Configuring network location for self-contained one-box setup of VS Lab Management 2010 RC

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If you plan to setup Visual Studio Lab Management 2010 RC on a self-contained isolated machine (e.g., laptop that you want to carry around), then you have to perform an additional step to configure network location as described below. Configuration of network location as described in this topic is not required for typical labs that have multiple machines.

A self-contained one-box setup includes everything you need to run Lab Management on that machine. A typical configuration is as follows:

  • On the host: Hyper-V role, SCVMM.
  • In one or more infrastructure VMs running on host: TFS, Visual Studio, Build controller, Test controller, Domain controller, DHCP server.

In this setup, you have to create an 'Internal Network' using Hyper-V network manager, and use that as the lab network. All VMs including the infrastructure VMs would be connected to this internal network.

You have to take the following additional steps to make sure that the VMs created by Lab Management get connected to this Internal Network.

  1. Make sure that Lab Management is already configured in TFS following the instructions in https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd380687(VS.100).aspx.
  2. Before you add the first host group to a project collection, run the following command on TFS machine from the specified location. You should be logged in as a TFS administrator.

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Team Foundation Server 2010\Tools> TFSConfig lab /Settings /NetworkLocation:"Internal Network"

From now on, all VMs created by Lab Management will be connected to Internal Network.

Additional notes:

  1. If you run DHCP server on your host, make sure that you do not connect your host to the company network.
  2. For a self-contained setup, do not use an external network on the host as lab network. This network will not function when you disconnect the host from company network. Instead, use an internal network.
  3. Make sure that you have only one internal virtual network and no other private virtual networks on the host.
  4. You can run the above command even after you have configured the host group for a project collection. However, it is recommended that you re-verify the host group from Team Foundation Server Administration Console after you run the command. Select the lab management tab under the project collection. Click on Configure host groups. Select the host group, and then click on 'Verify'.