Brian Keller

             Feb 29, 2012 Update: This post and accompanying downloads have been updated based on the Visual Studio 11 Beta which was released today.

I’m very pleased to announce the availability of the Visual Studio 11 Beta ALM Virtual Machine along with 6 hands-on-labs / demo scripts. This marks an exciting milestone in our journey towards RTM. You can now roll up your sleeves and start learning about the many capabilities we announced at TechEd North America last year and have been talking about in greater detail since then. You can download and install the beta of Visual Studio 11 (and Team Foundation Server 11, .NET Framework 4.5, etc.) and even use it in production with our “go live” support. But if you would like a fast way to understand what is new for application lifecycle management in this release, this virtual machine is pre-configured with all of the necessary software and sample data for you.

Before I get into what’s included, there are a few quick limitations to disclose:

• This is a Hyper-V virtual machine and works with Windows Server 2008 x64 (Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 is recommended). If you try to load this with Virtual PC it will blue screen since Virtual PC does not support 64-bit operating systems. I have not yet had a chance to try hosting this VM with the Windows 8 consumer preview, but I was successful using the Windows 8 developer preview to host an earlier version of my virtual machine so it should work. I will update this post later once I have a chance to test that.
• Windows is configured to set the system clock to February 15, 2012 every time you start this virtual machine. This is to support the project management hands-on-lab. If you want to work with this virtual machine beyond the specific hands-on-labs scenarios, you will need to disable the Set Date and Time task (Task Scheduler -> Task Scheduler Library -> Set Date and Time -> Right-Click -> Disable).
• Please take a few minutes to read the attached “Working with…” document for some important instructions on properly importing and working with this virtual machine.

With the limitations out of the way, onto the fun stuff…

This virtual machine is configured with:

• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard Edition
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2
• Microsoft Visual Studio 11 Ultimate Beta
• Microsoft Visual Studio 11 Team Foundation Server Beta
• Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010
• Microsoft Project 2010
• Microsoft Office Professional 2010 (Word, PowerPoint, Excel)
• Sample users and data required to support hands-on-lab scripts which accompany this download and exercise some of the new Visual Studio 11 application lifecycle management capabilities introduced in this release.

Downloading the virtual machine and labs:
I suggest using a download manager for these files since they are very large. My download manager of choice is Free Download Manager. You can use your own favorite download manager, but you may need to adapt the instructions below as appropriate.

1. Download and install Free Download Manager. This utility provides:
- Auto-resume support for interrupted downloads.
- Multiple simultaneous download streams for (usually) a much faster download experience.
- As the name implies, it’s completely free.
2. Select the URL’s below and copy (CTRL+C) them to your clipboard.
###Start – Do Not Include This Line###
http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/9/2/A9253B14-5F23-4BC8-9C7E-F5199DB5F831/Agile Project Management in Team Foundation Server 11.docx
http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/9/2/A9253B14-5F23-4BC8-9C7E-F5199DB5F831/Building the Right Software – Generating Storyboards and Collecting Stakeholder Feedback with Visual Studio 11.docx
http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/9/2/A9253B14-5F23-4BC8-9C7E-F5199DB5F831/Diagnosing Issues in Production with IntelliTrace and Visual Studio 11.docx
http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/9/2/A9253B14-5F23-4BC8-9C7E-F5199DB5F831/Exploratory Testing and Other Enhancements in Microsoft Test Manager 11.docx
http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/9/2/A9253B14-5F23-4BC8-9C7E-F5199DB5F831/Making Developers More Productive with Team Foundation Server 11.docx
http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/9/2/A9253B14-5F23-4BC8-9C7E-F5199DB5F831/Unit Testing with Visual Studio 11 – MSTest, NUnit, xUnit.net, and Code Clone.docx

http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/9/2/A9253B14-5F23-4BC8-9C7E-F5199DB5F831/VisualStudio11ALMBeta.part01.exe

http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/9/2/A9253B14-5F23-4BC8-9C7E-F5199DB5F831/VisualStudio11ALMBeta.part02.rar

http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/9/2/A9253B14-5F23-4BC8-9C7E-F5199DB5F831/VisualStudio11ALMBeta.part03.rar

