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I am upgrading tfs2012 to on premises Azure Devops server. TFS is on win2012R2 and sql 2012. My plan was to install 2 new Win2016 VMs and sql2017 on it. I plan to backup & restore 2 TFS db from sql2012 to sql 2017. Then use Azure Devops server upgrade wizard to point to this sql2017 server. Dose this plan work? I can't find any doc support it. Any help is welcome.

alan gao
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The upgrade path from TFS 2012 to Azure DevOps Server ("TFS 2019") is officially supported according to this document.

Whenever you upgrade TFS check the requirements of the new version. In your case those requirements are documented here. Azure DevOps Server 2019 supports Windows Server 2016 and SQL Server 2017 according to that document and SQL Server 2017 can run on Windows Server 2016 as well.

What you're planning to do is known as "migration-based upgrade". The name stems from the fact that you're effectively migrating all data to a new environment. The other approach is known as "in-place upgrade" where you'd just install the new TFS version over the old one and let it upgrade all data.

If you're unsure check the official upgrade documentation. In general, your approach is viable. The problem with TFS upgrades is that there are a myriad of details that need to be considered.

Keep in mind that you might also need to upgrade all your build definitions once the environment upgrade is done. In addition, Lab Management is gone which you might also need to address.

ackh
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  • TFS 2012 supports Windows Server 2016 / 2019 ? – Kiquenet Sep 08 '21 at 06:40
  • Well, Microsoft's official [table](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/server/requirements?view=azure-devops-2020#server-operating-systems) specifies that TFS 2012 is supported on Windows Server 2008 and 2012, Windows Small Business Server 2011 and Windows Home Server 2011. When TFS 2012 came out there simply was no Windows Server 2016 / 2019 and that table was never updated. So, there is no official statement that I'm aware of whether it works or not. You'd have to try or ask Microsoft directly. Why is that relevant for you? – ackh Sep 08 '21 at 08:21
  • how-to Migrate TFS 2012 in Windows 2008 to Windoww 2016/2019 – Kiquenet Sep 16 '21 at 18:07
  • Using the "migration-based upgrade" that I mentioned in my answer. – ackh Sep 16 '21 at 18:15