Backlog board TF400898: An Internal Error Occurred.

After upgrading to TFS 2012 Update2 our customer start getting "TF400898: An Internal Error Occurred" when trying to view a product backlog board.

Event log at tfs application tier said:
Exception Message: The given key was not present in the dictionary. (type KeyNotFoundException)
Exception Stack Trace:    at System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary`2.get_Item(TKey key)
   at Microsoft.TeamFoundation.Server.WebAccess.Agile.Models.WorkItemSource.<>c__DisplayClassa.<GetCompleteWorkItemData>b__6(IDataRecord dataRecord)
   at Microsoft.TeamFoundation.Server.WebAccess.Agile.Utility.WorkItemServiceUtils.<GetWorkItems>d__c.MoveNext()...
...etc ..etc

As this is a known issue, solution is described here:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudioalm/archive/2013/03/19/how-to-fix-tf400898-an-internal-error-occurred-on-your-kanban-board-in-tfs-2012-update-2.aspx

But... it didn't help. Yes, there was inconsistency and 2 possible work items states mapped to Complete board state, but after fixing CommonProcessConfig.xml and leaving only User Story work item in Requirements categories - error still kept coming.

It looks like if there are work items which have the "invalid" state, the board is not getting rebuilt. So, in this unlucky case the fastest fix is to create a new area, and make it the only and default area for backlog.Which practically makes the backlog (and the board) empty.

So, this time the board gets rebuilt successfully. Go to the board page and verify it. After that, just set default area(s) for the backlog the way it was before. Most likely you will need to correct columns for the board, but the annoying TF400898 will be gone.

Just click on Correct this now, and assign relevant states for the board columns.

Neat!

MSSQL: Shrink transaction log

Common issue, right. Let's do it.

1. Go to your database in Management Studio.
2. Right click on the database and select Tasks -> Backup. Choose Transaction Log as Backup type.

 

3. When backup is taken, right click on database, select Tasks -> Shrink -> Files. Choose File type Log.

In 95% of cases that will do the trick.

In 5% of unlucky events, log file is not getting less, but there is no error displayed. If you have that, click Script on the previous screenshot (Shrinking log file). And then run script to do the job, and click on Messages at Output window.

You will see smth like this: 
Cannot shrink log file 2 because the logical log file located at the end of the file is in use.

Then you need some extra steps.
2a. Right-click your database and select Properties. At Options tab set Recovery model to Simple.
Do Step 3.
3a. Set recovery model back to Full. 

Good luck!

Some features of Team Web Access are not visible to you

Installing TFS, going to Team Web Access and observing something lilke this?

And there is no Backlog and Sprint Planning Tools and neither can you see Request Feedback feature.

You need to enable all features. Somehow by default they are set to "Standard" level, not "Full".
Enter administration page and go to Control Panel:

 

Select Full and make it default.

That will do!

Configure SSL in IIS :The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.

Tja... annoying! Obviously someone else is listening on 443, let's find out who.

Command prompt: netstat -ano
Looking for port 443 and memorizing PID.

Troublesome PID = 8952. Open Task manager -> Processes - sort by PID.
Ah, here it is. Skype! Kill it, and you will be able to successfully configure your web site to work over SSL.

TFS 2012 Velocity chart

Here I will explain what is it the velocity chart in TFS 2012 shows. Generally - velocity shows how much a team can do during a sprint.

So it comes to - how do you estimate effort. IN TFS 2012 we use User Stories, and for estimates - Story Points. This is essential to remember. Look here, an example of velocity chart:

First of all, on X-axis - iteration ordered by time. This means you have to set timeframe for your iterations. For this go to admin page and Iterations tab.

Y-axis. See numbers? Those are story points. If your work items do not have story points - they will not appear on this chart.

Now about colours. Green shows work items in Resolved\Completed\Done state. Blue - Active. Other states are not shown.

Hope that clarifies some things.