Posts

If you want to run CodeUI tests as part of a build you need to make sure the device running the test has access to the UI, for remote VMs this means having a logged in session open and the build/test agent running interactivally. Problem is what happens when you disconnect the session. UNless you manage it you will get the error Automation engine is unable to playback the test because it is not able to interact with the desktop. This could happen if the computer running the test is locked or it’s remote session window is minimized ...

My primary blog editor has been Microsoft Live Writer for years, but it has always been a pain to install via Windows Essentials (as I don’t want the rest of the product), also I was never able to find the right version when I rebuilt a PC. This was not helped by the fact there has been no development of the product for years, so I struggled to remember what year version I really needed (last one was 2012 by the way). ...

We are currently working on updating a Windows 8 application to be a Windows 10 Universal application. This has caused a few problem on a TFS vNext automated build box. The revised solution builds fine of the developers box and fine on the build VM if opened in Visual Studio, but fails if built via the VSTS vNext build CI MSBuild process showing loads of references missing. Turns out the issue was due to Nuget versions. ...

Updated 10 Aug 2016 - Revised for Win10 anniversary build 1607 I have posted in the past about using a DD-WRT virtual router to bridge between local VMs on my development PC and the outside world With the recent changes in HyperV on Windows 10 and Server 2016 we have an alternative as discussed by Thomas Maurer in his post (pre Win10 anniversary build 1607) or this post (post Win10 anniversary build 1607). You can use a NATSwitch, thus removing the need for router VM. This does however raise different issues, that of address assignment, the router was also a DHCP server. However, it does mean I don’t have to mess around with manually setting external IP addresses for the router each time I join a different WIFI network. So on the whole I think iti is a better solution. ...

I have been using a Band 2 for a couple of weeks now as opposed to my original Band. The major thing I have noticed is I don’t notice it on my wrist. It feels just like a watch. The old one, though not too bad did feel a bit lumpy, banging on the wrist. So that is an improvement, also it looks less like I am a prisoner with a tracker on day release. The Band 2 looks like a designer was more involved as opposed to just engineers. ...

Vijay in the Microsoft Release Management product group has provided a nice post on the various methods you can use to migrate from the earlier versions of Release management to the new one in Visual Studio Team Services. An area where you will find the biggest change in technology is when moving from on premises agent based releases to the new VSTS PowerShell based system. To help in this process the ALM Rangers have produced a command line tool to migrate assets from RM server to VSTS, it exports all your activities as PowerShell scripts that are easy to re-use in a vNext Release Management process, or in Visual Studio Team Services’ Release tooling. ...

Many of the major new features of VSTS are delivered by the new marketplace and extension model, such as code search and package management. However, did you realise that this new way of adding functionality to VSTS is open to you too, not just to Microsoft? To see what can be done why not have a look at the Visual Studio Team Services Extensions from the ALM Rangers

One announcement I missed at at Connect() last week was that of Visual Studio Dev Essentials. I only heard about this one whilst listening to RadioTFS’s news from Connect() programme. Visual Studio Dev Essentials is mostly a re-packing of all the tools that were already freely available from Microsoft e.g. Visual Studio Community Edition, Tem Foundation Server Express etc.; but there are some notable additions* (some coming soon) Pluralsight (6-month subscription)—limited time only Xamarin University mobile training— coming soon WintellectNOW (3-month subscription) Microsoft Virtual Academy HackHands Live Programming Help ($25 credit) Priority Forum Support Azure credit ($25/month for 12 months)—coming soon Visual Studio Team Services account with five users App Service free tier PowerBI free tier HockeyApp free tier Application Insights free tier *Check the Visual Studio Dev Essentials site for the detailed T&C ...

SonarQube released version 5.2 a couple of weeks ago. This enabled some new features that really help if you are working with MSbuild or just on a Windows platform in general. These are detailed in the posts Support for Active Directory and Single Sign On (SSO) in the SonarQube LDAP Plugin Support for Team Foundation Server 2015 in SonarQube TFVC SCM Plugin The new ability to manage users with LDAP is good, but one of the most important for me is the way 5.2 ease the configuration with SQL in integrated security mode. This is mentioned in the upgrade notes; basically it boils down to the fact you get better JDBC drivers with better support for SQL Clustering and security. ...

Announced at Connect() today were a couple of new tools that could really help a team with their DevOps issues when working with VSTS and Azure (and potentially other scenarios too). DevTest Lab is a new set of tooling within the Azure portal that allows the easy management of Test VMs, their creation and management as well as providing a means to control how many VMs team members can create, thus controlling cost. Have a look at Chuck’s post on getting started with DevTest Labs To aid general deployment, have a look that new Release tooling now in public preview. This is based on the same agents as the vNext build system and can provide a great way to formalise your deployment process. Have a looks at Vijay’s post on getting started with the new Release tools