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What I would like to do is upgrade our TFS 2012 express to the TFS 2013 express.

There are many guides telling how to upgrade from express to something else (from free to non free) but I can't seem to find how to upgrade from express to express.

I don't even know if such a migration is possible or allowed by Microsoft due to the fact that the express edition is free etc.

What I have tried so far is run the installer of TFS express 2013 on the server that has TFS express 2012 installed to se if any upgrade option appear. I went far enough in the wizard and no sign of an upgrade option so I hesited to press install because I didn't know how running two instance of TFS on the same server will behave.

I would appreciate the help if any of you has found a way to do this.

Ares
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  • I'm not the one who downvoted you, but you might want to consider editing "It also needs a lot of work to copy everything on to a VM and to try it and see what happens, we don't have the time and resources right now for that." That strikes me as something that, well. That seems to me to be likely to draw downvotes. – Katherine Villyard Feb 25 '14 at 21:28
  • Thanks for the advice K. I get what you 're saying. The thing is, I am not asking someone to do it for me, just asking for some one who knows more than me to share the knowledge. – Ares Feb 27 '14 at 19:49

3 Answers3

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After getting no responses that I thought were valuable I decided to cross fingers and go all the way and guess what:

Upgrading TFS 2012 express to TFS 2013 express is supported and very well I may say.

In my opinion there is no clear answer on how to do this so here are the steps of what I did:

  1. First backup all the TFS databases using the TFS utility or SSMS.
  2. Download the TFS 2013 express ISO and start the installation. At this point it is a bit scary because the installation starts at once without asking anything about an existing installation or saying anything about upgrading.
  3. When this wizard completes you will get the configuration wizard of the new TFS and your previous TFS non functioning. Don’t worry about this. In this wizard select the upgrade option.
  4. Here you need to confirm that you have backed up your databases. There is also a link to start a utility that will backup your databases in case you didn’t.
  5. By clicking next there are a few more details to fill in and the wizard starts by upgrade your SQL Server to version 2012 and then upgrading the rest of the TFS and your databases.
  6. Finally you have a successful completion notice together with a URI for your new TFS and everything working fine, at least in my case they did.
Ares
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  • I have the same question as you regarding express (except going from 2013 to 2015) and so thank you for posting your answer. – Mike Cheel Aug 10 '15 at 01:20
  • @MikeCheel I am glad it helped. Some times you know express editions provide less functionality and so you need a clear answer for what is supported and what is not. – Ares Aug 28 '15 at 15:19
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Have you RTFM? Upgrading is supported and has nothing to do with the Edition.

See:

longneck
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  • Yeap, I RTFM and last time I checked the the Upgrade option was not available as shown [here](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj620928.aspx). – Ares Feb 27 '14 at 20:03
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Upgrading TFS 2012 express to 2017 express is also supported very well.

I have just followed the setup procedure for 2017 express, and the installation wizard asked to me about upgrading the existing 2012 instance.

The upgrade did not remove the 2012 folder in Program Files, though.

iw1dov
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