Team Foundation Server Permissions

Article
02/04/2013

You can control access to the team projects and team project collections in your deployment of Visual Studio Team Foundation Server by understanding and configuring the permissions that are assigned to the users and groups in that deployment.

Note

This topic does not discuss the permissions for SharePoint Products or SQL Server Reporting Services. This topic discusses only those permissions that you set in Team Foundation Server. For more information about Reporting Services, see SQL Server Reporting Services Roles. For more information about SharePoint Products, see Interactions Between SharePoint Products and Team Foundation Server and Roles in SharePoint Products. For more information about how to set permissions in Reporting Services and SharePoint Products for users in Team Foundation Server, see Add Users to Team Projects, Set Administrator Permissions for Team Project Collections, and Set Administrator Permissions for Team Foundation Server.

Permissions determine the authorization for user actions such as workspace administration and project creation. When you create a project in Team Foundation Server, four default groups are created for that project regardless of your choice of process template. By default, each of these groups has a set of permissions that are defined for them and that govern what members of those groups are authorized to do.

Project Administrators
Contributors
Readers
Builders

In addition to the default groups that are created for each team project, when you create a team project collection, seven default groups are created for that collection regardless of your choice of process template. Each of those groups also has a set of permissions that are defined for them.

Project Collection Administrators
Project Collection Service Accounts
Project Collection Build Administrators
Project Collection Build Service Accounts
Project Collection Valid Users
Collection Proxy Service Accounts
Project Collection Test Service Accounts

Five default groups are created at the server level when you install Team Foundation Server. Each of these groups has a set of permissions that are defined for them.

Team Foundation Administrators
Team Foundation Service Accounts
Team Foundation Valid Users
SharePoint Web Application Services
Work Item Only View Users

To effectively manage user membership in these default groups and to create custom groups, administrators must first understand the meaning of the permissions and the security implications for explicitly setting permissions.

Permission Settings

You can specify two explicit authorization settings for permissions in Team Foundation Server: Deny and Allow. There is also an implicit authorization that neither sets the permission to Allow nor sets the permission to Deny. This authorization is an implicit Deny setting that is referred to as Unset.

Deny

Deny denies authorization for the user or group to perform the actions that are stated in the permission description. Deny is the most powerful permission state in TFS. If a user belongs to a TFS group that has a specific permission set to deny, that user cannot perform that function, even if he or she belongs to another group that has that permission set to allow. The only exception to this rule occurs when the user is a member of the Project Collection Administrators group for a team project collection, or the Team Foundation Administrators group, unless otherwise stated in the description of the permission. By default, if a user is a member of an administrators group, the permissions of that group override an explicit deny for that user in Team Foundation Server. If a permission setting overrides the default administrative permission, that override is noted in the description of the permission in the tables below.

Allow

Allow grants authorization for the user or group to perform the actions that are stated in the permission description. Allow is the second-most powerful permission setting in Team Foundation Server and is set most frequently. If you do not explicitly set a permission to Allow, a user or group cannot perform that action in Team Foundation Server.

Unset

By default, most permissions in Team Foundation Server are not set to either Deny or Allow. The permissions are left unset, which implicitly denies both users and groups authorization to perform the actions that are specified in the permission description. However, because the permission is neither explicitly set to Deny nor explicitly set to Allow, authorization for that permission can be inherited from other groups of which the user or group is a member.

Inheritance

When permission is unset for a user or group, the user or group can be affected by the explicit setting for the permission for groups to which they belong because permissions in Team Foundation Server are inherited. For example, a user might belong to two custom groups in a project. If one of those groups has a permission that is explicitly set to Deny and the other group has the same permission unset, the user will not have permission to perform the actions that are controlled by that permission. The user inherits permissions from both groups, and the Deny permission takes precedence over the unset permission.

Note

Permissions that are set outside Team Foundation Server, such as in SharePoint Products, are not inherited in Team Foundation Server. They are not discussed in this topic.

Certain authorization settings take precedence over other authorization settings. In Team Foundation Server, the Deny permission takes precedence over all other permission settings, including Allow, for that explicit structure. The Deny permission does not take precedence if it is inherited from a hierarchical parent, such as in version control. For example, a user might belong to two groups in a project. For one group, Publish test results permission is set to Deny; the other group has that permission set to Allow. The Deny setting takes precedence and the user is not authorized to publish test results. The only exceptions to this rule occur when either the explicit Deny is inherited from a hierarchical parent or the user is a member of one of the following groups:

Project Administrators
Project Collection Administrators
Team Foundation Administrators

In hierarchical structures such as version control and work item tracking, the explicit permissions that are set on a particular object override those that are inherited from the parent objects.

