Syncing projects with TFS created with the TeamPulse template

The 2010 Q3 beta release adds some great new Team Foundation Server synchronization abilities to TeamPulse.  However, as this is the first release of the sync feature, there are some limitations.  One of the limitations is that the beta only supports synchronizing TeamPulse and TFS projects created with equivalent templates (see table and screenshots below).  This post intends to provide a workaround for synchronizing TeamPulse projects created with the “TeamPulse” template.

 TeamPulse Project Templates

TFS Process Templates

The Problem: TFS strictly enforces states and state transitions so in order to synchronize, TeamPulse must use the same states and transitions.  Also, there is currently no UI for modifying states and transitions in TeamPulse.

The Solution: Change your TeamPulse project’s template to have states and transitions that match your TFS project.

Step 1: Change your TeamPulse project’s template
Until a beautiful UI is created for modifying TeamPulse project templates, the only way to do it is by updating the database manually.  This process is described in the KB article “Changing a TeamPulse Project’s Template”.

Step 2: Modify your synchronization mapping settings
If you had already chosen a TFS project to sync with, you may have to modify the synchronization mapping settings that were created.  This process is described in the KB article “Modifying Synchronization Mappings and Settings”.  

If you have not yet chosen a TFS project to sync with, this step will not be necessary.  Just make sure you choose the appropriate process template from the drop down on the sync screen and everything should be setup correctly.

Alternative solution: Change your TFS project’s template to have states and state transitions for stories and tasks that match the “TeamPulse” template.

For this solution, first check out which states and state transitions exist in the “TeamPulse” template by reading this blog post.  Next, modify your TFS process template for the appropriate work item types.  For information about modifying TFS process templates, please see the following MSDN documentation.

Note: With the official 2010 Q3 release of TeamPulse, some simple screens will be provided for editing the project template/settings and for editing the synchronization mappings and settings.  As a result, most or all of the steps in this blog post should not be necessary.