This series of blog entries is running 2 or 3 longer than I had expected at the start. I'm sorry if this saga is getting old from the reader's perspective. How do you think I feel, trying to install this thing 10 times at least?

Finally, I have some good news to report.

I reinstalled the database and application servers from scratch. Reinstalled Windows Server 2003, and did everything in the proper order. I made sure the TFSIdentity user had admin permissions on the database, and did a few tests to ensure the permissions were properly set. And I hit the install button again...

And it failed. Again.

So, I deleted the databases that were created. I noticed it was the C:\VSTS folder that was not created this time, so I tried something different when installing the second time. I hit the install button...

And it succeeded. Yay!

What did I do differently between the two attempts? Well, during the install it asks you for four things:

• database server name
• TFS domain user name
• TFS domain
• TFS domain user password

During my first attempt, I used “vsts.x4.ca” as my domain name. Because that is the domain I created on the application server. The second attempt, I only used “vsts” as the domain name. And voila!

I really wish the install program would be smart enough to tell me “vsts.x4.ca” is not in the proper format. That would have saved me a TON of time. Heck, if they just had an example there (or in the documentation) that showed what a valid domain looked like, I would have known what to use and some of this mess would have been avoided.

Lessons learned:

* Follow the directions from the start. Once you've discovered you've skipped a step (by not installing all the options at the database tier, or by having disjointed domain server names), realize that you might have to start over. Try the install first, but be prepared to start over.

* This domain name requirement is a pain in the neck. If you understand Active Directory and domains, no problems for you I guess. But if you're like me and don't, be prepared to learn some new things.

* The install instructions may not be enough. Find someone who has installed it already and written about it on their blog. Blogs make good adjuncts to the official documentation.

Whew! You should see the relief on my face today.