Jenkins provides an easy-to-use Continuous Integration method, making it easier for developers to integrate changes to the project.

We can use Visual Studio Online (VSO) to store code and use Jenkins for Continuous Integration builds.  A Jenkins build can be triggered when code is checked into TFS with TFVC as the code repository.

In this blog, I am showcasing the ability of using TFS Version Control of a team project setup in VSO for Jenkins build system.

Pre-requisites:

1.      Visual Studio Online account with a Team Project with Version Control as source repository

2.      JDK, JRE latest version setup and environment variables configured

3.      Jenkins instance up and running

Login to the VSO account and navigate to the team project.

Normally, when we configure Jenkins along with on premise TFS, we have to specify the location of TF.exe (usually C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio <>\Common7\IDE\TF.exe) which is used in retrieving the source code from TFS for execution of the build.

Source Code Access on TFS is provided through the <> and <>  at Jenkins level. The same configuration does not work with VSO without providing the complete email - Microsoft ID credentials <>.

TF.exe does not support VSO login which makes it impossible to use Windows ID credentials unless pre-cached.

To use VSO, we need to make use of Team Explorer Everywhere (TEE) Command Line Client (CLC), i.e., TEE CLC.

Download the TEE CLC 2013 or later version.

Once the package is downloaded, unzip the file and configure environment PATH variable for the same.

Now, let’s configure Jenkins instance to make use of TEE CLC to build the VSO project.

Access the running instance of Jenkins, click on “Manage Jenkins”à “Manage Plugins”. Switch to “Advanced”.

Download the latest file from the below 2 URLs

·        TFS Plugin – https://wiki.jenkins-ci.org/display/JENKINS/Team+Foundation+Server+Plugin

·        MS Build Plugin - https://wiki.jenkins-ci.org/display/JENKINS/MSBuild+Plugin

And save them with extension – “.hpi “.

Upload these 2 files under the “Upload Plugin” tab.

Once the files are uploaded, restart the Jenkins service in “Services.msi”.

Configure TFS Plugin and MSBuild Plugin under “Manage Plugins” --> “Configure System” --> Team Foundation Server and MSBuild respectively. Restart Jenkins service.

With these configurations completed, we can now create a new Jenkins job to start the actual build execution.

Navigate to Jenkins home page, click on New Job, give a name and choose the type of project (Here, i have used Freestyle Project)

Before we configure Jenkins to get source code from VSO for build, since TEE CLC is a new client, its End User License Agreement (EULA) has to be accepted.  This being a command line client, we do not get any UI for accepting the EULA. We need to configure this as a job and execute the agreement.

Scroll down to Build section under the job, choose “Execute Windows batch step” and in the box, provide the command – “ tf.cmd eula –accept”

Without any further configuration, save the job and click on “Build Now” in the job homepage.

With the job execution, the output window looks similar to the below image –

Now that the EULA has been accepted, we can configure the job to retrieve source code from VSO and proceed with the build.

Create a new job / Open the executed job and scroll down to “Execute Windows batch” step. Delete the EULA accept command.

Now scroll to “Source Code Management” section. Under this, input VSO project related values.

1.      Choose Team Foundation Server from list of options under Source Code Management

2.      Server URL should have information upto the Collection level. Ex: (http://abcd.visualstudio.com/DefaultCollection)

3.      Project path should resemble the server source code path. Ex: ($/FabrikamFiber/Dev)

4.      Login name should be the complete email-id for VSO login ( IMPORTANT : It is mandatory to have the alternate credentials enabled even though it is not being used explicitly) Ex: liveid@domain.com

5.      Enter the user password.

6.      Leave the other fields as is with existing values unless you need to change.

7.      Save changes to the job and trigger a build.

Scroll down to Build Section with the Job creation page to configure the project/solution that needs to be compiled.

In the Build section, click on Add Build Step and Choose – “Build a Visual Studio Project or Solution using MSBuild” from the list of options.

In the same section, choose the MS Build Name/Version from drop-down, the Solution file (sln) or csproj file for the particular project to be compiled and the minimum option as build argument – “/t:build”. Save the changes and trigger the build by clicking on "Build Now" link.

With the correct configuration, the build should succeed with success message in output console.