This post is about VS 2010, go here for the VS/TFS 11 extensions.
UPDATED Apr 9th 2012: VersionInfo, NuGet, Code Contracts
UPDATED Oct 7th 2012: New Visual Studio GDR
UPDATED Aug 31th 2012: New versions updated of ReSharper, NDepend, Web Essentials, Community Build Manager, Code Contracts (March 2012), NuGet, ILSpy, DotPeek, Just Decompile, tangible T4 editor, LinqPad. Added the VersionInfo tool, so you know you have the latest update of VS 2010
UPDATED April 20th 2012: New version of NuGet manager. Added the GREAT ILSpy to the list.
UPDATED March 22nd 2012: New GDR update of Visual Studio (Client) components. Added Community Build Manager.
UPDATED Feb 17th 2012: New version of ReSharper 6.1.1 and Code Contracts with Silverlight 5 support +++
UPDATED Feb 16th 2012: Added Visual Studio and TFS Server 2010 SP1 Cumulative Update 2.
UPDATED Jan 9th 2012: New versions of Resharper, NuGet and Code Contracts. Added link to a blog post by Grant Holiday on TFS/VS SP’s and hotfixes. Added link to CU4 for SQL 2008 R2 SP1.
UPDATED Dec 16th: New version of TFS Power tools, and NuGet
UPDATED Nov 28th: Added NuGet, new versions WebEssentials & Beyond Compare
UPDATED Nov 11th: Added the cloud update to Visual Studio which includes multistep test steps and bug fixes, updates to TFS and SQL, dotPeek, Test Attachment Cleaner and new version of our BuildExplorer, and of NDepend. Added Web Essentials.
UPDATED Aug 23rd & 26th: Added TFS SP1 Cumulative update 1. Fixes timeouts on source control. (26th: Fixed the link to the same)
UPDATED Aug 19th & 21st 2011: New version of the TFS Power tools released. Some more suggestions from Adam fixed, Moles/Pex updates included.
UPDATED Aug 8th 2011: Two Visual Studio Testing tools Rollup updates added
UPDATED July 27th 2011: Adam Cogan suggested a different layout and information structure.
This post is a list of the addins and extensions we (I ) recommend for use at Inmeta. It’s coming up all the time – what to install, where are the download sites, last version, etc etc, and thus I thought it better to post it here and keep it updated. The basics are Visual Studio 2010 connected to a Team Foundation Server 2010.
The list is more or less in priority order.
The focus is to get a setup which can be used for a complete coding experience for the whole ALM process.
The list of course reflects what I use for my work , so it is by no means complete, and for some of the tools there are equally useful alternatives. The components directly associated with Visual Studio from Microsoft should be common, see the Microsoft column.
Also be sure to check out Grant’s blogpost – it contains a complete description of what to install and in what sequence for the different TFS layers.
Components for VS 2010
| Product | Notes | Latest Version | License | Applicable to | Microsoft |
| TFS Power Tools December 20111 | December 2011 (10.0.41206.0) | Free | TFS integration | Yes | |
| ReSharper | Trial only | 7.0.1 (1098.2760) | Licensed | Coding & Quality | No |
| Productivity Power Tools1 | 10.0.20626.18 | Free | Coding | Yes | |
| Inmeta Build Explorer1 | 1.1.8 | Free | TFS integration | No | |
| Build Manager | Community Build Manager. Info from Jakob here. | 1.4.0.6 | Free | TFS Integration | No |
| Version Info | 1.0.5 | Free | Visual Studio | No | |
| Code Contracts | 1.4.60317.12 | Free | Coding & Quality | Yes | |
| Code Contracts Editor Extensions1 | 1.5.60326.11 | Free | Coding & Quality | Yes | |
| Power Commands1 | 1.0.2.3 | Free | Coding | Yes | |
| NuGet Package Manager1 | If upgrading fails, there is a signature mismatch between this and the former version you have preventing upgrading. Uninstall the former first, and then install the new one. | 2.0.40116.9051 | Free | Coding | Yes |
| Web Std Update1 | 1.0.4 | Free | Coding (Web) | Yes (MSFT) | |
| Web Essentials 1 | 2.7 | Free | Coding (Web) | Yes (MSFT) | |
| FeaturePack 2 2 | Found in MSDN Subscriber download under Visual Studio 2010 | FP2 | Part of MSDN Subscription | Modeling & Testing | Yes |
