Foundation version control. This topic is ideal for Visual SourceSafe users new to Team Foundation version control.

• Walkthrough: Exploring Team Foundation Version Control
  Describes how to create a new Visual Studio project, add it to source control, and check in changes using Source Control Explorer.

• Walkthrough: Working with Team Foundation Version Control from Command Line
  Describes how to use create a workspace, edit files, and check in changes using the command line.

• How to: Configure Visual Studio with Team Foundation Version Control
  Describes how to configure Visual Studio to use Team Foundation version control and how to configure environment settings for Team Foundation version control.

Work Items

• How to: Link Work Items to Source Code Files
  Describes how to link a work item to source control files.

• How to: Link Work Items to Changesets
  Describes how to link a work item to a changeset.

• How to: Open Changesets from Work Items
  Describes how to open a changeset from a work item.

• How to: Find Changesets to Link to Work Items
  Describes different options for searching for changesets when you need to find a changeset to link to a work item.

Files

• How to: Check Out and Edit Version-Controlled Items
  Explains how to use Solution Explorer or Source Control Explorer to check out and edit a file under source control.

• How to: Delete Files and Folders from Version Control
  Describes how to delete files and folders.

• How to: Add Non-Project or Non-Solution Files and Folders to Version Control
  How do I work with existing Visual Basic 6 and .NET projects that I do not want to upgrade?

• How to: Associate a File Type with a Difference Tool
  Describes how to associate a file type with a third-party diff tool.

• How to: Associate a File Type with a Merge Tool
  Describes how to associate a file type with a third-party merge tool.

• How to: Compare Two Files
  Describes how to compare files or shelved items for differences.

• How to: Add File Type Association with Team Foundation Version Control
  Describes how to specify keyword expansion or multiple check-out settings for specific file types.

• How to: Edit File Type Association with Team Foundation Version Control
  Describes how to edit a file type association to customize how the source control system processes files with specific extensions.

• How to: Remove a File Type Associated with Team Foundation Version Control
  Describes how to remove a file type association.

Workspaces

• How to: Create a Workspace
  Describes how to create a workspace to map files under source control to your local folders.

• How to: Add and Remove a Working Folder in a Workspace
  Describes how to add or remove working folders in an existing workspace.

• How to: Edit a Workspace
  Describes how to edit an existing workspace to change the name, comments, or working folders.

• How to: Cloak and Uncloak Folders in a Workspace
  Explains how to hide folders in your workspace to improve performance and usability.

• How to: Remove a Workspace
  Describes how to remove a workspace.

• How to: Identify Version Control Item Status in Solution Explorer
  Explains the meaning of different source control icons you can see in Solution Explorer.

Changesets and Pending Changes

• How to: View and Manage All Pending Changes in Your Workspace
  Describes how to use the Pending Changes and Check In windows to undo pending changes, remove an item from pending changes, or compare files.

• How to: Find a Changeset
  Describes how to use Source Control Explorer to find a changeset.

• How to: View Details for Changesets
  Describes how to use the Find Changesets window or History window to view details for changesets.

• How to: Retrieve Old Versions of Files from Changesets
  Describes how to get older versions of files from changesets.

• How to: Check In Pending Changes
  Describes how to check in pending changes in a changeset.

• How to: Undo Pending Changes
  Describes how to undo pending changes.

Shelving

• Walkthrough: Shelving Version Control Items
  Demonstrates how to use the shelving feature to temporarily store changes in source control without committing them.

• How to: Shelve and Unshelve Pending Changes
  Describes how to shelve pending changes in source control, and how to unshelve them to your local computer.

• How to: Find a Shelveset
  Describes how to find a shelveset in source control.

• How to: View Details for Shelvesets
  Describes how to view details such as name, owner, and date using the Unshelve dialog box.

• How to: Delete a Shelveset
  Describes how to delete a shelveset.

Branching and Merging

• Walkthrough: Advanced Functionality of Version Control
  Demonstrates how to use branching, merging, and labeling in Team Foundation version control.

• How to: Branch Files and Folders
  Describes how to branch files and folders.

• How to: Merge Files and Folders
  Describes how to merge files and folders.

• How to: Resolve Conflicts Between Two Files
  Describes how to resolve conflicts during a merge, pending change, or get operation.

Labels

• How to: Apply Labels
  Describes how to apply a label to organize a set of files in a revision.

• How to: Edit Labels
  Describes how to edit labels to change items or comments.

• How to: Find Labels
  Describes how to find labels in source control.

• How to: Remove Labels
  Describes how to remove labels.

Check-in Policies and Check-in Notes

• How to: Add Check-In Policies
  Describes how to require specific check-in policies for source control.

• How to: Edit Check-In Policies
  Describes how to edit the requirements for check-in policies for source control.

• How to: Remove Check-In Policies
  Describes how to remove a check-in policy as part of check-in requirements.

• How to: Enable and Disable Check-In Policies
  Describes how to enable or disable check-in policies.

• How to: Configure Check-In Notes
  Describes how to configure check-in notes.

Security

• How to: Control Access to Team Foundation Version Control
  Describes how to add users and groups to Team Foundation version control security.

Working with Team Foundation Build

• Overview of Team Foundation Build
  Provides a conceptual overview of Team Foundation Build.

• Team Foundation Build Warnings and Errors
  Explains warning and error messages that can be generated by Team Foundation Build.

Setting up Builds

• How To: Configure A Scheduled Build (Command Line)
  Explains how to set up a daily or scheduled build.

• Using Test Lists
  Describes how to run build verification tests as part of a build.

• How to: Delete a Build Definition
  Describes how to delete a build.

• How to: Set Build Quality
  Describes how to set quality status (such as rejected, or released) on a build.

• How to: Create or Remove Build Qualities
  Describes how to create custom build quality states that you can use to report status on each build.

Running Builds

• Walkthrough: Running a Build Definition in Team Foundation Build
  Describes how to start a build from a specific build type.

• How to: Queue or Start a Build Definition
  Describes how to run a build from a build type.

• How to: Build Team Projects on a Desktop
  Describes how to run a build locally on your own computer.

Monitoring and Reporting

• How to: View a Build Report
  Describes how to find and view a build report after a build runs.

• How to: Isolate Bugs Generated in a Build
  Describes how to find work items created when a build has errors.

• How to: View Build Summary Status
  Describes how to use the Build Explorer to view build summary status.

• How to: Monitor Build Progress
  Describes how to monitor a build that is in progress using the Build Explorer or build reports.

• How to: Receive Build Notification E-Mail
  Describes how to set up e-mail notification on builds.

• Walkthrough: Viewing Team Build Report Results
  Describes how to view summary status, the detailed build report, the log file, and built binaries after a build runs.