Reports that the Best Practices Analyzer Tool Generates

After the Best Practices Analyzer tool for Team Foundation Server scans a deployment, the tool generates reports that are based on the results of the scan. The tool analyzes the results, creates data files, and then builds the reports. Some reports display only error and warning messages. Other reports display messages, information that the tool collects, and data logged during the scan.

For more information about the reports, messages, and data files that the tool generates, see the following:

• Reports

• Message Types

• Data Files

Reports

You can display the following types of reports:

• List reports   Summarize the informational messages, errors, and warnings found in the scan. By displaying a list report, you can easily find the most important results of the scan. For more information about these reports, see List Reports.

• Tree reports   Display all the information that the tool collected in a drilldown tree view that you can expand or collapse. By displaying a tree report, you can review the complete details of your deployment, regardless of whether they require any action on your part. For more information about these reports, see Tree Reports.

• Other reports   Provide access to the scan log in addition to a list of those issues that were selected to be hidden. For more information about these reports, see Other Reports.

List Reports

The following table describes the list reports, which summarize the most important results of the scan. The default view is the Critical Issues list.

Report	Description
Critical Issues	Shows only the errors that were found. Errors are critical issues that immediately affect the performance and availability of the Team Foundation deployment. Typically, you must take some action to resolve the error and restore system operations.
All Issues	Shows errors, warnings, and best practices violations. You should review this list often to be sure that your deployment is following best practices.
Informational Items	Lists all specific information messages that the tool collected during the scan.

Tree Reports

From a tree report, you can drill down to display all the information that the tool collected for each computer scanned, regardless of whether you should consider taking action. Message icons appear at the highest level node that currently appears in the tree report. To determine the specific item that warrants the icon, you must drill down in the tree report to display the full text of the issue. The following table describes the tree reports.

Report	Description
Detailed View	Displays all information collected and analyzed for a scan in a hierarchical representation that addresses the scan environment, the scan type, and the computers that were scanned.
Summary View	Lists all messages that were found during the analysis part of the scan. Use this report to quickly view all issues that the scan reported and access the topics that contain information to resolve each issue.

Other Reports

The following table describes the other reports that you can display based on the results of a scan.

Report	Description
Hidden Items	Shows the items that you chose not to display in the list reports. You can use this report to learn more about an issue or to redisplay an issue.
Run-Time Log	Displays the log file that is generated during a scan. This report identifies problems such as failure to connect to a server or to access specific information. You should review this report if the Best Practices Analyzer tool for Team Foundation Server is not working as expected.

Message Types

The reports contain the following types of messages:

• Error   Indicates a critical issue that requires resolution (for example, a service that you must restart). Errors always indicate an action that is required to restore the system to typical operations. Each error appears next to a white X in a red circle.

  Error icon

  

• Warning   Indicates an issue that you might want to resolve but that does not interfere with typical operations. For example, a warning might identify a non-standard configuration setting or an optional service that is not running. Each warning appears next to a black exclamation mark (!) in a yellow triangle.

  Warning icon

  

• Non-default configuration   Indicates a setting that has been changed from the default value. If a non-default configuration also qualifies as an error or a warning, the tool identifies it with the appropriate symbol elsewhere in the report, in addition to identifying it as a non-default configuration. Non-default configuration messages appear next to a black check mark in a white circle.

  Non-default configuration icon

  

• Recent changes   Indicates a setting that has changed in the last five days. The tool can identify such a setting only if it has a property that records when it was most recently modified. If the tool determines that a recently changed setting also qualifies as an error, a warning, or a non-default configuration, the tool identifies the recent change with the appropriate symbol elsewhere in the report, in addition to identifying it as a recent change. Recent changes appear next to a green, circular arrow overlaid on a clock.

  Recent changes icon

  

• Best Practice   Indicates a setting that is not considered a best practice but that does not require any action. Best practice messages are not warnings because they do not affect the overall stability of the deployment. Best practice messages appear next to a white exclamation mark (!) in a blue circle.

  Best practice icon

  

• Information   Indicates specific configuration settings that the tool collected during the scan but that do not require any action. These messages might help you troubleshoot a deployment, or product support personnel might request them. Information messages appear next to a blue exclamation mark (!) in a white circle.

  Information icon

  

Data Files

Each time that you run a scan, the tool generates a log file of the scan, an XML data file, and a folder that contains several XML information files. The data file contains the complete set of data that the tool collected and analyzed. The XML information files contain the data values for specific queries that the tool ran during the scan. These files are labeled according to the query that the tool ran (for example, get-wss-install-info) and are located in one of the following directories:

• On a computer that is running Windows 2000 Server or Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional, Windows Server 2003, the files are located in Drive:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\Microsoft\TfsBPA

• On a computer that is running Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008, the files are located in Drive:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\TfsBPA

  Note

  To improve performance, you should periodically delete the files in this directory for scans that you no longer need.

See Also

Tasks

How to: List Scans and View Reports

How to: Sort, Search, Print, and Export Reports

Concepts

Information Messages About Team Foundation

Other Resources

Getting Started with the Best Practices Analyzer Tool