Team Foundation Server 2012 Exam 70-496

I had the opportunity to take this exam last week and since I got a thumbs-up :- ) I will let SOME tips here for everyone who is likewise thinking to apply for this new TFS exam.

Again, as in TFS 2010 exam – 70-512, you may be comfortable to go to this exam if you are already familiar with deploying Team Foundation Server using different topologies (single server, multi servers, using also load balancing, https), administering TFS server (TFS admin console), including backup/restore and also managing/working with the main component as version control, work item tracking, build automation, lab management, groups and permissions management of TFS instance level, Team Project Collection level and Team Project level, etc.

Take a look at the main ALM MSDN documentation for Visual Studio 2012 that contains rich information for this test and certainly helps with that – Application Lifecycle Management with Visual Studio and Team Foundation Server

Find the Skills Being Measured for this exam here. The test is very well elaborated having mixed questions exploring all four big topics of the Skills Being Measured.

Based on what I can still remember from my test, these are some topics to practice, to study and to be prepared to find the accurate answer solutions in your test:

• Understand well the difference between Server Workspaces vs. Local Workspaces, knowing which version control features you can work with the new TFS 2012 local workspaces
  MSDN content related – Decide Between Using a Local or a Server Workspace, Local Workspaces in TFS 2012
• Know very well what is a cloaked folder for both version control operations and also while setting up Build Definitions – how to use it and what it is useful for
  MSDN content related – Optimize Your Workspaces
• Be aware of how to customize the different parts of TFS Process Templates, at least the Work Item Tracking plug-in content
  MSDN content related – Customize Process Templates
• There are a number of questions related to Lab Management. Be prepared to know the differences in TFS 2012 and types of environments that you can create
  MSDN content related – Using a Lab Environment for Your Application Lifecycle
• There are a number of questions related to Version Control features/operations
  MSDN content related – Using Version Control
• Take a look at the TFS 2012 new features that are considered for the exam like Teams.
• Study how to set up a TFS Version Control Proxy Server and how to configure the client Visual Studio machines to use it, including also how to change the proxy settings
  MSDN content related – How to: Install Team Foundation Proxy and Set Up a Remote Site, How to: Change Cache Settings for Team Foundation Server Proxy, Change Cache Settings for an Application-Tier Server
• Take a look at the minimum TFS upgrade requirements now for TFS 2012
  MSDN content related – TFS Upgrade Requirements
• Know how to rebuild Team Foundation Server data warehouse and/or manually process it
  MSDN content related – Rebuild the Data Warehouse and Analysis Services Cube
  Other reference – Manually Processing the Team Foundation Server 2010 Data Warehouse and Analysis Services Database

My friend Daniel talks about the new three Microsoft ALM exams here – Certifications for Team Foundation Server 2012

Other links that have some valuable TFS related information you may consider to take a look at:

• Hands on Visual Studio videos – Visual Studio 2012 Application Lifecycle Management (ALM)
• TFS 2010/2012 videos, including Server Side administration/deployment
• The Visual Guide for Building TFS 2012 Environments – several videos

Silfarney Wallace | @silwallace

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