<s>
Azure	B-Application
DevOps	I-Application
Server	I-Application
(	O
formerly	O
Team	B-Application
Foundation	I-Application
Server	I-Application
(	O
TFS	O
)	O
and	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
Team	I-Application
System	I-Application
(	O
VSTS	O
)	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
Microsoft	O
product	O
that	O
provides	O
version	B-Architecture
control	I-Architecture
(	O
either	O
with	O
Team	O
Foundation	O
Version	B-Architecture
Control	I-Architecture
(	O
TFVC	O
)	O
or	O
Git	B-Application
)	O
,	O
reporting	O
,	O
requirements	O
management	O
,	O
project	O
management	O
(	O
for	O
both	O
agile	O
software	O
development	O
and	O
waterfall	O
teams	O
)	O
,	O
automated	O
builds	O
,	O
testing	O
and	O
release	O
management	O
capabilities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Azure	O
DevOps	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
back-end	O
to	O
numerous	O
integrated	B-Application
development	I-Application
environments	I-Application
(	O
IDEs	O
)	O
but	O
is	O
tailored	O
for	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Visual	I-Application
Studio	I-Application
and	O
Eclipse	B-Application
on	O
all	O
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
latter	O
form	O
is	O
called	O
Azure	O
DevOps	O
Services	O
(	O
formerly	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
Online	O
before	O
it	O
was	O
renamed	O
to	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
Team	O
Services	O
in	O
2015	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
cloud	O
service	O
is	O
backed	O
by	O
the	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Azure	I-Application
cloud	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Azure	O
DevOps	O
is	O
built	O
on	O
multi-tier	B-Operating_System
,	O
scalable	O
architecture	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
primary	O
structure	O
consists	O
of	O
an	O
application	O
tier	B-Operating_System
responsible	O
for	O
processing	O
logic	O
and	O
maintaining	O
the	O
web	O
application	O
portal	O
(	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
Team	O
Web	O
Access	O
or	O
TWA	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Azure	O
DevOps	O
is	O
built	O
using	O
Windows	B-Application
Communication	I-Application
Foundation	I-Application
web	O
services	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
data	O
tier	B-Operating_System
and	O
application	O
tier	B-Operating_System
can	O
exist	O
on	O
the	O
same	O
machine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
support	O
scalability	O
,	O
the	O
application	O
tier	B-Operating_System
can	O
be	O
load	O
balanced	O
and	O
the	O
data	O
tier	B-Operating_System
can	O
be	O
clustered	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
using	O
Microsoft	B-Application
SQL	I-Application
Server	I-Application
2012	O
or	O
later	O
,	O
AlwaysOn	O
SQL	O
Server	O
Failover	O
Clusters	O
and	O
Availability	O
Groups	O
are	O
supported	O
which	O
allows	O
for	O
geographic	O
replication	O
of	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Azure	O
DevOps	O
can	O
integrate	O
with	O
an	O
existing	O
SharePoint	B-Protocol
farm	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Build	O
servers	O
,	O
lab	O
management	O
servers	O
,	O
release	O
management	O
servers	O
and	O
proxy	B-Application
servers	I-Application
(	O
to	O
reduce	O
some	O
of	O
the	O
load	O
on	O
the	O
application	O
tier	B-Operating_System
)	O
,	O
test	O
machines	O
and	O
load	O
test	O
machines	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
added	O
to	O
the	O
infrastructure	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
support	O
teams	O
requiring	O
enterprise	O
project	O
scheduling	O
,	O
Azure	O
DevOps	O
also	O
integrates	O
with	O
Microsoft	B-Operating_System
Project	I-Operating_System
Server	I-Operating_System
,	O
which	O
allows	O
enterprise	O
level	O
portfolio	O
management	O
,	O
resource	O
management	O
and	O
project	O
tracking	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
provides	O
two	O
standalone	O
redistributed	O
APIs	B-Application
for	O
connecting	O
to	O
Azure	O
DevOps	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
is	O
a	O
Java	B-Language
SDK	O
,	O
the	O
other	O
is	O
a	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
SDK	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
APIs	B-Application
allow	O
for	O
client	O
connectivity	O
to	O
Azure	O
DevOps	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Azure	O
DevOps	O
