TFS Build 2008 - unable to publish test results

Question

So, my scenario is this: We've got TFS AT running on one machine (server1) and TFS Build running on another (server2). Running builds on server2 works as expected, apart from one issue: when it tries to publish the test results it fails with this message:
Publishing results of test run NETWORK SERVICE@server2 2009-01-20 16:00:13_Any CPU_Release to http://server1:8080/Build/v1.0/PublishTestResultsBuildService2.asmx...
  .The drop share directory "\\localhost\Builds\Continuous Integration Build_20090120.8" could not be accessed.
  The drop share directory "\\localhost\Builds\Continuous Integration Build_20090120.8" could not be accessed.
MSBUILD : warning MSB6006: "MSTest.exe" exited with code 1.

Having read some blog posts and some other questions on this forum I can see others with much the same problem and usually it's mentioned that the build account and the tfs service account needs "full control" permission to the drop share folder. I've added "Everyone" to both NT Permissions and Folder Sharing with full control, and I still get this error. (I've tried adding just the two accounts as well, but same result)

So my question is; now what?

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- Jarle Nygård -

Answer 1

Could you change the "localhost" with the computer name? I guess both build agent and TFS server use \\localhost\.. to access the drop location. Thus they think the drop folder is local on themselves.

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Answer 2

I've tried both, same result.

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- Jarle Nygård -

Answer 3

  Are you able to access the drop folder from a remote machine?

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Please mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help.

Answer 4

Yes I am. And the binaries etc. are dropped as expected.

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- Jarle Nygård -

Answer 5

Try setting permissions for Everyone in the Domain. I guess that TFSReport, TFSReportsAccount, TFSService, TFSServiceAccount are Domain accounts?

Peter

Answer 6

Yes, they are domain accounts. They have all been granted full access, but still the same problem.

There is one aspect that I have failed to mention that might be of use. The two servers are on different subnets; ie their IP adresses are:
server1 (TFS AT): 85.**.**.**
server2 (TFS Build Agent): 10.4.40.194

As you can see the TFS AT server is exposed externally, whilst our build server is setup on a local-only network. I'm wondering; should any additional ports be opened, apart from the ports needed to start TFS Build? I've asked my Network Admin to check that server1 can actually open the share on server2. It might be a firewall issue... Will update post as I get more info.

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- Jarle Nygård -

Answer 7

Did you ever find a solution for this issue?

I am getting following error.

The drop share directory "\\servername\d$\builddir\droplocations\buildname\buildnumber"  could not be accessed.

The drop share directory "\\servername\d$\builddir\droplocations\buildname\buildnumber"  could not be accessed.

Thank you.

Answer 8

Yes, I believe it was a firewall issue...

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- Jarle Nygård -