Permissions Set Through the Team Foundation Server User Interface and Through the Command Line

Many of the permissions that you might want to set for Team Foundation Server are controlled through the Team Foundation Server user interface. You can set these permissions on a server basis (server-level permissions), a collection basis (collection-level permissions), or on a project basis (project-level permissions). You can also set area-level and iteration-level permissions for viewing and interacting with work items on a project basis. For more information about how to set permissions for users and groups, see Configuring Users, Groups, and Permissions and Managing Permissions.

Server-Level Permissions

Server-level permissions are not specific to a single team project or team project collection. They are set on a deployment-wide basis, and they grant permissions that can affect every project and collection in the deployment.

You can set these permissions for only two categories of users:

Server-level users and groups, such as Team Foundation Administrators
Custom groups that you create and add to the server level

You can set these permissions by opening the administration console for Team Foundation. You can also set these permissions by using the TFSSecurity command-line tool. For more information, see Configuring Your Server Using the Team Foundation Administration Console and Changing Groups and Permissions with TFSSecurity.

The following table lists each server-level permission and provides a brief description of its purpose.

Permission Name	Name at command line	Description
Administer warehouse	ADMINISTER_WAREHOUSE	Users who have this permission can change warehouse settings by using the ChangeSetting Web method of the WarehouseController.asmx Web service. For example, you could allow users to set the update interval for calculating the OLAP cubes.
Create team project collection	CreateCollection	Users who have this permission can create and administer team project collections in Team Foundation Server.
Delete team project collection	DeleteCollection	Users who have this permission can delete a team project collection from the deployment. Note Deleting a team project collection will not delete the database for the collection from SQL Server.
Edit instance-level information	GENERIC_WRITE tf: AdminConfiguration tf: AdminConnections	Users who have this permission can edit server-level permissions for users and groups in Team Foundation Server. They can add or remove server-level application groups from the collection. When set through the menus, the Edit instance-level information permission also implicitly allows the user to modify version control permissions. To grant all these permissions at a command prompt, you must use the tf.exe Permission command to grant the AdminConfiguration and AdminConnections permissions in addition to GENERIC_WRITE. Note Default server-level groups such as Team Foundation Administrators cannot be removed.
Make requests on behalf of others	Impersonate	Users who have this permission can perform operations on behalf of other users or services. This permission should be assigned only to service accounts.
Trigger Events	TRIGGER_EVENT	Users who have this permission can trigger alert events within Team Foundation Server. This permission should be assigned only to service accounts and members of the Team Foundation Administrators group.
Use full Web Access features	FullAccess	Users who have this permission can use all of the features of Team Web Access. If this permission is set to Deny, the user will not be able to see any Team Web Access features except those permitted to members of the Work Item Only View Users group. A Deny will override any implicit allow, even for accounts that are members of administrative groups such as Team Foundation Administrators.
View instance-level information	GENERIC_READ	Users who have this permission can view server-level group membership and the permissions of those users.

Collection-Level Permissions

Collection-level permissions are not specific to a single project. Instead, they are set on a collection-wide basis. You can set these permissions for only three categories of users:

Collection-level users and groups, such as Project Collection Administrators
Project-level groups that have been added to the collection level on your server that is running Team Foundation
Custom groups that you create and add to the collection level

You can set these permissions by right-clicking the server in Team Explorer and then clicking Security, or you can set them in the administration console for Team Foundation. You can also set these permissions by using the TFSSecurity command-line tool, except for those command-line tools that have a tf: designation. For those tools with the tf: designation, use the Permission command of the tf command-line utility for version control to set the permissions. For more information, see Collection-Level Groups, Changing Groups and Permissions with TFSSecurity, and Permission Command.