http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/9/2/A9253B14-5F23-4BC8-9C7E-F5199DB5F831/VisualStudio11ALMBeta.part04.rar

http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/9/2/A9253B14-5F23-4BC8-9C7E-F5199DB5F831/VisualStudio11ALMBeta.part05.rar

http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/9/2/A9253B14-5F23-4BC8-9C7E-F5199DB5F831/VisualStudio11ALMBeta.part06.rar

http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/9/2/A9253B14-5F23-4BC8-9C7E-F5199DB5F831/VisualStudio11ALMBeta.part07.rar

http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/9/2/A9253B14-5F23-4BC8-9C7E-F5199DB5F831/VisualStudio11ALMBeta.part08.rar

http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/9/2/A9253B14-5F23-4BC8-9C7E-F5199DB5F831/VisualStudio11ALMBeta.part09.rar

http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/9/2/A9253B14-5F23-4BC8-9C7E-F5199DB5F831/VisualStudio11ALMBeta.part10.rar

http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/9/2/A9253B14-5F23-4BC8-9C7E-F5199DB5F831/VisualStudio11ALMBeta.part11.rar

http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/9/2/A9253B14-5F23-4BC8-9C7E-F5199DB5F831/VisualStudio11ALMBeta.part12.rar

http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/9/2/A9253B14-5F23-4BC8-9C7E-F5199DB5F831/VisualStudio11ALMBeta.part13.rar

http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/9/2/A9253B14-5F23-4BC8-9C7E-F5199DB5F831/VisualStudio11ALMBeta.part14.rar

http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/9/2/A9253B14-5F23-4BC8-9C7E-F5199DB5F831/VisualStudio11ALMBeta.part15.rar

http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/9/2/A9253B14-5F23-4BC8-9C7E-F5199DB5F831/Working with the Visual Studio 11 ALM Beta Virtual Machine.docx
###End – Do Not Include This Row In Your Selection###
3. Launch the user interface for Free Download Manager (either from the Start Menu or via the system tray icon if FDM is already running).
4. Click File -> Import -> Import List of URLs from Clipboard.
5. When prompted for a download group, accept the default and click OK.
6. You are now free to minimize Free Download Manager while the files download. By default, they will be saved to c:\downloads.
7. Expand the files and self-extracting RAR set and see the “Working with…” document for more instructions.

The Development outline while working with TFS 2010 is as follows.

1. User Stories are entered in TFS with Estimates.
2. Tasks are created and linked to the User Stories.
3. Test Cases are created in TFS and linked to User Stories.
4. Bugs are filed and linked to the User Story.
5. Once all Tasks,Test Cases, and Bugs are completed the User Stories are mark as resolved.
6. Reports are created to ensure all items are resolved and the Project is complete before release.

Work Items and Workflow (Agile)

• Defining User Stories, Tasks, and Other Work Items
• Creating a User Story, a Task, or Another Type of Work Item
• Creating Many User Stories, Tasks, or Other Work Items at One Time
• Creating a Work Item that Automatically Links to Another Work Item
• Creating Test Cases and Test Plans By Using Test and Lab Manager
• Opening and Tracking Bugs By Using Test Runner and Test and Lab Manager
• Viewing Work Items Assigned to You
• Customizing Work Item Types and Related Tasks

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd997897(v=VS.100).aspx#CreatingManyWorkItems

Working with User Stories

• Defining a User Story
• Adding and Linking Tasks to a User Story
• Adding and Linking Test Cases to a User Story
• Adding a Bug to a User Story
• Adding an Issue to a User Story
• Adding Details, Attachments, or Hyperlinks to a User Stories
• Resolving and Closing a User Story

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd380634(VS.100).aspx#LinkBug

Working with Tasks

• Defining a Task
• Linking a Task to a User Story
• Linking a Task to a Bug
• Adding Details, Attachments, or Hyperlinks to a Task
• Closing Completed Tasks

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd380700(v=VS.100).aspx

Complete Process with Details on All Reports

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd997796(v=VS.100).aspx#TrackTheProject

Product Planning Workbook (Reports)

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd380682(v=VS.100).aspx

MSF for Agile Software Development v5.0

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd380647(VS.100).aspx