Team Foundation Proxy: Use the same proxy server for multiple collections.

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This blogs throws light on how to use the same Team Foundation Server Proxy for multiple collections.

Wait, is that even possible? Yes!

You would notice that once a proxy is configured for the collection, we do not get an option to add another collection in the TF Admin Console.
Let’s see how we can add multiple collections to the same Proxy.
1. Initially, we need to use the wizard once to configure proxy for one of the collections.
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We have configured the proxy to cache TFS2013RM3’s DefaultCollection.

2. Then, we need to use the command line to add additional collections.
TfsConfig proxy /add /collection:https://tfstraining:8080/tfs/DefaultCollection

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Unfortunately, the UI doesn’t show the added collections, it only shows the one we added initially. You can check if it’s actually added by checking the proxy.config file located at 

‘%Program Files%\Microsoft Team Foundation Server 12.0\Version Control Proxy\Web Services\VersionControlProxy’

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You can remove the added collection by this command,
TfsConfig proxy /delete /collection:https://tfstraining:8080/tfs/DefaultCollection

which updates the proxy.config file as,

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Notice something strange? I am actually using two different TFS instances altogether (TFSTraining and TFS2013RM3)

That’s an added bonus, you can use the same TFS Proxy for multiple collections even across servers.
Oh, and one more thing, your deployment is using Visual Studio Online and you want to configure a proxy for that as well? Sure, we can follow the same way and add them to the proxy.

More information here.

That is great, but we need to make sure we are not over-using the proxy. By over-using, we mean using a central proxy for all the TFS instances and collections you may have.
This works great if you want to group some collections/servers into a same proxy being used on a geographic location.

For example, you have TFSPROD/EASTCOAST and TFSTEST/EASTCOAST collections. It would be a good idea to use a proxy to cache TFSPROD/EASTCOAST and TFSTEST/EASTCOAST located on the West Coast. It wouldn’t be wise to cache the other collections that the West Coast folks hardly ever connect.

Hope this helps!

Content created by – Manigandan Balachandran
Content reviewed by – Chandra Sekhar Viswanadha