Summary

You started out this chapter learning about exactly what build automation was. We then moved on to Team Foundation Build Server and its architecture. We discussed build types, how to create them, and some of the details of the TFSBuild.proj file. We talked about how to execute a build using a build type, from both Team Explorer and using the command-line tool, TFSBuild.exe. We also talked about the Team Build Browser and build reports, which show the status and results of builds.

We discussed some of the common build scenarios, such as nightly builds and continuous integration, giving examples of how to implement these scenarios using Team Foundation Build.

Finally, we covered how to manage your builds, how to set up multiple build servers and e-mail notifications, and how to configure your build drop site. We wrapped everything up with a brief overview of the Team Foundation Build security permissions.

One thing you may have noticed from the past two chapters is the variety of security permissions needed to accomplish different things using Team Foundation Server. The next chapter goes into some detail on the Team Foundation Server security model, including all the different permissions, groups, and roles required for Team Foundation Server.