Deploy web applications and windows services using TFS 2010

Question

Just went from TFS 2008 to 2010 at a client site and now wondering what happened to the TFSBuild.proj files from the TeamBuildTypes folder. I've already got the builds and drops working and now I need to get the old deployments working again. We used to do this with AfterBuild targets in the TFSBuild.proj. That mechanism seems to have moved or disappeared in 2010.

Can anyone point me to an article or describe how the deployment options have changed in 2010?

Specifically, I need to support running psexec to install and enable Windows Services on remote deployment targets and I need to deploy some web sites / web services to remote IIS nodes as part of the automated builds.

EDIT: Just found this: http://blogs.msdn.com/jimlamb/archive/2009/11/03/upgrading-tfs-2008-build-definitions-to-tfs-2010.aspx I'm more than a little taken back by the breaking changes between 2008 and 2010. I'm gonna need advice on how to deploy remote sites and services in the new default build process template mechanism.

Answer 1

Check out Vishal Joshi's PDC talk on Deploying Web Applications with VS 2010 and MSDeploy. On his blog, you'll also find tips on building MSDeploy packages with MSBuild. You can run psexec from your MSBuild script or, potentially, from a customized build process template. With TFS 2010, you can use MSBuild and Windows Workflow to solve your build automation problems.

Alternatively, you can use the "Upgrade" build process template and continue using your TFSBuild.proj file. This is the default behavior for upgraded build definitions for backwards compatibility. In that case, your build is still primarily driven by MSBuild with just a thin workflow to allocate an agent and run MSBuild.

Answer 2

Question: Are there any examples available on how to configure TFS 2010 workflow for automated deployment of web deployment packages onto a IIS servers?

Answer 3

Another option is to use TFS 2010 Build Agent on the server that you deploy to. This is how Visual Studio Lab Management deploys.

I have written a blog post about this: Continuous deployment with TFS 2010 Build Agent