Permission Name	Name at Command Line	Description
Administer shelved changes	tf: AdminShelvesets	Users who have this permission can delete shelvesets created by other users.
Administer workspaces	tf: AdminWorkspaces	Users who have this permission can create workspaces for other users and delete workspaces created by other users.
Alter trace settings	DIAGNOSTIC_TRACE	Users who have this permission can change the trace settings for gathering more detailed diagnostic information about Web services for Team Foundation Server.
Create a workspace	tf: CreateWorkspace	Users who have this permission can create a version control workspace.
Create new projects	CREATE_PROJECTS	Users who have this permission can create projects in the team project collection. Note You must not only have this permission but also run Visual Studio as an administrator to successfully complete the Create a New Team Project Wizard. For more information, see Create a Team Project.
Delete team project	Delete	Users who have this permission can delete team projects in the team project collection. Important Deleting a team project will delete all data that is associated with the project. You cannot undo the deletion of a team project except by restoring the collection to a point before the project was deleted.
Delete team project collection	DeleteCollection	Users who have this permission can remove a team project collection.
Edit collection-level information	GENERIC_WRITE tf: AdminConfiguration tf: AdminConnections	Users who have this permission can edit collection-level permissions for users and groups in the team project collection. They can add or remove collection-level Team Foundation Server application groups from the collection. When set through the menus, the Edit collection-level information permission also implicitly allows the user to modify version control permissions. To grant all these permissions at a command prompt, you must use the tf.exe Permission command to grant the AdminConfiguration and AdminConnections permissions, in addition to GENERIC_WRITE. Note Default collection-level groups such as Project Collection Administrators cannot be removed.
Make requests on behalf of others	Impersonate	Users who have this permission can perform operations on behalf of other users or services. This permission should be assigned only to service accounts.
Manage build resources	ManageBuildResources	Users who have this permission can manage the build computers, build agents, and build controllers for the team project collection. These users can also grant or deny the View build resources and Use build resources permissions for other users.
Manage process template	MANAGE_TEMPLATE	Users who have this permission can download, create, edit, and upload process templates to the team project collection.
Manage test controllers	MANAGE_TEST_CONTROLLERS	Users who have this permission can register and de-register test controllers for the team project collection.
Manage work item link types	WORK_ITEM_WRITE	Users who have this permission can add, remove, and change the types of links for work items.
Trigger Events	TRIGGER_EVENT	Users who have this permission can trigger project alert events within the team project collection. This permission should be assigned only to service accounts.
Use build resources	UseBuildResources	Users who have this permission can reserve and allocate build agents. This permission should be assigned only to service accounts for build services.
View build resources	ViewBuildResources	Users who have this permission can view build controllers and build agents that are configured for the collection. To use those resources, you need additional permissions.
View collection-level information	GENERIC_READ	Users who have this permission can view collection-level group membership and the permissions of those users.
View system synchronization information	SYNCHRONIZE_READ	Users who have this permission can call the synchronization application programming interfaces. This permission should be assigned only to service accounts.
View test runs	VIEW_TEST_RESULTS	Users who have this permission can view test plans in this node.

Project-Level Permissions

Project-level permissions are specific to a single project's users and groups. You can set these permissions in Team Foundation Server by right-clicking the project in Team Explorer, clicking Team Project Settings, and then clicking Security. You can also set these permissions by using the TFSSecurity command-line tool.

Permission Name	Name at Command Line	Description
Create test runs	PUBLISH_TEST_RESULTS	Users who have this permission can add and remove test results and add or modify test runs for the team project.
Delete team project	DELETE	Users who have this permission can delete the project for which they have this permission from Team Foundation Server.
Delete test runs	DELETE_TEST_RESULTS	Users who have this permission can delete a scheduled test for this team project.
Edit project-level information	GENERIC_WRITE	Users who have this permission can edit project-level permissions for users and groups on Team Foundation Server.
Manage test configurations	MANAGE_TEST_CONFIGURATIONS	Users who have this permission can create and delete test configurations for this team project.
Manage test environments	MANAGE_TEST_ENVIRONMENTS	Users who have this permission can create and delete test environments for this team project.
View project-level information	GENERIC_READ	Users who have this permission can view project-level group membership and the permissions of those project users.
View test runs	VIEW_TEST_RESULTS	Users who have this permission can view test plans in this node.

Build-Level Permissions

Build-level permissions are specific to a single project's users and groups. You can set build permissions at the team project level, and you can also set permissions for specific build definitions. You can set these permissions by opening the project in Team Explorer, right-clicking Builds, and then clicking Security. You can apply permissions to a specific build definition by right-clicking the build definition and then clicking Security. If you want to apply permissions to a build folder, right-click that folder, and click Security. Additionally, you can set these permissions by using the TFSSecurity command-line tool.