supports	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
2010	O
and	O
later	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
Test	O
Manager	O
(	O
MTM	O
)	O
2012	O
,	O
and	O
2013	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Eclipse	B-Application
,	O
older	O
versions	O
of	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
,	O
and	O
other	O
environments	O
can	O
be	O
plugged	O
into	O
Azure	O
DevOps	O
using	O
the	O
Microsoft	O
Source	O
Code	O
Control	O
Integration	O
Provider	O
(	O
MSSCCI	O
Provider	O
–	O
pronounced	O
“	O
Miss-Key	O
”	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	B-Application
Excel	I-Application
and	O
Microsoft	B-Operating_System
Project	I-Operating_System
are	O
also	O
supported	O
to	O
help	O
manage	O
work	O
items	O
which	O
allows	O
for	O
bulk	O
update	O
,	O
bulk	O
entry	O
and	O
bulk	O
export	O
of	O
work	O
items	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	B-Operating_System
Project	I-Operating_System
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
schedule	O
work	O
when	O
conforming	O
to	O
a	O
waterfall	O
software	O
development	O
methodology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
Excel	B-Application
and	O
Project	O
support	O
bi-directional	O
updates	O
of	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
Team	B-Application
Foundation	I-Application
Server	I-Application
2012	O
,	O
Microsoft	B-Application
PowerPoint	I-Application
was	O
also	O
integrated	O
with	O
Azure	O
DevOps	O
to	O
enable	O
rapid	O
storyboard	O
development	O
to	O
help	O
with	O
the	O
requirements	O
management	O
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
integration	O
provides	O
extensible	O
storyboard	O
shapes	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
build	O
any	O
type	O
of	O
interface	O
mockup	O
that	O
can	O
then	O
be	O
animated	O
with	O
PowerPoint	B-Application
's	O
built-in	O
functions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Power	O
Tools	O
for	O
TFS	O
include	O
a	O
Windows	B-Application
shell	I-Application
integration	O
that	O
allows	O
users	O
to	O
check	O
files	O
in	O
and	O
out	O
,	O
add	O
files	O
and	O
perform	O
other	O
basic	O
tasks	O
by	O
right-clicking	O
on	O
a	O
file	O
or	O
folder	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Work	O
items	O
are	O
defined	O
through	O
the	O
XML	B-Protocol
documents	I-Protocol
and	O
are	O
highly	O
extensible	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Azure	O
DevOps	O
includes	O
Process	O
Templates	O
for	O
the	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Solutions	I-Application
Framework	I-Application
for	O
Agile	O
,	O
Scrum	O
and	O
CMMI	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Work	O
items	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
linked	O
to	O
external	O
artifacts	O
such	O
as	O
web	O
pages	O
,	O
documents	O
on	O
a	O
file	O
share	O
or	O
documents	O
stored	O
in	O
another	O
repository	O
such	O
as	O
SharePoint	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Work	O
items	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
linked	O
to	O
source	O
code	O
,	O
build	O
results	O
,	O
test	O
results	O
and	O
specific	O
versions	O
of	O
items	O
in	O
source	B-Architecture
control	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Azure	O
DevOps	O
supports	O
two	O
different	O
types	O
of	O
source	B-Architecture
control	I-Architecture
–	O
its	O
original	O
source	B-Architecture
control	I-Architecture
engine	O
called	O
Team	O
Foundation	O
Version	B-Architecture
Control	I-Architecture
(	O
TFVC	O
)	O
and	O
with	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
TFS	O
2013	O
,	O
it	O
supports	O
Git	B-Application
as	O
a	O
core	O
source	B-Architecture
control	I-Architecture
repository	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
TFVC	O
is	O
a	O
centralized	O
version	B-Architecture
control	I-Architecture
system	I-Architecture
allowing	O
teams	O
to	O
store	O
any	O
type	O
of	O
artifact	O
within	O
its	O
repository	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Conflicts	O
are	O
dealt	O
with	O
at	O
check-in	B-Architecture
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
improve	O
performance	O
for	O
remote	O
clients	O
,	O
Azure	O
DevOps	O
includes	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
install	O
Proxy	B-Application
Servers	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Proxy	B-Application
servers	I-Application
allow	O
source	B-Architecture
control	I-Architecture
contents	O
to	O
be	O
cached	O
at	O
a	O
