TFS: automating pending change set reminder emails

Posted on June 28, 2014June 28, 2014 by Al

As an admin of a TFS server I wanted to be able to send an email to people reminding them of any pending changes they may have.
I knocked up a quick application and have now configured it to run once a week with a scheduled task.

The main logic to get pending change sets is (where _vcs is a VersionControlServer from the Microsoft.TeamFoundation.VersionControl.Client namespace):

var itemSpecs = new[] { new ItemSpec("$/", RecursionType.Full) };
var pendingSets = _vcs.QueryPendingSets(itemSpecs, null, null);

var pendingChanges = (from pendingSet in pendingSets
					  from pendingChange in pendingSet.PendingChanges
					  orderby pendingSet.OwnerDisplayName, pendingChange.ServerItem
					  select new PendingChange
					  {
						  OwnerDisplayName = pendingSet.OwnerDisplayName,
						  OwnerName = pendingSet.OwnerName,
						  LocalItem = pendingChange.LocalItem,
						  ServerItem = pendingChange.ServerItem,
						  PendingSetName = pendingChange.PendingSetName + " [" + pendingSet.Computer + "]"
					  }).ToList();

var itemSpecs = new[] { new ItemSpec("$/", RecursionType.Full) };

var pendingSets = _vcs.QueryPendingSets(itemSpecs, null, null);

var pendingChanges = (from pendingSet in pendingSets

from pendingChange in pendingSet.PendingChanges

orderby pendingSet.OwnerDisplayName, pendingChange.ServerItem

select new PendingChange

{

OwnerDisplayName = pendingSet.OwnerDisplayName,

OwnerName = pendingSet.OwnerName,

LocalItem = pendingChange.LocalItem,

ServerItem = pendingChange.ServerItem,

PendingSetName = pendingChange.PendingSetName + " [" + pendingSet.Computer + "]"

}).ToList();

The PendingChange class is a simple POCO:

public class PendingChange
{
	public string OwnerDisplayName { get; set; }
	public string OwnerName { get; set; }
	public string LocalItem { get; set; }
	public string ServerItem { get; set; }
	public string PendingSetName { get; set; }
}

public class PendingChange

{

public string OwnerDisplayName { get; set; }

public string OwnerName { get; set; }

public string LocalItem { get; set; }

public string ServerItem { get; set; }

public string PendingSetName { get; set; }

}

After that it was a simple case of looping through the PendingChanges List<> building up emails and sending them.

Find a SharePoint feature with PowerShell

Posted on June 26, 2014 by Al

As I keep having to figure this out every time I come to do it I’m leaving it here for reference.

To find a SharePoint feature when you only know part of the name of it the following command can be used:

Get-SPFeature | where { $_.DisplayName -like "*something*" } | format-list -property displayname

1	Get-SPFeature \| where { $_.DisplayName -like "something" } \| format-list -property displayname

VPN goes mainstream

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Al

I’m beginning to hear a lot more about VPN’s (personal use for anonymity) in the press and I’m a bit worried it’s not understood enough.

Sales pitch: Get a VPN and your internet anonymity is restored.
Truth: It can be, but you have to be careful.

Other people will know more than me – there more than likely will be more to worry about than this. My main concern: cookies.

You get a lovely new vpn and then you use the same browser and user account to get on the net. BAM! You’re not anonymous any more!

A lot of the VPN providers sell the fact that it’s good for internet cafes. This is partly true – it will stop the others on the same wifi from snooping. The problem is that as soon as you log on to Facebook via your VPN you’re not anonymous. These are two different uses for a VPN and they’re not compatible. If you’re looking for anonymity what are you doing on a social network?! Scared of your ISP? You should be just as scared of any website you need to log on to!

My steps for a nice clean VPN:

Get a VPN service (don’t use it yet!)
Set up a fresh windows user account (some may say this is overkill but it’s saved me a few times. If you have a separate windows account then you don’t have to worry about your normal browser accidentally being opened and sending cookies.)
login to that user account and download firefox as the first thing you do
From now on, when on your VPN, only use your new windows account and firefox as your browser
Change the cookie settings to never allow cookies from a third party site (I’ve gone a bit further than this and ban all cookies and only re-enable source-cookies if I have a specific problem)
Install the NoScript firefox addon
Now you can start using your VPN
Never log on to any site – if you must log on to some sites then:
1. get a new anonymous email account that is unrelated to everything else
2. use that account for everything while you’re on your VPN
3. never use those accounts while not on your VPN

All for now …

Blue Phone Box

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Month: June 2014

TFS: automating pending change set reminder emails

Find a SharePoint feature with PowerShell

VPN goes mainstream