| Test Attachment Cleaner1 | 1.0 | Free | Testing | Yes | |
| ILSpy | Decompiler. Can also export assembly as C# project | 2.1.0.1603 | Free | Coding/Investigation | No |
| DotPeek | 1.0.0.8644 | Free | Coding/Investigation | No | |
| Just Decompile | 2012.2.607 | Free | Coding/Investigation | No | |
| Beyond Compare | 3.3.4 (build 14431) | Licensed | Coding/Investigation | No | |
| dotTrace | 4.5.1 | Licensed | Quality | No | |
| NDepend | Trial only |
4.0.2.6750 |
Licensed | Quality | No |
| tangible T4 editor1 | 2.0.2 | Lite version Free (Good enough) | Coding (T4 templates) | No | |
| Pex and Moles Moles x861 Moles x641 |
Complete package found in MSDN Subscriber download under Visual Studio 2010 |
0.94.51023 | Part of MSDN Subscription License information here |
Coding & Unit Testing | Yes |
| LinqPad | 4.42.1 | Licensed | Coding | No | |
| ApexSQL | Licensed | SQL | No | ||
| VSCommands1 | 10.3.9.12 | Lite version Free (Good enough) | Coding | No |
#1 Get via Visual Studio’s Tools | Extension Manager (or The Code Gallery). (From Adam : All these are auto updated by the Extension Manager in Visual Studio)
#2 Works with ultimate only
Upgrades and patches for VS/TFS 2010
Go to Grant’s blogpost to see a complete list of patches and updates for installing TFS and VS. His post details what to install and where, and covers all updates and patches you need to handle, and also links to relevant documentation.
| Product | Notes | Date | Applicable to | File version number |
| VS 2010 SP1 GDR | Adds compatibility support for VS 2012 and Windows 8 for the test tools and VS 2010. Cumulative update. See info here KB2736182 and on the ALM blog. Now delivered through Windows Update. | Sept 2012 | Visual Studio, MTM, | 10.0.40219.415 |
| 10.0.40219.383 | ||||
| TFS and VS 2010 SP1 CU2 | Important: This CU2 should be applied to both the TFS server and the Visual Studio/MTM clients, even if the title wrongly mentions only the server. It is stated further down in small letters in the KB2643415 It contains all code for CU1 and for the GDR. | Feb 2012 | Visual Studio, MTM AND TFS Server | |
| SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 Cumulative Update 4 – or – SQL Server 2008 R2 Cumulative Update 10 |
This update should be applied before using the Test Attachment Cleaner. The TAC may leave ghost records in the database due to a bug in the SQL Server. See Anu’s blog here and more info here. | Oct 2011/Dec 2011 | SQL Server 2008 R2 (SP1 and pre-SP1) | |
| Visual |
||||
| Visual Studio SP1 | SP1 contains all earlier patches + a lot of new fixes See Brian Harry’s blog for information on what to install and how. Also contains links to a lot of the stuff to install. Be aware of this potential problem and workaround if you are using C++ and W7 SDK |
March 2011 | Visual Studio | |
| TFS 2010 SP1 | SP1 for the TFS server. | March 2011 | TFS | |
| See info here (Aug 23rd: Included in SP1 Cumulative Update 1, see above) | March 2011 | Visual Studio with TFS 2008 | ||
Some important earlier Patches, upgrades and fixes (pre-SP1)
| Product | Notes | Date | Applicable to |
| Here Solve the problem with having a small/short context menu with scroll bars, which is much smaller than the available screen height. After the fix, the context menu uses all available screen height before scroll bars are added. | October 2010 | Visual Studio | |
| Here and here KB2387011 Recommended (if you use MTM) | October 2010 | MTM | |
| Iteration dates fails with SQL 2008 R2. KB2222312. Affects Burndown chart in Agile workbook. Only for SQL 2008 R2 | June 2010 | Server | |
| Fixes problems with labels and branches which are lost during upgrade. Apply before upgrade. Note: This has been fixed in the latest re-release of the TFS Server dated Aug 5th 2010. See here. Recommends downloading the latest bits. Only if upgrade from 2008 from earlier bits | August 2010 | Server |