site	O
closer	O
to	O
the	O
developers	O
to	O
avoid	O
long	O
network	O
trips	O
and	O
the	O
associated	O
latency	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Check-ins	O
are	O
still	O
performed	O
directly	O
against	O
the	O
Azure	O
DevOps	O
application	O
tier	B-Operating_System
so	O
the	O
Proxy	B-Application
Server	I-Application
is	O
most	O
beneficial	O
in	O
read	O
scenarios	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
source	B-Architecture
control	I-Architecture
engine	O
,	O
Azure	O
DevOps	O
supports	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
features	O
to	O
help	O
developers	O
ensure	O
the	O
code	O
that	O
is	O
checked	O
in	O
follows	O
configurable	O
rules	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
rule	O
engine	O
is	O
called	O
a	O
Check-in	B-Architecture
Policy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
several	O
out	O
of	O
the	O
box	O
policies	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
Changeset	O
Comments	O
Policy	O
which	O
will	O
not	O
allow	O
a	O
check-in	B-Architecture
unless	O
the	O
developer	O
enters	O
a	O
check-in	B-Architecture
comment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Azure	O
Repos	O
extension	O
for	O
Visual	B-Language
Studio	I-Language
Code	I-Language
supports	O
TFVC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
TFS	O
2013	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
added	O
native	O
support	O
for	O
Git	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
the	O
same	O
library	O
that	O
powers	O
the	O
popular	O
GitHub	B-Application
and	O
the	O
code	O
is	O
freely	O
available	O
from	O
GitHub	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
Microsoft	O
took	O
the	O
approach	O
of	O
using	O
a	O
standard	O
library	O
,	O
any	O
Git	B-Application
client	O
can	O
now	O
be	O
used	O
natively	O
with	O
Azure	O
DevOps	O
(	O
in	O
other	O
words	O
,	O
developers	O
can	O
use	O
their	O
favorite	O
tools	O
and	O
never	O
install	O
the	O
standard	O
Azure	O
DevOps	O
clients	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
allows	O
tools	O
on	O
any	O
platform	O
and	O
any	O
IDE	O
that	O
support	O
Git	B-Application
to	O
connect	O
to	O
Azure	O
DevOps	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
both	O
Xcode	B-Operating_System
and	O
Android	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
support	O
Git	B-Application
plug-ins	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
if	O
developers	O
do	O
not	O
want	O
to	O
use	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
Team	O
Explorer	O
Everywhere	O
plug-in	O
for	O
Eclipse	B-Application
,	O
they	O
can	O
choose	O
to	O
use	O
eGit	O
to	O
connect	O
to	O
Azure	O
DevOps	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Using	O
Git	B-Application
does	O
not	O
preclude	O
the	O
benefit	O
of	O
using	O
Azure	O
DevOps	O
work	O
item	O
or	O
build	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
checking	O
code	O
in	O
with	O
Git	B-Application
,	O
referencing	O
the	O
work	O
item	O
ID	O
in	O
the	O
check-in	B-Architecture
comment	O
will	O
associate	O
the	O
check-in	B-Architecture
with	O
the	O
given	O
work	O
item	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Likewise	O
,	O
Team	O
Build	O
will	O
also	O
build	O
Git	B-Application
projects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
of	O
the	O
major	O
reasons	O
to	O
use	O
Azure	O
DevOps	O
as	O
a	O
Git	B-Application
repository	O
is	O
that	O
it	O
is	O
backed	O
by	O
SQL	O
Server	O
and	O
is	O
afforded	O
the	O
same	O
protection	O
as	O
Team	O
Foundation	O
Version	B-Architecture
Control	I-Architecture
(	O
TFVC	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
includes	O
tools	O
such	O
as	O
Cognos	O
,	O
Tableau	O
,	O
Excel	B-Application
and	O
other	O
reporting	O
tools	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
data	O
is	O
available	O
directly	O
within	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
and	O
can	O
be	O
exported	O
to	O
Excel	B-Application
for	O
detailed	O
analysis	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Team	O
Build	O
(	O
prior	O
to	O
TFS	O
2015	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
build	O
server	O
application	O
included	O
with	O
Team	B-Application
Foundation	I-Application
Server	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Two	O
components	O
make	O
up	O
Team	O
Build	O
–	O
MSBuild	B-Application
and	O
Windows	O
Workflow	O
Foundation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MSBuild	B-Application
is	O
