Here are 40 advanced-level questions about Team Foundation Server (TFS), complete with answers and examples where appropriate.
1. How can you customize the TFS Process Template?
Answer: Process templates in TFS can be customized using XML definitions. This enables you to modify work item types, data fields, and workflows according to specific project needs.
2. What are Check-in Notes in TFS?
Answer: Check-in notes are metadata attached to a check-in operation, providing additional contextual information. These can be made mandatory via check-in policies.
3. How do you implement Blue-Green deployments in TFS?
Answer: Blue-Green deployments can be implemented in TFS by setting up parallel environments (Blue and Green). The release pipeline can be configured to deploy to one while keeping the other live.
4. How can you automate database rollback in TFS?
Answer: Database rollbacks can be automated using custom scripts or tools like Redgate SQL Change Automation, which can be integrated into the release pipeline.
5. What is TFS Data Warehousing?
Answer: TFS Data Warehousing is the storage of historical data for reporting and analysis. It involves pulling data from operational databases into a separate reporting database.
6. What is Gated Check-in?
Answer: Gated check-in is a feature that automatically triggers a build upon check-in. The changes are only committed if the build succeeds, ensuring code quality.
7. How do you configure Canary Releases in TFS?
Answer: Canary releases can be configured by deploying new features to a subset of your production environment, using feature flags or routing configurations in the release pipeline.
8. What are the best practices for managing secrets in TFS?
Answer: Secrets should be stored as encrypted variables or used in conjunction with secure vaults like Azure Key Vault. They should never be hardcoded or checked into the repository.
9. How can you implement A/B Testing in TFS?
Answer: A/B Testing can be implemented using feature flags and telemetry to route a portion of users to a new feature and collect performance metrics.
10. How do you manage Cross-Project Dependencies in TFS?
Answer: Cross-project dependencies can be managed through shared NuGet packages, common libraries, or using specific branching and merging strategies.
11. What is an Orchestration Plan in TFS?
Answer: An Orchestration Plan defines the sequence of phases and steps that a build or release will go through, providing a blueprint for automation.
12. How can you extend TFS with custom plug-ins?
Answer: Custom plug-ins can be developed using the TFS SDK and can be installed to add extra functionalities or integrations.
13. How do you perform advanced merge operations in TFS?
Answer: Advanced merge operations like baseless merge or cherry-picking can be performed using the TFS command-line tools or directly in the Visual Studio interface.
14. What are the strategies for scaling TFS for large teams?
Answer: For large teams, TFS can be scaled using features like build agent pooling, load balancing, and partitioning the data warehouse.
15. What is the Test Impact Analysis in TFS?
Answer: Test Impact Analysis identifies the set of tests that are impacted by code changes, enabling focused testing and faster build cycles.
16. How do you migrate to Azure DevOps from TFS?
Answer: Migration can be performed using Azure DevOps Server Migration Tools or by upgrading the TFS server and then performing a migration to Azure DevOps.
17. What are Proxy Servers in TFS?
Answer: Proxy servers can be used to cache source control files in remote locations, improving performance for distributed teams.
18. How do you configure Distributed Builds in TFS?
Answer: Distributed builds can be configured by setting up multiple build agents and distributing the workload among them.
19. How can you achieve Infrastructure as Code in TFS?
Answer: Infrastructure as Code can be implemented using tools like Terraform or ARM templates, integrated into the TFS pipeline.
20. What are the advanced security features in TFS?
Answer: Advanced security features include auditing, SSO integration, IP restrictions, and fine-grained permission controls for both code and pipelines.
21. What is TFS Power Tools?
Answer: TFS Power Tools is a set of enhancements, tools, and command-line utilities aimed to improve the Team Foundation Server experience.
22. What are some common Performance Tuning measures for TFS?
Answer: Performance tuning can be achieved by optimizing SQL Server settings, enabling caching, load-balancing and optimizing build agents for parallel processing.
23. How do you handle Trunk Based Development in TFS?
Answer: Trunk Based Development in TFS involves frequent commits to the main branch, aided by feature toggles for unfinished work and short-lived branches for hotfixes.
24. What is TFS Elasticity?
Answer: Elasticity in TFS refers to the ability to dynamically scale resources like build agents or hardware based on demand.
25. How can you set up TFS with Docker?
Answer: TFS can be configured with Docker to containerize build agents or the applications themselves, enabling a consistent build and deployment environment.
26. How do you integrate TFS with SonarQube?
Answer: TFS can be integrated with SonarQube via a build task or a custom extension to analyze code quality metrics and enforce quality gates.
27. How do you implement Dark Launching in TFS?
Answer: Dark Launching involves releasing new features hidden behind feature flags, activated only for internal testing or select users, which can be configured in the release pipeline.
28. What is a Snapshot in TFS?
Answer: A Snapshot in TFS captures the state of the source code, work items, and build definitions at a particular point in time, useful for audits or rollbacks.
29. How do you perform Rollback in TFS?
Answer: Rollback in TFS can be done by undoing changesets and performing a new check-in or by deploying an older version of the application in the release pipeline.
30. How can you set up Geo-Redundancy for TFS?
Answer: Geo-redundancy can be set up using SQL Server Always On Availability Groups and configuring multiple TFS application tiers for failover.
31. What is TFS Analytics?
Answer: TFS Analytics includes built-in dashboards and custom reporting capabilities for tracking project metrics and KPIs.
32. How can you automate TFS Administration?
Answer: TFS administration can be automated using PowerShell scripts or REST APIs to manage users, permissions, and resources programmatically.
33. What is TFS Audit Logging?
Answer: Audit Logging in TFS records activities such as access, changes, and deletions, essential for compliance and security monitoring.
34. What are Custom Controls in TFS?
Answer: Custom controls in TFS allow you to extend or modify the UI for work items or build/release pipelines, usually through custom extensions or widgets.
35. How can you perform Disaster Recovery in TFS?
Answer: Disaster Recovery involves setting up backup and restore strategies for TFS databases, and possibly using geo-redundant deployments.
36. How do you manage Multiple Repositories in TFS?
Answer: Multiple repositories can be managed within a single TFS project, each with its own build and release pipelines, permissions, and policies.
37. What is Real-Time Monitoring in TFS?
Answer: Real-Time Monitoring involves setting up alerts or integrating with monitoring tools to track the health of builds, releases, and the TFS server itself.
38. How do you use TFS in Hybrid Cloud Environments?
Answer: TFS can be integrated with cloud services like Azure DevOps or AWS for build agents, storage, or other services, while keeping the main server on-premises.
39. What are Web Hooks in TFS?
Answer: Web Hooks in TFS enable integration with external systems by sending real-time HTTP notifications when specific events occur.
40. How can you extend TFS with Marketplace Extensions?
Answer: The TFS Marketplace offers a range of extensions for additional functionalities like advanced reporting, security, or third-party tool integrations. These can be easily installed to extend TFS capabilities.
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