Tech Ed 2011 Hardware

What’s great about computers today and good virtualization software is that you can do more with less.

However, I continue to pick areas where I need as much or more hardware on the road with me. While the promise of the cloud and Internet in general is great. I can’t always count on reliable connectivity back to my servers. And since I tend to do demo heavy talks, I’m forced to travel with a fair amount of kit.

For Tech Ed 2011 in Atlanta, I’m doing an all-day workshop on virtualization for developers and two sessions. The sessions can be fulfilled with just one of my W510s. My workshop however, demands a bit more.

So, what am I packing?

  • Two Lenovo W510s
  • Two Intel 160 GB Gen2 SSD in external cases over eSata to W510s
  • One Lenovo X61
  • One 8-port HP Switch with VLAN support
  • One DLINK 4-port router
  • One QNAP TS-259 Pro+

This configuration will let me show Hyper-V Live Migration as well as run a full Visual Studio 2010 Lab Management demo domain with a DC, SCVMM host, TFS, Build, Developer, and Tester machines and of course a Hyper-V host to run lab machines.

Hope to see you there!

[Edit] Fixed bulleted list.

Atlanta in May

Where will you be the week of May 14, 2011? I hope it’s with me and a bunch of other great folks at Tech Ed 2011.

It looks to be another great show. I’m lucky enough to be presenting an all-day workshop on virtualization for developers as well as two sessions.

One session is on using Expression Blend 4 as a developer. The second is on Team Build 2010.

I hope to see you there. And if you’ve not registered, there’s still time for both the show and/or my pre-con.

If you’re coming to my pre-con, drop me a mail with your t-shirt size. See the contact link on the blog.

See you there!

Links from VSLive VS ALM Workshop

Thanks to everyone who attended my workshop on this past Sunday!

Here’s the links I took down for you all:

TFS 2010 Power Tools (September Release)
http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/c255a1e4-04ba-4f68-8f4e-cd473d6b971f

Article on Customizing Work Items
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/ee309516.aspx

What do the Code Metrics Columns *really* mean?
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/codeanalysis/archive/2007/10/03/new-for-visual-studio-2008-code-metrics.aspx

CodePlex Project for Custom Workflow Activities for Build
http://tfsbuildextensions.codeplex.com/

Tech Ed 2010 Europe in Berlin (talks on lots of yummy stuff like Branching and Merging)
http://www.msteched.com/2010/Europe

Branching and Merging Guidance
http://tfsbranchingguideiii.codeplex.com/releases/view/38849

TFS Integration Platform
http://tfsintegration.codeplex.com/

Lab Management GDR (everyone wants)
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/lab_management/archive/2010/08/20/lab-management-final-update-is-now-available.aspx

Tool to help configure MOSS/SharePoint Server 2010 with TFS Dashboard
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/bharry/archive/2010/08/04/configuring-microsoft-office-sharepoint-server-with-tfs-2010.aspx

Enjoy!

Tech Ed 2010 Australia Pre-Con

Thanks to everyone who came out to my workshop yesterday. I had a great time.

Here's the slides (zipped PDF) for your enjoyment.

Thanks again and I hope to make it down again sooner than later.

Randell-Pre-Con-TechEd-2010-AU.zip (3.71 mb)

VSLive Redmond Post-Con Notes

Well, I’m back from holiday with the family. It was two great weeks of travel and fun.

In between however, I spoke at VSLive Redmond.

For those of you attended thank you! And a special thank you to those who attended my session on TFS 2010 or my all day workshop.

For those of you in the workshop, here’s the links I promised.

TFS 2010 Install guide

Brian Harry's Blog (the TFS Godfather)

Hakan's "Magic Upgrade Script"

My MSDN Articles to date on "Team System"

TFS Integration Platform

TFS 2010 Scrum Template

Download and run the MSI.
Then "Upload" via Visual Studio from:
%ProgramFilesx86%\Microsoft\Microsoft Visual Studio Scrum 1.0\Process Template

TFS 2010 Power Tools

Team Lab Blog

Enjoy!

:-)

So, You Want to Install TFS 2010 Beta 2 after VS 2010 Pro Beta 2

Well if you do, you’ll find that you’ll be unable to run your Unit Tests. You also find if you try to open up your test settings file, you get an error as follows:

vspro2010-beta2-error-loading-testsettings-dialogOnly

I filed a bug on Connect (#524181) and in working with Microsoft, got a solution. Here’s how to fix it.

Disclaimer: this works on my *virtual machine*. If you try this and your machine blows up, don’t come crying.

OK, with that out of the way, here’s what you need to do:

    1. 1. Shutdown any running copies of Visual Studio 2010 Professional Beta 2.
  1. 2. Start the Registry Editor.
  2. 3. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio\10.0\EnterpriseTools\QualityTools\TestTypes .
  3. 4. Back up the registry key just in case.
  4. 5. Delete the following sub-keys:

            a. {37e36796-fb51-4610-8d5c-e00ceaa68b9f}
            b. {4e7599fa-5ecb-43e9-a887-cd63cf72d207}
            c. {fa4c85ff-1236-4463-b954-3ba2f0eabd95}
            d. {982b8c01-1a8a-48f5-b98a-67ee64bc8687}

        That should do it. You should now be able to run Unit Tests and edit your test settings.

        To be clear, you should only need to do this if you installed Team Foundation Server 2010 Beta 2 after you installed Visual Studio 2010 Professional Beta 2. If you’re using Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate Beta 2, you won’t have an issue.

        Hope this helps.

About the author

Brian A. Randell is a senior consultant with MCW Technologies, LLC. Brian is also currently a Visual Studio ALM MVP.

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