Recommended Test Controllers and Agents topology for our TFS 2010 setup

Question

We are trying to set up a centralized TFS 2010 for our company. These are the setup that I'm able to manage at the moment:

- 1 machine for App tier

- 1 machine for Data tier

- 1 generic Build Server (A Build Controller with 1 or more Build Agents)

- Projects are unrelated to each other. They generally work separately and securely. The one thing they can commonly use is the generic Build Server. They are allowed to provision their own Build Server.

- They will be also allowed to provision Test Controllers and Agents, although we need to give setup guides and security restrictions in doing such. This means specifically designing which ports should be open, software requirements, configurations, etc.

- No plan to set up the Lab Management feature.

I'm a bit overwhelmed though with the capabilities of TFS 2010 related to testing because there are a LOT of things to consider. Let me start first with a basic question:

1. What kind of capabilities can I do in Test Manager 2010 if we don't set up Test Controllers, Test Agents, and Lab Management?

Now, assuming we do set up Test Controllers and Agents:

2. Should a Test Controller be generic for our kind of projects which are totally unrelated to each other? Can I install one in our Build Server?

3. Difference between a Test Agent network service and a Test Agent interactive process? Does interactive process mean that I can't/shouldn't use the actual machine as a workstation?

That's it for now, although as I try to explore Test Manager the questions pile up. Hopefully someone could help. Thanks a lot.

Answer 1

Hello,

As your questions have cross several aspects, I could only give you all what I know. For better response, you can post on corresponding forum

1. With test manger, you can now plan your testing effort. This includes creating test plans, test suites, test configurations, and test cases with individual test steps. About tests, if you do not install controller, agents, etc. you could only manupulate manual test with it, you are not able to run automated tests, etc. You can refer to the following article about Test Manger  http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb385901.aspx

2. Yes. The test controller could be generic for your different kinds of projects. You can install on build server.

3. A test agent can be installed as a service or as an interactive process. If you want to run tests that interact with your desktop, such as coded UI tests, you must install the test agent that runs these tests as an interactive process.

You could also post on Testing with Visual Studio Test Manager (MTM) Forum which will make answer searching in the forum easier and be beneficial to other community members.

Thanks.

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Edwer Fang [MSFT]
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Answer 2

Hello,

I will mark the reply as answer, if you find it no help, you can feel free to unmark it.

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Edwer Fang [MSFT]
MSDN Subscriber Support in Forum
If you have any feedback on our support, please contact msdnmg @ microsoft.com

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

Answer 3

hi edwer Fang,

we have just started using Test Manager, please let us know to achieve manual and automation testing respectively