Can we use VSTS CAL license to access TFS on premises? - tfs

We have TFS Server license which got along with MSDN. But we need to have more CALS as more users need to access our TFS Server.
TFS CAL license cost more, when we look for an alternate we found that VSTS CALS can be used to access TFS On Premises Server.
Could any one can confirm whether it is right or wrong?

Yes, VSTS CAL's include access to TFS.
Team Foundation Server Pricing
Buy VSTS for TFS CALs. When you buy VSTS users (starting at $6/month), those same users have a TFS CAL and can connect to any TFS in your organization. If those users also need TFS extensions like Test Manager or Package Management, or if you need additional Private Pipelines for your team, you can purchase these through the Visual Studio Marketplace. All VSTS charges are month-to-month. See detailed instructions.

Related

Adding TFS add-in into Teams

We have TFS 2015 (on-premise) and Microsoft Teams in the cloud.
I am trying to find the TFS plug-in (all I can see is Azure DevOps) and want to be able to show TFS information inside of Teams.
I see lots of articles on how this use to work? But can't find it in my list of plugins to add into the system.
Is there something we need to do at a server level?
Thanks
There is an official extension-- Microsoft Teams Integration.
With using this, you are able to see activity about your Azure DevOps or Team Foundation Server projects directly in your Microsoft Teams channel, for example:
Work item updates
Pull requests
Code commits
Builds
Release deployments and approvals
Work item updates
Azure DevOps Kanban board
However, as the link declare clearly, it only work with Team Foundation Server 2017 Update 2 and above. It's not able to do this with TFS2015. You need to upgrade your TFS version. With higher version, you could also get more released new features in TFS.

TFS 2017 20 users application licensing question

I need to setup TFS 2017 for 20 developers/analysts. Usage will be mostly for code repository, therefore 1 server only with TFS 2017/8 and SQL 2017. I need to know the licensing requirements for TFS application only, I know for SQL. We plan on using SSRS, but not SharePoint. Will a Visual Studio subscription cover for the TFS license for server and does it have to be Enterprise or Professional subscription is OK? What license will be the most economical for the rest of 19 users?
Thank you,
Will a Visual Studio subscription cover for the TFS license for server
and does it have to be Enterprise or Professional subscription is OK?
Yes, Visual Studio subscriptions include a server license for TFS, plus a TFS CAL for the subscriber
What license will be the most economical for the rest of 19 users?
It's based on your real requirements. Client access licenses (CALs) aren’t required for people who just access work items – assign them “Stakeholder” access, which is free.
If the users want to work on codes, then they need client access licenses...
Extensions to TFS such as Test Manager, Package Management, and Private Pipelines require an additional purchase. Some TFS Extensions are included with Visual Studio Enterprise subscriptions and many others are free. Paid extensions can also be purchased monthly, no Visual Studio subscription is required.
Please see Team Foundation Server 2018 Licensing for details, it also applies to TFS 2017.

Does the TFS Administator have to have MSDN?

I have a TFS Administrator who does not develop or use Visual Studio. They only use TFS through the Web UI. Do they need to have an MSDN, all they are really doing is setting access levels.
TFS is licensed on a Server/CAL model. Thus, you need 1 Server license for the TFS server and 1 TFS CAL (client access license) for each user that will use TFS features.
That TFS CAL covers the usage no matter how the user accesses TFS (i.e. Visual Studio, Eclipse, Web Access client, Excel, MSProject, 3rd party tool, ect, etc).
Client access licenses (CALs) aren’t required for people who just access work items – assign them “Stakeholder” access, which is free.
So in your scenario, to manage the TFS they need CALs (client access license), Visual Studio/MSDN subscription is needed.
The two ways to acquire TFS CALs are:
Purchase a TFS User CAL
1 TFS CAL (and 1 TFS Server license) is included in each Visual
Studio/MSDN subscription. Thus, anyone who has an active MSDN
subscription assigned to them is covered with a TFS CAL.
Client access licenses (CALs) aren’t required for people who just
access work items – assign them “Stakeholder” access, which is
free.
Extensions to TFS such as Test Manager, Package Management,
and Private Pipelines require an additional purchase. Some TFS
Extensions are included with Visual Studio Enterprise subscriptions
and many others are free. Paid extensions can also be purchased
monthly, no Visual Studio subscription is required.
More details please refer below two blogs:
Understand TFS Licensing
Team Foundation Server 2018 Licensing

How to change license key for TFS 2018

I am new to TFS admin configuration. I have installed a TFS 2018 in one of the server and now facing connectivity issue to MTM.
So I came to know that I should have a valid license and I also got the license.
Can anyone tell meWhere or How to upgrade my TFS 2018 License
Thanks
To license TFS 2018, you’ll need a TFS server license and a
Windows operating system license (Windows Server is best) for each
machine running TFS, plus a client access license for each person
connecting to TFS. Client access licenses (CALs) aren’t required for
people who just access work items – assign them “Stakeholder” access,
which is free.
Extensions to TFS such as Test Manager, Package Management, and
Private Pipelines require an additional purchase. Some TFS Extensions
are included with Visual Studio Enterprise subscriptions and many
others are free. Paid extensions can also be purchased monthly, no
Visual Studio subscription is required.
In your case, for every MSDN subscription that you own, you will also have a TFS server licenses. So, theoretically, you could install as many TFS servers as you have MSDN subscriptions.
To use the features MTM, you must have either a Visual Studio
Enterprise subscription, or have installed the Test Manager
extension available from Visual Studio Marketplace.
More details please refer: Connect Microsoft Test Manager to your team project and test plan
Besides, If you want to double confirm this and know more information about TFS license, you could call 1-800-426-9400, Monday through Friday, 6:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. (Pacific Time) to speak directly to a Microsoft licensing specialist, and you can get more detail information from there. Worldwide customers can use the Guide to Worldwide Microsoft Licensing Sites to find contact information in their locations: http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/

Migrate one single project from On-premise TFS to VSTS

how to migrate a single project alone (where project collection contains 30+ projects) from TFS to VSTS with all history, build-definitions, changesets
Microsoft has documentation on this exact scenario which can be found here: Migrate to Visual Studio Team Services : Move from Team Foundation Server (TFS) to Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS) and bring your data along.
This link also contains the download link for the migration tooling which you will want to use
Currently the following versions of TFS are supported for import:
TFS 2017 Update 3
TFS 2018
TFS 2018 Update 1
As described in About VSTS and TFS, Scope and scale data, the
long term direction for VSTS is to support grouping of accounts within
organizations. This would lead to:
VSTS accounts that serve as the equivalent of TFS project collections and VSTS organizations that serve as the equivalent of
TFS deployments.
This is why the TFS Database Import Service only supports importing single TFS collections as single VSTS accounts.
If you need to migrate individual team projects you will need to use
one of the other options—manual copy or public API based
migrations.
Source Link
It's very clear why you could not use TFS Database Import Service to migrate at team project-level directly.
You can also have a try for VSTS Sync Migration Tools,it allows you to bulk edit and migrate data between Team Projects on both Microsoft Team Foundation Server (TFS) and Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS). Note this without history. How to please refer: TFS 2017 Migration To VSTS with VSTS Sync Migrator
If you insist on keeping all history, the only way is using TFS Database Import Service, you may take the workaround as Daniel suggested.

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