TFSVersionDetection.exe utility extends Team Foundation Server trial and pre-release edition periods

Source: Microsoft Support

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You are running the 180-day trial edition of Microsoft Team Foundation Server (TFS) 2005, the 90-day trial edition of TFS 2008, or a pre-release version of TFS 2008 (Beta 2 or Release Candidate). The trail period expires.

Users of TFS are no longer able to connect to the server. The event log on the TFS application tier computer contains instances of this error message:

"TF30072: The Team Foundation Server trial period has expired or its license is otherwise invalid. Install a licensed edition of Team Foundation Server to continue"

Most likely the Team Foundation Server trial period has expired.

It is time to upgrade your trial edition to a full release version of Team Foundation Server Standard Edition or Team Foundation Server Workgroup Edition. To do this, you must have a valid product key for Team Foundation Server, either from a retail copy or through a volume licensing program. If you must regain access to your trial edition of TFS while you wait for a full-release product key, you can use the TFSVersionDetection.exe utility to extend the trial period.

The TFSVersionDetection.exe can be run against any version of TFS - not just the trial edition. Features of the TFSVersionDetection.exe utility include:

• Detection of the version of TFS installed.
• Detection of the version of SQL Server installed.
• If the TFS install is a trail edition, the utility will tell you how many days remain until it expires.
• If you are within 10 days of expiration of a trail edition or pre-release (Beta 2 or Release Candidate) install, an "Extend" button will show up in the lower left hand corner. Pressing it will extend the expiration another 30 days from the day the button is pressed.

The TFSVersionDetection.exe utility is available as an attachment on this BLOG (http://blogs.msdn.com/bharry/archive/2008/01/15/checking-your-tfs-version-and-extending-trials.aspx) entry. It is also available by contacting Microsoft Customer Support Services.

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