a	O
declarative	O
XML	B-Protocol
language	O
similar	O
to	O
Apache	B-Application
Ant	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
WF	O
was	O
added	O
to	O
the	O
build	O
process	O
starting	O
with	O
TFS	O
2010	O
;	O
prior	O
to	O
that	O
only	O
MSBuild	B-Application
was	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
TFS	O
2010	O
and	O
2012	O
,	O
the	O
WF	O
templates	O
(	O
Extensible	B-Device
Application	I-Device
Markup	I-Device
Language	I-Device
)	O
files	O
were	O
stored	O
in	O
source	B-Architecture
control	I-Architecture
and	O
could	O
be	O
edited	O
and	O
versioned	O
directly	O
from	O
source	B-Architecture
control	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
WF	O
templates	O
can	O
still	O
be	O
downloaded	O
,	O
edited	O
and	O
stored	O
in	O
source	B-Architecture
control	I-Architecture
if	O
desired	O
and	O
TFS	O
2013	O
does	O
not	O
break	O
existing	O
TFS	O
2010	O
or	O
2012	O
build	O
process	O
templates	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
support	O
of	O
Git	B-Application
in	O
TFS	O
2013	O
,	O
Team	O
Build	O
has	O
been	O
enhanced	O
to	O
allow	O
automated	O
building	O
of	O
Git	B-Application
projects	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
TFVC	O
projects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MSBuild	B-Application
is	O
the	O
markup	O
language	O
that	O
is	O
found	O
in	O
the	O
.proj	O
(	O
csproj	O
for	O
C#	O
projects	O
and	O
vbproj	O
for	O
Visual	O
Basic	O
projects	O
)	O
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
build	O
system	O
is	O
extensible	O
with	O
users	O
being	O
able	O
to	O
create	O
their	O
own	O
workflow	O
activities	O
,	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
inject	O
MSBuild	B-Application
into	O
the	O
process	O
and	O
to	O
execute	O
external	O
processes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
build	O
process	O
can	O
be	O
configured	O
for	O
various	O
types	O
of	O
builds	O
including	O
scheduled	O
builds	O
,	O
continuous	O
integration	O
,	O
gated	O
check-in	B-Architecture
and	O
rolling	O
builds	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
gated	O
check-in	B-Architecture
build	O
will	O
shelve	O
code	O
that	O
a	O
developer	O
checks	O
in	O
,	O
perform	O
a	O
"	O
get	O
latest	O
"	O
on	O
the	O
server	O
code	O
and	O
perform	O
a	O
build	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
the	O
build	O
fails	O
,	O
the	O
developer	O
is	O
notified	O
and	O
can	O
fix	O
the	O
code	O
before	O
trying	O
another	O
check-in	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
New	O
with	O
TFS	O
2013	O
is	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
check	O
in	O
the	O
build	O
results	O
into	O
source	B-Architecture
control	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Assuming	O
developers	O
associate	O
source	O
code	O
with	O
work	O
items	O
on	O
check-in	B-Architecture
,	O
Team	O
Build	O
has	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
report	O
on	O
the	O
changes	O
in	O
each	O
build	O
–	O
both	O
source	O
code	O
changes	O
and	O
work	O
item	O
changes	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
test	O
results	O
(	O
this	O
includes	O
unit	O
testing	O
results	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
automated	O
functional	O
testing	O
(	O
CodedUI	O
)	O
results	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Initially	O
,	O
in	O
TFS	O
2015	O
and	O
with	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
Team	O
Services	O
(	O
VSTS	O
)	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
has	O
reinvented	O
the	O
architecture	O
for	O
the	O
build	O
engine	O
to	O
be	O
based	O
on	O
a	O
cross-platform	O
friendly	O
Node.js	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Azure	O
DevOps	O
provides	O
for	O
elastic	O
build	O
capabilities	O
via	O
build	O
hosting	O
in	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Azure	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
InRelease	O
was	O
fully	O
incorporated	O
into	O
Team	B-Application
Foundation	I-Application
Server	I-Application
2013	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
has	O
rebuilt	O
Release	O
Management	O
for	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
Team	O
Services	O
and	O
on-premises	O
version	O
of	O
TFS	O
with	O
the	O
new	O
changes	O
in	O
2015	O
Update	O
2	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
first	O
version	O
of	O
Team	B-Application
Foundation	I-Application
Server	I-Application
was	O
released	O
March	O
17	O
,	O
2006	O
.	O
</s>
