TFS/Team Explorer 2008 Troubleshooting Guide

If you had problems installing TFS or Team Explorer (TFC) 2008, or upgrading to TFS 2008 from TFS 2005, you come to the right place for help.

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A.Rajesh Khanna

1.Problem: You receive an error message "TF220059: An error occurred querying the current settings from your existing Team Foundation Server database"

Solution: There are several common causes for this error:
The DT has the firewall enabled and no exceptions are set for SQL server.
You specified the data tier server name but not the instance name, and you're using a non-default SQL instance. Specify this as server\instance, e.g. "MyDBServer\TfsInstance".

SQL Reporting Services or SQL Analysis Services is not installed or not running. These components may be on the AT, DT, or separate machines (RS is typically on the AT, and AS typically on the DT). Ensure these services are installed, running, and set to automatic.

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A.Rajesh Khanna

2.Problem: Error in the logs during repair:

ERROR: Unhandled exception causing exit: No mapping between account names and security IDs was done.

Solution:

Re-create the app pool, set the identity to the same user, re-run repair.

3.Problem: At the end of the installation/repair/uninstall, the wizard does not display any buttons (e.g. Finish)

Solution:

Move the mouse over the bottom section of the wizard (where you'd expect to find the button) and the button should draw in.

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A.Rajesh Khanna

4.Problem: When upgrading from TFS 2008 Workgroup Edition to TFS Standard Edition via Add/Remove Programs, you will find that the product key field is greyed out and thus you are blocked from upgrading - this is not "by design".


Solution: Run setup from the media (rather than Add/Remove Programs) and the ID field will not be read-only. Alternatively, you can uninstall Workgroup Edition and then install Standard Edition.

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A.Rajesh Khanna

Longhorn Server (Windows Server 2008)

1 .Problem: Error 32000.The Commandline '"D:\Users\VSEQA1\AppData\Local\Temp\\ConfigIIS.ex e" -action:createvdir -nameervices "-site:Team Foundation Server" "-pool:Microsoft Team Foundation Server Application Pool" "-path:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Team Foundation Server\Web Services\Services\"' returned non-zero value: 100
Solution (Note: This will probably be fixed in the RTM version of LHS.):

1.Launch elevated command prompt

2.Run notepad %windir%\System32\inetsrv\config\applicationHost.c onfig

3.Remove the following section:
<location path="Team Foundation Server/Services">
</location>
<location path="Team Foundation Server/Warehouse">
</location>
<location path="Team Foundation Server/Build">
</location>
<location path="Team Foundation Server/WorkItemTracking">
</location>
<location path="Team Foundation Server/VersionControl">
</location>

4.Save the file

5.Execute iisreset

6.Click retry on the TFS error message

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A.Rajesh Khanna

Problem:

Unable to install SQL 2005 RS on a LHS (Windows Server 2008) machine; SQL installer reports that IIS is not installed even though it is. May also surface as TF22059 issue above if you finished the SQL 2005 install and didn't realize RS was not installed.


Solution:

SQL 2005's installer is not IIS7-aware. If the optional IIS7 components that RS requires are not installed, SQL setup will report IIS is not installed, and if you complete the SQL installation, RS will not be included. The required features of IIS7 include (but may not be limited to): HTTP Redirection, Windows Authentication, and all of the IIS6 Management Compatibility features.

__________________
A.Rajesh Khanna

Where are the log files?

1)Look in both %temp% and %temp%\.. (the parent dir of %temp%). It's a long story why that's the case, but it's still that way in Orcas (TFS 2008) as well.

2) Sort based on Date Modified descending so the files written to most recently are at the top

3)dd_install_vstf*.txt and vsmsi*.txt are the ones that will be most helpful in the 95% case, with dd_depcheck*.txt useful on those other occasions where we're having version number issues (this tends to affect us more internally than it does external customers)

4)TFS is dd_install_vstf_at*.txt; Team Explorer (TFC) is dd_install_vstf_tfc*.txt.

__________________
A.Rajesh Khanna

What am I looking for in the log files?

The log files can be cryptic and misleading at times. Here are some tips on how to find the most relevant parts:

1) The dd_*.txt files are cumulative - so you probably want to start at or near the end if you've run setup more than once.

2) In dd_*.txt, searching for "ERRORLOG EVENT" is a good place to start - however, note that you'll usually see several of these, and they aren't all serious problems.

3) VSMSI*.txt - there is one of these for each time setup reaches the progress bar page (roughly). Look for the newest VSMSI*.txt file to find the log for the most recent attempt.

4) Within that VSMSI file, generally start at the end (especially if you haven't canceled setup yet - otherwise, you'll still have to scroll up a bit).

5)Remember that if you fail and/or cancel before you reach the progress bar page, you won't get a VSMSI*.txt file.

__________________
A.Rajesh Khanna

Can someone from Microsoft look at my log files?


Sure! If you are hitting problems, first, please search the forums for similar errors/failures (you may want to use a general search engine scoped to forums.microsoft.com in addition to the forum's built-in search feature - e.g. "Search Terms site:forums.microsoft.com" on both Live and Google search).


If you find a matching thread, see if any information in that thread unblocks you. If you don't find a matching thread, follow these steps:

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A.Rajesh Khanna

Can someone from Microsoft look at my log files?

1)Start a thread describing the problem you are seeing. This is the only way to get a response. Include in the thread as much relevant information as possible. Include the text of any error messages you are seeing.

2)Send an email to tfsb2sup@microsoft.com. with the following required information:

1)Attached log files (as described above)

2)A link to the new forum thread you created in step 1.

3)Your forum username

4)A subject line such as "log files for thread XYZ" to help us respond more quickly.


3)Your email address and any personally-identifiable information in the logs are protected by the Microsoft Data Collection Policy (Microsoft Online Privacy Notice Highlights). If you feel this is inadequate, be sure to scrub any machine names, user names, etc. from the log files before you send them.

__________________
A.Rajesh Khanna