Permission Name	Name at Command Line	Description
View builds	ViewBuilds	Users who have this permission can view the queued and completed builds for this team project.
Edit build quality	EditBuildQuality	Users who have this permission can add information about the quality of the build through the user interface for Team Foundation Build.
Retain indefinitely	RetainIndefinitely	Users who have this permission can mark a build so that it will not be automatically deleted by any applicable retention policy.
Delete builds	DeleteBuilds	Users who have this permission can delete a completed build.
Manage build qualities	ManageBuildQualities	Users who have this permission can add or remove build qualities.
Destroy builds	DestroyBuilds	Users who have this permission can permanently delete a completed build.
Update build information	UpdateBuildInformation	Users who have this permission can add information about the quality of a build. This permission should be assigned only to service accounts.
Queue build	QueueBuilds	Users who have this permission can put a build in the queue through the interface for Team Foundation Build or at a command prompt.
Manage build queue	ManageBuildQueue	Users who have this permission can cancel, re-prioritize, or postpone queued builds.
Stop builds	StopBuilds	Users who have this permission can stop a build that is in progress.
View build definition	ViewBuildDefinition	Users who have this permission can view the build definitions that have been created for the team project.
Edit build definition	EditBuildDefinition	Users who have this permission can create and modify build definitions for this project.
Delete build definition	DeleteBuildDefinition	Users who have this permission can delete build definitions for this project.
Override check-in validation by build	OverrideBuildCheckInValidation	Users who have this permission can commit a changeset that affects a gated build definition without triggering the system to shelve and build their changes first. This permission should be assigned only to service accounts for build services and to build administrators who are responsible for the quality of the code. For more information, see Check In Pending Changes that Are Controlled by a Gated Check-in Build.

Work item query permissions

Work item query permissions are specific to the queries and query folders that you create. You can set permissions on queries and folders that are created under Team Queries to enable or restrict access. You can set these permissions by choosing the project in Team Explorer, opening Work Items, opening the sub-menu for the query or folder for which you want to set permissions, and then choosing Security. Additionally, you can set these permissions by using the TFSSecurity command-line tool.

Permission Name	Name at Command Line	Description
Contribute	CONTRIBUTE	Users who have this permission can view and modify this query or query folder.
Delete	DELETE	Users who have this permission can delete a query or query folder and its contents.
Manage Permissions	MANAGEPERMISSIONS	Users who have this permission can manage the permissions for this query or query folder.
Read	READ	Users who have this permission can view and use the query or the queries in a folder, but cannot modify the query or query folder contents.

Area-Level Permissions for Work Item Tracking

Area-level permissions are specific to a single project's users and groups. You can set these permissions by right-clicking the project in Team Explorer, clicking Areas and Iterations, and on the Area tab, clicking Security. Additionally, you can set these permissions by using the TFSSecurity command-line tool.

Note

Some work item tracking operations require multiple permissions. For example, you need multiple permissions to delete a node.

Permission Name	Name at Command Line	Description
Create and order child nodes	CREATE_CHILDREN	Users who have this permission can create area nodes. Users who have both this permission and the Edit this node permission can move or re-order any child area nodes.
Delete this node	DELETE	Users who have both this permission and the Edit this node permission for another node can delete area nodes and reclassify existing work items from the deleted node. If the deleted node has child nodes, those nodes are also deleted.
Edit this node	GENERIC_WRITE	Users who have this permission can set permissions for this node and rename area nodes.
Edit work items in this node	WORK_ITEM_WRITE	Users who have this permission can edit work items in this area node.
Manage test plans	MANAGE_TEST_PLANS	Users who have this permission can create and edit test plans for this node. If test plans have not been run, you can also delete them.
View test runs	VIEW_TEST_RESULTS	Users who have this permission can view test plans in this node.
View this node	GENERIC_READ	Users who have this permission can view the security settings for this node.
View work items in this node	WORK_ITEM_READ	Users who have this permission can view, but not change, work items in this area node.

Iteration-Level Permissions for Work Item Tracking

Iteration-level permissions are specific to a single project's users and groups. You can set these permissions by right-clicking the project in Team Explorer, clicking Areas and Iterations, and on the Iterations tab, clicking Security. Additionally, you can set these permissions by using the TFSSecurity command-line tool.

Note

Some work item tracking operations require multiple permissions. For example, you need multiple permissions to delete a node.

Permission Name	Name at Command Line	Description
Create and order child nodes	CREATE_CHILDREN	Users who have this permission can create iteration nodes. Users who have both this permission and the Edit this node permission can move or re-order any child iteration nodes.
Delete this node	DELETE	Users who have both this permission and the Edit this node permission for another node can delete iteration nodes and reclassify existing work items from the deleted node. If the deleted node has child nodes, those nodes are also deleted.
Edit this node	GENERIC_WRITE	Users who have this permission can set permissions for this node and rename iteration nodes.
View this node	GENERIC_READ	Users who have this permission can view the security settings for this node.

Version Control Permissions

Version control permissions are specific to source code files and folders. You can set these permissions by right-clicking the folder or file in Source Control Explorer, clicking Properties, and clicking the Security tab. On that tab, you can click the user or group for which you want to change permissions and then edit the permissions that are listed in Permissions. You can also set these permissions by using the tf command-line tool for version control.

