Create a team project
You create a team project in Team Foundation Server (TFS) to establish a repository for source code and a place for teams to plan, track progress, and collaborate.
If you have a team project already, and want to start coding an application project, then see one of the following topics: Develop your app in Team Foundation version control, Set up Git on your dev machine, or Creating Solutions and Projects.
If you don’t want to manage an on-premises server, you can create a team project using Visual Studio Online. This topic applies only to creating a team project when you have deployed TFS on-premises.
If you're not a member of the Project Collection Administrators Group, get added as one. To create team projects you must have the Create new projects permission set to Allow.
Ask your TFS administrator about the following resources and get additional permissions as needed:
Which team project collection you should connect to when you create your team project? If you installed TFS using the Basic Configuration Wizard, you have only one project collection named DefaultCollection. Unless you work in an enterprise organization and will be supporting hundreds of team projects, you should add all your team projects to a single project collection. If you need to create additional collections, see Manage team project collections.
Has SQL Server Analysis Services and SQL Server Reporting Services been configured for the deployment? If so, ask your administrator to add you as a member of the Team Foundation Content Managers group on the server that hosts SQL Server Reporting Services. Without these permissions, you’ll be unable to create a team project.
Has a SharePoint Web application been configured for your deployment? If you want to configure a SharePoint portal when you create your team project, ask the SharePoint administrator to give you Full Control permissions on the server that hosts SharePoint Products. Otherwise, you can skip this step and configure a portal at a later time.
From Team Explorer 2013, connect to the server and team project collection where you want to create your team project.
.png "Select team project link on the Connect page in Team Explorer")
Team Explorer is installed with Visual Studio. Or, you can install Team Explorer for free.
You must connect from a client that is at the same version level as TFS. That is, you must connect to TFS 2013 from Team Explorer 2013.
.png "Connect to Team Foundation Server dialog box")
Tip
If you are running Team Explorer from a server that hosts SharePoint Products and SQL Server Reporting Services, you might need to run Visual Studio as an administrator.
If it’s your first time connecting to TFS, you’ll need to add TFS to the list of recognized servers.
.png "Servers button on the Connect to Team Foundation Server dialog box. Add button on the Add/Remove TFS. Name of server in the Add TFS dialog box. OK button.")
Open the New Team Project Wizard.
.png "New link on Connect page (Team Explorer)")
Name the team project. Don’t specify more than 64 characters.
.png "Specify the Team Project Settings page in the New Team Project dialog box")
And, note that after you’ve created a team project, you can’t change its name.
Choose a process template. For a comparison of the default process templates, see Work with team project artifacts.
.png "Select a Process Template page in the New Team Project dialog box")
Choose your source control system.
.png "Specify Source Control Settings page in the New Team Project dialog box")
Not sure which system to use? Learn more here.
Unless your team project collection is configured to support a SharePoint project portal, you’re done.
.png "Confirm Team Project Settings page in the New Team Project dialog box")
If the Next button is active, you can configure your project portal.
If the wizard encounters a problem, you’ll receive an error message and a link to the project creation log. Review the log for specific errors and exceptions. See Q & A later in this topic for additional information.
When you’re finished, you can see your team project in Team Explorer. You can also choose the Web Access link to connect to your team project using the Team Web Access.
.png "Home page for team project in Team Explorer")
Try this next
Add users to team projects to enable other users to connect to your team project.
Also, with the team project created, you can start developing your app in Team Foundation version control, use Git, or create an application.
To start planning work and collaborating as a team, see Track work with Visual Studio ALM and TFS.
Q & A
Q: How do I add my custom process template to the list?
A: You’ll need to first upload your template using the Process Template Manager. To learn more about customizing a process template, go here.
Q: Where is the log file located?
A: The log file is stored in $:\Users\user name\AppData\Local\Temp and labeled VSTS_TeamProjectCreation_yyyy_mm_dd_hh_mm_ss.log.
The log shows each action taken by the wizard at the time of the failure and may include additional details about the error. You can review the log entries to find network or file related issues by searching for Exception or Error.
Q: How do I resolve permission related errors?
A: If you receive an error message that states you don’t have permission, go get those permissions: become a member of the Project Collection Administrators group, Team Foundation Content Managers group become a member of the, and Full Control permissions on the server that hosts SharePoint Products.
Q: How do I resolve Error TF30169?
A: Error TF30169: The New Team Project Wizard was unable to download the process template {0}. indicates that SharePoint site process templates are not available on the server that hosts SharePoint Products.
Contact the system administrator for the server that hosts SharePoint Products and request the required process templates be added to the server. See SharePoint Products requirements for Team Foundation Server.
Q: How do I resolve Error TF30321?
A: Error TF30321: The name you typed is already used for another team project on the Team Foundation Server indicates that you should use a different name for your team project. The name you entered is either in active use or has undergone partial deletion, but not full deletion.
Q: How do I delete a team project?
A: You can delete a team project you no longer use, which helps simplify the navigation to team projects that are in use. See Delete a team project.
Q: I deleted a team project, but now when I try to create a team project with the same name I get an error?
A: If a team project create or delete operation doesn’t successfully finish, some components could be created or deleted even though others are not. In this event, you can’t reuse the name associated with the team project.
To verify project deletion or remove remaining components associated with a partially deleted team project, use the Delete a team project [TFSDeleteProject]. Then try again to create the team project with the same name.
Even with troubleshooting, you might not be able to use the same name. Some components of the deleted team project could be scheduled for deletion but not yet deleted.
Q: How do I resolve an error message related to a plug-in?
A: The process template used to create the team project contains several XML plug-in files. If one of these files contains a format or other error, an error message appears.
Review the project creation log to determine the plug-in that caused the error. After you discover the problem, you can either contact the developer or vendor that provided the plug-in, or attempt to fix the problem yourself. For more information, see Customize a Process Template.
Q: How do I resolve a problem connecting to a server?
A: If you receive an error message about a problem connecting to a server, retrieving information from a server, or checking permissions to create projects, it could be caused by an incorrectly configured server in the deployment. This problem is especially common after a server move, failover, or other maintenance activity.
Contact the TFS system administrator and request that they verify the server configuration.
Q: Is there a diagnostic tool I can use that helps ensure my deployment is ready to create team projects?
A: Yes. You can use the Best Practices Analyzer for Team Foundation Server. This tool performs specific checks to determine whether the deployment is configured to support the creation of a team project.
Q: My team project doesn’t have reporting or a project portal. How do I add these resources?
A: See one of these topics:
To add reporting: Add reports to a team project.
To add a SharePoint web application: Add SharePoint products to your deployment.
To configure a team project portal to use an existing website or SharePoint site: Configure a project portal.
Q: Where can I go if I have more questions?
A: You can post a question or search for answers in the Team Foundation Server – Project Management & Work Item forum.