TFS 2008: SP1 installation might fail when CName (Canonical name) is used

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A CName\alias might be used in a Team Foundation Server environment that has a Fail over application tier configured. This is to direct the client request to the primary Application Tier.

 While using CName, the TFS 2008 SP1 installation might fail and the installation log might have the following

Found Reports.ReportsService=https:// <CName>/ReportServer/ReportService.asmx

07/23/09 00:33:50 DDSet_Status: --- STATUS: Writing VSTF_RS_SERVER=<CName>into C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Local Settings\Temp\TfsCurrentConfig.ini section Config

07/23/09 00:33:50 DDSet_Error: *** ERROR: Failed to call WMI on the RS server. The most likely cause is that the setup user does not have the required permissions: Access is denied. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80070005 (E_ACCESSDENIED))

07/23/09 00:33:50 DDSet_Status: Process exited with exit code: 15

07/23/09 00:33:50 DDSet_Error: GetCurrentTfsProperties failed with exit code: 15

MSI (s) (30!F0) [00:33:50:798]: Product: Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Team Foundation Server - ENU -- There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. Please refer to the setup log for more information.

Reason:

The SP1 installation uses the WMI to consume the Report Server web service using the CName (https://<CName>/ReportServer/ReportService.asmx). This request fails.

TFS services calls will also fail during SP1 installation if TFS is setup to use the CName. It is just that the RS call is made earlier in the SP1 installation process that the installation fails at this step & exits.

It is therefore very imperative to apply the workaround.

Workaround:

This is a know issue with WMI/ADSI providers.

The standard fix is to use the actual NetBIOS name of the machine.

Follow the steps below to configure TFS with the NetBIOS name:

1) On the Primary Application Tier open command prompt (if the OS is Windows 2008, open Command prompt with “run as administrator”)

2) Switch to <drive>\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Team Foundation Server\Tools

3) Run the command “TfsAdminUtil ActivateAT <NetBIOS name of the Primary Application Tier>

4) Once the command completes successfully, run a IISReset

Then apply SP1.

 

 To upgrade the Secondary application tier, just run the SP1 and the installation should go fine.

 

 

Once both the primary & secondary application tiers are upgraded, rollback TFS to use CName by running TfsAdminUtil ActivateAT <CName> on the primary application tier.

 

Content Developed by: Romitg

Reviewers: Lakhmins