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I am a project manager (formerly programmer) and I recently decided I want to have automatic builds done to it. So I need some kind of a build server.

Some info:

  • All of my solutions/Projects are Visual Studio 2010.
  • source control managed in TFS.
  • The code is C#.
  • Build server would sit on Windows XP. Haven't decided yet if I would be using my 4CPU/8GB RAM station or 12CPU / 16GB RAM station.

I have zero knowledge on how to work with a build server. Upto now all of us (about 40 programmers) weren't using any build server, and well you can imagine how disgraceful our builds are :)

I am planning to first have nightly-builds. Next step would be on-checkin-build. And later hopefully would have a production version of my software built on every nighty-build for our QA to work a bit.

Daniel Mann
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AlexD
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    There are plenty of .Net based build servers (including those built into TFS, etc). I would question the use of an XP box to host it - why not a server SKU? Also, you'll need to examine what types of projects you currently build and whether they need replacing (e.g. if you're building thick clients with installers, you should probably switch from VS setup projects to something else) – Damien_The_Unbeliever Feb 18 '12 at 17:40
  • [TeamCity](http://www.jetbrains.com/teamcity/) integrates nicely with TFS source control. – TrueWill Feb 19 '12 at 00:29

3 Answers3

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You're using TFS (although you didn't specify a version), so just install the build server. Go to the TFS administration console and install/configure the build server from there. You'll then have an option in team explorer to create builds. Here's some documentation from MSDN on the subject: Administering Team Foundation Server Build

Once you have that going, if you have any specific questions about how to set up your builds, feel free to ask.

Daniel Mann
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The MSDN documentation that DBM recommended definitely gets you started and I definitely recommend it as well. If you truly haven't ever touched automated builds before, our book has a whole part dedicated towards the automated builds feature of TFS.

Professional Team Foundation Server 2010 by Wrox

  • Chapter 14: Overview of Build Automation
  • Chapter 15: Using Team Foundation Build
  • Chapter 16: Customizing the Build Process

Good luck with implementing automated builds! It will truly change the way your team works.

Ed Blankenship
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  • Great book, I have it on my shelf! – Daniel Mann Feb 19 '12 at 00:21
  • Thanks a ton! I hate to mention it sometimes but in this case, I selfishly felt like it would be a good resource. If it makes anyone feel better, I only wrote one of the chapters mentioned above so I'll give kudos to Martin Woodward who wrote the other two. :) – Ed Blankenship Feb 19 '12 at 00:24
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Very easy to start with is TeamCity

Alex F
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