Permission Name	Name at Command Line	Description
Read	tf: Read	Users who have this permission can read the contents of a file or folder. If a user has Read permissions for a folder, the user can see the contents of the folder and the properties of the files in it, even if the user does not have permission to open the files.
Check out	tf: PendChange	Users who have this permission can check out and make a pending change to items in a folder. Examples of pending changes include adding, editing, renaming, deleting, undeleting, branching, and merging a file.
Check in	tf: Checkin	Users who have this permission can check in items and revise any committed changeset comments. Pending changes are committed at check-in.
Label	tf: Label	Users who have this permission can label items.
Lock	tf: Lock	Users who have this permission can lock and unlock folders or files.
Revise other user's changes	tf: ReviseOther	Users who have this permission can edit the comments on checked-in files, even if another user checked in the file.
Unlock other user's changes	tf: UnlockOther	Users who have this permission can unlock files locked by other users.
Undo other user's changes	tf: UndoOther	Users who have this permission can undo a pending change made by another user.
Administer labels	tf: LabelOther	Users who have this permission can edit or delete labels created by another user.
Manage permissions		Users who have this permission can manage other users' permissions for folders and files in version control.
Check in other user's changes	tf: CheckinOther	Users who have this permission can check in changes that were made by other users. Pending changes will be committed at check-in.
Merge	tf: Merge	Users who have this permission for a given path can merge changes into this path.
Manage branch	tf: ManageBranch	Users who have this permission for a given path can convert any folder under that path into a branch. Users with this permission can also take the following actions on a branch: edit its properties, re-parent it, and convert it to a folder. Users who have this permission can branch this branch only if they also have the Merge permission for the target path. Users cannot create branches from a branch for which they do not have the Manage Branch permission.

Lab Management Permissions

Visual Studio Lab Management permissions are specific to virtual machines, environments, and other resources. You can set these permissions by using the TFSLabConfig command-line tool.

Permission Name	Name at Command Line	Description
View Lab Resources	Read	Users who have this permission can view information for the various Lab Management resources, which include collection host groups, project host groups, and environment. To view information about a specific lab resource, you must have the View Lab Resources permission for that resource.
Manage Lab Locations	ManageLocation	Users who have this permission can edit the locations of Lab Management resources, which include collection host groups, collection library shares, project host groups, and project library shares. To edit a specific location, you must have the Manage Lab Location permission for that location. This permission for collection-level locations (collection host groups and collection library shares) also allows you to create project-level locations (project host group and project library share).
Delete Lab Locations	DeleteLocation	Users who have this permission can delete the locations for Lab Management resources, which include collection host groups, collection library shares, project host groups, and project library shares. To delete a location, you must have the Delete Lab Location permission for that location.
Write Environment and Virtual Machines	Write	Users who have this permission for a project host group can create environments. Users who have this permission for a project library share can store environments and templates.
Edit Environment and Virtual Machines	Edit	Users who have this permission can edit environments and templates. The permission is checked for the object that is being edited.
Delete Environment and Virtual Machine	Delete	Users who have this permission can delete environments and templates. The permission is checked for the object that is being deleted.
Import Virtual Machine	Create	Users who have this permission can import a virtual machine from a VMM library share. This permission differs from Write because it only creates an object in Lab Management and does not write anything to the Virtual Machine Manager host group or library share.
Manage Permissions	ManagePermissions	Users who have this permission can modify the permissions for a Lab Management object. This permission is checked for the object whose permissions are being modified.
Manage Child Permissions	ManageChildPermissions	Users who have this permission can change the permissions of all the child Lab Management objects. For example, if a user has Manage Child Permission for a team project host group, the user can change permissions for all the environments under that team project host group.
Start	Start	Users who have this permission can start an environment.
Stop	Stop	Users who have this permission can stop an environment.
Pause Environment	Pause	Users who have this permission can pause an environment.
Manage Snapshots	ManageSnapshots	Users who have this permission can perform all snapshot management tasks for an environment, which include taking a snapshot, reverting to a snapshot, renaming a snapshot, deleting a snapshot, and reading a snapshot.

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Team Foundation Server Permissions

Permission Settings

Deny

Allow

Unset

Inheritance

Permissions Set Through the Team Foundation Server User Interface and Through the Command Line

Server-Level Permissions

Collection-Level Permissions

Project-Level Permissions

Build-Level Permissions

Work item query permissions

Area-Level Permissions for Work Item Tracking

Iteration-Level Permissions for Work Item Tracking

Version Control Permissions

Lab Management Permissions

See Also

Tasks

Reference

Concepts

Other Resources

Additional resources