Due to continuous advancement in software development, it has become increasingly difficult for legacy systems to keep pace with industry demands. Modernizing these systems would allow organizations to offer a better customer experience and enhance collaboration and efficiency among employees.
Azure DevOps, an end-to-end software development platform, is designed to seamlessly integrate with multiple platforms. It supports modern software development and DevOps practices including cross-team collaboration, enabling organizations to develop and deliver products faster.
By migrating TFS to Azure DevOps, organizations can automate, build, test, and deploy workflows to streamline project tracking. Since the platform can be hosted both on-premises and on cloud, teams can access their projects remotely at any time and collaborate in real time. In addition, Azure DevOps can integrate with a wide range of tools in the development lifecycle, enabling teams to deliver software more efficiently. Further, Azure DevOps can be scaled effortlessly with Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure.
If you are presently using TFS, you may have come across some of these challenges:
- You might not always have the latest versions with the newest functionalities and features.
- You might have to stay on top of the infrastructure, server maintenance, security, updates, backups, and operating system licenses, among others, which is both costly and time-consuming.
- You may be unable to lower the risk to your organization since TFA doesn’t have many compliance certificates to meet.
- It isn’t possible for your team members to securely access the business environment from anywhere using any device.
- The uptime provided to you, in addition to the support, isn't that great.
How do I migrate my TFS to Azure DevOps?
Step #1: Get started
First, describe your current on-premises TFS setup and update it to its latest version. Since each of your TFS collections get migrated as a separate account, consider having a single group for a hassle-free and quick transition.
Further, you will have several projects inside each collection, including process template and process settings inside each project. Consolidate the active projects into a single TFS project. Ensure you have an active account in Azure if you do not yet have it. For a smooth import, remember not to make any extreme changes to the TFS process.
Step #2: Set up staging migration server
After getting your live TFS server up-to-date, you will need to set up your new staging VM that would host your migration.
To do this, install the latest version of Windows server and have a ton of hard drive space for it. Install the SQL server (ensure it is the same version as your live TFS server) and management tools. Install IIS from Windows features and finally the Azure DevOps Server (ensure it is the same version as your TFS server).
Next, you're going to need to take a full backup of live TFS server. For this, you may use a built-in SQL backup tooling. It is advised that you consider shutting down the live TFS server while making significant changes. Restore the backups and configure the installation. Lastly, install Visual Studio 2019.
Step #3: Eliminate any data that you don't want to import
Clean up any data that you want to import. Doing so will help make the migration simple. To do this, start by deleting any unnecessary Team Projects through the staging TFS Web UI. Next, remove all the workspaces using a handy tool such as GIT. Now delete all the code from the database with the "tf destroy” command.
Step #4: Validate the import to see if there are any issues to be resolved before the migration
You may need to sort out some issues before executing the final transition. Validating the import will allow you to resolve them. Running the validation will only take a couple of minutes, and it will create a log of files that will help you analyze the problems before the migration. Execute the validation on the staging server by opening the command prompt and running the Migrator validate command.
Step #5: Prepare the data to be imported
After successful validation of the import, you will need to prepare the actual data that needs to be imported. To do this, you'll need to run and execute the Migrator prepare command, which will generate the required import files. Before moving your imported files containing all your TFS data into Azure DevOps Service, you will need to push them to Azure Storage Container.
Step #6: Move your data into Azure DevOps
This is the final step. Begin by detaching the collection from TFS and generating the database backup. If you can manage to keep your data import under 30 GB, create a DACPAC with all your essential data to import to Azure DevOps Service. Next, upload it to Azure and point the Azure DevOps Service to it. Now, create an SAS key to enable the Azure DevOps Service to access the DACPAC.
That’s it! You can now start the import by running the Migrate Import command from the Data Migration Tool Folder. Once your migration is complete, don’t forget to verify that everything is working fine.
How does TFS integrate with Azure DevOps?
Rebranded as Azure DevOps Server, TFS integrates seamlessly with Azure DevOps Services. It offers advanced features like source control, agile project management and assimilates continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD), wherein the process of integrating code changes, testing, and delivering applications is automated.
By integrating TFS with Azure DevOps, organizations can:
- Seamlessly connect TFS with Azure DevOps pipelines, repositories, and test plans, and more.
- Improve tracking and collaboration by syncing work items in TFS.
- Enable hybrid workflows for scalable builds and deployments.
Best Practices to Migrate TFS to Azure DevOps
1. Assess your existing setup
Evaluate your existing TFS setup, including collections, work items, and pipelines in use. Next, identify any customizations or third-party integrations that may impact migration. Once this is done, you need to decide which makes more sense for your organization – moving to Azure DevOps Services (cloud) or Azure DevOps Server (on-premises).
2. Create a backup and run a test before migration
Before migration, take a complete backup of your TFS database. Once the backup is completed, run a dry run in a test environment to identify potential issues and validate data integrity.
3. Choose the right migration approach
Lower migration complexity by reviewing and cleaning up unused repositories, work items, and configurations. Once completed, choose how you will migrate TFS to Azure DevOps:
- For companies using an on-premises version, they can go for a direct upgrade to the latest Azure DevOps Server before moving to the cloud.
- For organizations choosing database migration, work items, source code, and pipelines can be transferred through Azure DevOps Migration Tools.
- Companies can also choose manual migration wherein projects may be manually recreated, if required.
4. Execute migration
Ensure that the migration is carried out during a planned downtime to minimize disruptions.
5. Post-migration validation
During post-migration validation, accuracy of data and configurations is verified. This includes tracking the performance and user feedback to address any issues that may have cropped up. Additionally, organizations should hold sessions to train teams on Azure DevOps features and workflows to maximize productivity.
Benefits of Migrating from Team Foundation Server (TFS) to Azure DevOps
There are several benefits that you can avail if you migrate TFS to Azure DevOps:
- Improved development process: By switching to Azure DevOps, you get your hands on tools for modern workflows, like CI/CD pipelines, Kanban boards, and Scrum boards.
- Better project management: Azure DevOps also offers tools for tracking projects and streamlining collaboration with both internal and external partners.
- Increased scalability: TFS to Azure DevOps migration helps scale with Microsoft's cloud infrastructure.
- Improved cost savings: Once you migrate from TFS to Azure DevOps, you can optimize your financial costs and reduce operational time as well.
- Enhanced security and compliance: After completing the switch to Azure DevOps, you can take advantage of comprehensive security and compliance, including certifications like ISO 27001, SOC 1, SOC 2, and HIPAA BAA.
- Avail automatic updates: Azure DevOps provides automatic updates from Microsoft to keep you chugging along seamlessly.
- High availability: Azure DevOps offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee and 24/7 round-the-clock support.
- Access from anywhere: With Azure DevOps, your teams can access their projects from anywhere as they can be hosted both on-premises or on cloud.
- Seamless integration with other tools: Azure DevOps offers improved flexibility as it can easily integrate with a wide range of tools, such as GitHub, Jenkins, and Kubernetes.
Summing Up
Migrating from TFS to Azure DevOps not only allows organizations to stay competitive in an ever evolving and cutthroat market but enables them to improve their security, scale their operations, and cut their operational expenses. All this leads to a more agile and cost-effective development environment where your employees can thrive and deliver their best.
However, keep in mind that when you migrate code from TFS to Azure DevOps, it can be a lengthy and complicated process, requiring expert supervision. Executing the migration in-house may pose certain challenges. Additionally, since this transition is a one-time event, developing these skills in-house would not be a judicious use of your limited resources.
This is where Intelegencia can step in. Our team of skilled software developers can help with a quick and seamless TFS-to-Azure DevOps migration process.