Set up Team Foundation Build Service

If you want to automate builds of your software projects, you can install Team Foundation Build Service from the Team Foundation Server product DVD and create a build machine. Once you have the build machine set up, you’ll want to create a build definition in Visual Studio with instructions about which code projects to compile and many other configurations. But first, you must set up the build machine.

The most important thing to concern yourself with during installation is selecting the right hardware to get the best performance (recommendations are linked below). If your team is building Windows apps, you’ll need to install the build service on Windows 8. For more information, see this topic on the Microsoft website: Build and Test a Windows Store App Using Team Foundation Build. All of the settings you choose during the initial configuration of Team Foundation Build Service can be changed after installation, so don’t worry too much about making a wrong choice. For a comprehensive explanation of Team Foundation Build Service architecture and all possible topologies, see this topic on the Microsoft website: Understanding a Team Foundation Build System.

Although you can install Team Foundation Build Service on the same computer as Team Foundation Server, you probably shouldn’t. You don’t want to hurt the performance of Team Foundation Server or increase its attack surface when builds are running.

To install Team Foundation Build Service

Verify that the operating system and hardware meet the requirements for Team Foundation Build Service. By default, Team Foundation Build Service uses Network Service for its service account. If you’re going to connect to Visual Studio Online, you’ll also need the Microsoft account you used to set up the hosted service.

For more information: System requirements for Team Foundation Build Service, Accounts required for installation of Team Foundation Server.

Run the Team Foundation Server install from the product DVD and then use the build service configuration wizard to configure your installation. This wizard installs and configures Team Foundation Build Service.

For more information: Run Team Foundation Server installation, Configure Team Foundation Build Service using the Team Foundation Server configuration tool

Build machine upgrade tips

Here are some tips on dealing with TFS upgrades and the build service:

• You will be prompted to restore your previous build settings if you connect to a collection from a server that had previously been set up with build resources. Ignore this prompt to discard your previous settings and create new settings.

• If you’re upgrading a TFS installation that’s secured with SSL, remember to configure the new build server to use SSL ports before you try to connect to an application tier secured with SSL. See: To change a build configuration to use HTTPS.

• You can connect a TFS 2010 build server to your on-premises TFS 2013 application-tier server, but you cannot run both the TFS 2010 and TFS 2013 build service on the same computer.

• You can connect a TFS 2012 build server to your on-premises TFS 2013 application-tier server, but you cannot run both the TFS 2012 and TFS 2013 build service on the same computer.

For more information, see Resolve issues that can occur when you upgrade

See Also

Concepts

Install Team Foundation Server

TFS upgrade requirements