Applying Update 1 to Release Management for Visual Studio 2013

Update 1 was released for Visual Studio 2013 on January 17th, 2014, while no Update 1 existed for TFS 2013 Release Management for Visual Studio 2013 did.  The public downloads for RM 2013 Update 1 are located here.  You can also get the Update 1 files on MSDN here and here.  The major differences between the MSDN and the public download pages are that the public download site includes the updated PDFs for the User and Installation Guides and a 90 day trial of the Microsoft Deployment Agent.

Release Management for Visual Studio 2013 with Update 1

In my test environment I have the Release Management Server installed on my TFS 2013 Application Tier, I also have a another server running Team Build, Visual Studio 2013 Update 1, Release Management Client and a Deployment Agent.  To upgrade the Release Management Server you must uninstall the RTM version and then install and configure the version with Update 1.  Launch Control Panel and under Programs select Uninstall a program

Locate the Release Management Server software and select it and click Change which will launch the following dialog where you can click Uninstall

Uninstall Release Management Server

Uninstalling does not delete your Release Management database, it will automatically be updated after we install and configure the updated version.  Once the RTM version is uninstalled you can go ahead and install the latest version.

Release Management Server with Update 1

After the installation is completed click Launch to start the configuration wizard, your previous settings should have been preserved, in my case I had to re-enter the password for the service account and select HTTP as the protocol for the Web Service.  Click Apply Settings which will start performing the configuration and database upgrade.

Configure Release Management Server | Configuration Summary

If you click the hyperlink to view log you should be able to easily locate the step where your existing Release Management database was upgraded.

Release Management Database Upgraded

You can click Close followed by Close again. The Deployment Agents will upgrade themselves as they connect to the updated Release Management Server.

Uninstall any old copies of the Release Management Client and install the updated version, in my case I did this on my TFS Application Tier and the Build Server.  You will be prompted again for the URL of the Release Management Server but if you kept it the same you shouldn’t have to modify it as it retains your original settings.

Launch the Release Management Client and verify the version of the Deployer Agents, if they’ve been updated they will display version 12.0.30 and if they’re offline you’ll see them displayed as 12.0.21.  Once all of the servers with Deployers installed have been brought online they will be updated auto-magically.

Release Management | Configure Paths | Servers

Here is a screenshot after all servers running a deployer agent are brought back online.

Release Management | Configure Paths | Servers | Deployer Version

That’s it, now you can trigger a build that is integrated with Release Management to ensure everything is functioning properly and verify the Release was deployed in the Release Management Client.

All Build Definitions

The Build I need to verify that Release Management is working is DEV-RM 1.x.x.x, the Build didn’t throw any errors we just need to check the Release Management Client that all is well.

Release Management | Releases | Releases

Release Management | Releases | Releases | Open

All looks good, if you have any questions or feedback feel free to leave a comment below.