VSTS and TFS 2017 ALM and DevOps Hands On Labs

Team Foundation Server (TFS) and Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS) have continued to evolve over the years. More and more features are continually be added to help teams develop software more effectively than ever before. If you haven't had a chance to check out the latest version or you are wondering what additional features that could be leveraged by your team to improve the quality and efficiency of application development tools, there are a number of resources available for you to learn about all of the new capabilities in the tools. There are thousands of videos on Channel 9 that you can watch but I also like to learn by getting some hands on experience. Hands on Labs are a great way to try out a new feature and see how it works and the benefits it can provide. Labs usually include detailed step by step instructions with screenshots that explain what to do and why it is important.

For TFS and VSTS, Microsoft has released a set of labs for each of these. The TFS 2017 Hands on Labs include a virtual machine with all of the required software installed including Visual Studio 2017 and TFS 2017. Most Windows 10 PCs should have no problem running it. In addition Microsoft has release two more sets of HOLs, one is DevOps for Java in VSTS and one is DevOps for Node.js with VSTS.

The home page for all of the sets of labs and latest news can be found at:
https://azuredevopslabs.com/

‍TFS 2017 ALM VM Hands on Labs

If you have used the Brian Keller TFS ALM VM and labs in the past, this is essentially the latest version. The ALM VM 2017 Hands on Labs are located here:
https://www.azuredevopslabs.com/labs/

‍With each release of TFS, there are a number of new and updated HOLs to showcase the new features. Here are a couple of my favorite labs.

Embracing Continuous Delivery with Release Management for Visual Studio 2017
https://azuredevopslabs.com/labs/devopsserver/releasemanagement/

‍Exploratory Testing and Feedback Management with Team Foundation Server 2017
https://azuredevopslabs.com/labs/devopsserver/exploratorytesting/

VSTS Hands on Labs

With the VSTS labs, there obviously isn't a need for a VM like there is for TFS, but for some of the labs to work properly, they do require some demo data. These labs utilize the DemoGenerator to generate the database and artifacts into your VSTS account. The VSTS Hands on Labs are located here:
https://www.azuredevopslabs.com/labs/devopsserver/handsonlabs/

‍Be sure to take advantage of these great resources to continually be improving your ALM and DevOps practices.