24! [Hands-on-Labs and Demo Scripts now available in the big BK Visual Studio 2013 ALM VM] + [Bonus: Azure&#39;ing it too...]

Brian Keller - Visual Studio 2010/2012 Hands-On-Labs / Demo Scripts Upgraded to 2013

The Visual Studio 2013 ALM Virtual Machine was upgraded today to include the sample content and hands-on-labs / demo scripts which were previously introduced for Visual Studio 2010 and 2012 capabilities. This brings the total number of hands-on-labs and demo scripts which work with this VM to 24.

We also used this opportunity to address some fit-and-finish feedback we received on the initial release of the 2013 ALM VM, so it should be a nice improvement all around. As a reminder you can find the full list of ALM virtual machines here.

Brian Keller - Visual Studio 2013 Application Lifecycle Management Virtual Machine and Hands-on-Labs / Demo Scripts

Updated January 9, 2014: The VM was upgraded to include all applicable Visual Studio 2010 and 2012 hands-on-labs / demo scripts. This brings the total number of hands-on-labs / demo scripts you can run with this virtual machine to 24.

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The Visual Studio 2013 RTM ALM Virtual Machine is available for download along with 24 hands-on-labs / demo scripts which introduce you to many of the ALM capabilities which have been included in this release.

You can download and install Visual Studio 2013 (including Team Foundation Server 2013, .NET Framework 4.5.1, etc.). But if you would like a faster way to understand what is new for application lifecycle management in this release, this virtual machine is pre-configured with all of the necessary software and sample data for you.

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Labs upgraded from Visual Studio 2010/2012: NEW

Authoring and Running Manual Tests using Microsoft Test Manager 2013

Branching and Merging Visualization with Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2013

Building the Right Software - Generating Storyboards and Collecting Stakeholder Feedback with Visual Studio 2013

Code Discovery using the Architecture Tools in Visual Studio Ultimate 2013

Debugging with IntelliTrace using Visual Studio Ultimate 2013

Diagnosing Issues in Production with IntelliTrace and Visual Studio 2013

Exploratory Testing using Microsoft Test Manager 2013

Introduction to Coded UI Tests with Visual Studio Ultimate 2013

Introduction to Platform Testing with Microsoft Test Manager 2013

Introduction to PreEmptive Analytics

Introduction to Test Case Management with Microsoft Test Manager 2013

Introduction to Test Planning with Microsoft Test Manager 2013

Introduction to Web Performance and Load Testing with Visual Studio Ultimate 2013

Lab Management using Standard Lab Environments in Visual Studio 2013

Making Developers More Productive with Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2013

Testing and Debugging SharePoint Applications with Visual Studio 2013

Understanding Class Coupling with Visual Studio Ultimate 2013

Unit Testing, Code Coverage and Code Clone Analysis with Visual Studio 2013

Using Code Analysis with Visual Studio 2013 to Improve Code Quality

Using the Architecture Explorer in Visual Studio Ultimate 2013 to Analyze Your Code

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Hosting the VS 2013 ALM VM in a Windows Azure Virtual Machine

I am recommending the use of a Windows Azure Virtual Network for this exercise so the virtual machine does not have any ports open to the internet (public facing). If you have any questions, comments or concerns regarding the steps in the article feel free to leave a comment.

Steps we’ll be performing in this article:

Download the VS 2013 ALM Virtual Machine (.rar)

Extract the files for the VS 2013 ALM Virtual Machine

Download and install the Windows Azure PowerShell cmdlets

Create a Windows Azure Storage Container

Create a Windows Azure Virtual Network with Point-to-Site Connectivity

Upload the .VHD to Azure Storage

Configure a disk so the .VHD can be used by a Virtual Machine

Create and configure the Virtual Machine

Complete the configuration of the Virtual Network and connect to the VPN

First you should head over to Brian Keller’s great blog post and follow the instructions to get the files. If you don’t have a fast and reliable internet connection you may want to wait and build a 2nd virtual machine on the virtual network that I am configuring as part of this post to download the files and upload the .vhd to your Azure storage. I tried it this past weekend on my internet service (provided by cable) and the upload took just over 17 hours, if you do this from within a Virtual Machine in Azure the entire process (calculate MD5 Hash and Upload) takes about 2.5 hours.

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The only way this might be better is if this VM were in the Azure Gallery, but until then, this is one of the coolest ways to check out all that is VS 2013, with sample data, demos, labs, etc. If you're a trainer, presenter or just want to see just about everything that is TFS ALM, this VM is a must download...