Is Team Foundation Server the right solution to automatically publish .net website to remote server?

Question

We currently build our .net website in C# in Visual Studio 2010 Pro on our dev server, then manually publish it and upload to the live server where it is copied over the current files to go live.

We want to automate this process as much as possible and if possible push it at a certain time, such as every day at midnight. We don't currently use any Source Control so this probably makes it essential anyway...

Is Team Foundation Server [TFS] the best solution to enable this? If so, how much would it cost our client for this or how can we find out? We're in the UK and they do have an MSDN subscription.

Answer 1

At this point, you need to slow down and set more realistic goals. Here's my biggest red flag:

"We don't currently use any Source Control so this probably makes it essential anyway..."

Without proper SCC, you're not capable of getting where you need to go. A full scale TFS implementation can most certainly do what you want to do, and it has a couple of really nice features that you can use to integrate automated deployment scenarios, which is great, but you really need to learn to walk before you can learn to run.

I've commented on TFS cost before, so I won't do that in this post, but suffice it to say that a TFS implemenation which does what you want will cost a significant amount of effort, especially if you factor in the time it will take you to set it up and script out the automated publishing workflow you want.

I don't know what your budgets are or how big your teams are, or the nature of your development strategy, or a number of things that might actually change my answer, but I'm proceeding on the assumption that you have a limited budget and no dedicated staff of people that you can draw upon to set up a first-class TFS implementation, so here's what I would recommend (in this order!)

• Set up version control using something that's free such as Subversion or Git. For an organization that's just starting off with SCC, I'd recommend Subversion over Git, because it's conceptually a lot simpler to get started with. This is the bedrock of everything you're going to do. Unlike adding a when fuze to a 2000 pound bomb or assembling a bicycle, I'd recommend that you read the manual before and during your SVN installation.

• Make a build file using MSBuild. Yes, you can use nAnt, but MSBuild is fairly equivalent in most scenarios, and is a bit more friendly with TFS, if you ever decide to go in that direction in the distant, distant future. Make sure your builds work properly on your development boxes and servers.

• Come up with a deployment script. This may very well just equate to a target in your MSBuild file. Or it may be an MSI file -- I don't know your environment well enough to say, but guessing by the fact that you said you copied stuff over to production, an MSBuild target will likely suffice.

• Set up a Continuous Integration server such as Hudson or CruiseControl.NET. I personally use CruiseControl, but the basic idea behind both is that they are automated services which watch your SCC system for changes and perform the builds for you. If you have set up a MSBuild target to perform your deployment, you can configure a "project" in CCNET (or probably Hudson) to do the deployment as well.

The total software cost of these solutions is $0, but you will likely face quite a bit of a learning curve on it all. TFS's learning curve, IMO, is even steeper, and the software cost is definitely north of $0. Either way, the take away is not to try to bite it all off in one chunk at one time, or you will probably fail. Go step-by-step, and you will get there. And have fun! I personally loved learning about all of this stuff!