How to get tf.exe (TFS command line client)?

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Solution 1

You need to install Team Explorer, it's best to install the version of Team Explorer that matches the version of TFS you are using e.g. if you're using TFS 2010 then install Team Explorer 2010.

2012 version http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=30656

2013 version http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40776

2019 version https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads/#visual-studio-team-explorer-2019

You also might be interested in the TFS power tools. They add some extra command line features (using tfpt.exe) and also add some extra IDE features.

Solution 2

I'm in a virtual machine, and am trying to keep my VHD as small as possible, so I find Team Explorer is a really heavyweight solution (300+ MB install). As an alternative, I've had some luck copying a minimal set of EXEs/DLLs from a Team Explorer installation to a clean machine (.NET 4.0 is still required, of course).

I've only tried a handful of operations so far, but this set of files (about 8.5 MB) has been enough to get basic source-control functionality via tf.exe:

  • TF.exe
  • TF.exe.config
  • Microsoft.TeamFoundation.dll
  • Microsoft.TeamFoundation.Client.dll
  • Microsoft.TeamFoundation.Common.dll
  • Microsoft.TeamFoundation.Common.Library.dll
  • Microsoft.TeamFoundation.VersionControl.Client.dll
  • Microsoft.TeamFoundation.VersionControl.Common.dll
  • Microsoft.TeamFoundation.VersionControl.Controls.dll

(It should go without saying that this is a completely unsupported solution, and it doesn't free you from the normal TFS licensing requirements.)

Depending on the operations you perform, you may find that additional DLLs are required. Fortunately, tf.exe will produce a nice error message telling you exactly which ones are missing.

Solution 3

For Visual Studio 2017 & 2019, it can be found here :

-Replace {YEAR} by the appropriate year ("2017", "2019").

-Replace {EDITION} by the appropriate edition name ("Enterprise", "Professional", or "Community")

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\{YEAR}\{EDITION}\Common7\IDE\CommonExtensions\Microsoft\TeamFoundation\Team Explorer\tf.exe

For Visual Studio 2022, it can be found here :

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\{EDITION}\Common7\IDE\CommonExtensions\Microsoft\TeamFoundation\Team Explorer\TF.exe

Solution 4

There is a Java TFS client in the Team Explorer Everywhere installation (together with an Eclipse plugin). Look at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30661

Solution 5

For reference: these are the required DLLs for Visual Studio 2017 (as did @ijprest for the VS 2010)

TF.exe
TF.exe.config
Microsoft.TeamFoundation.Client.dll
Microsoft.TeamFoundation.Common.dll
Microsoft.TeamFoundation.Core.WebApi.dll
Microsoft.TeamFoundation.VersionControl.Client.dll
Microsoft.TeamFoundation.VersionControl.Common.dll
Microsoft.TeamFoundation.VersionControl.Controls.dll
Microsoft.VisualStudio.Services.Client.Interactive.dll
Microsoft.VisualStudio.Services.Common.dll
Microsoft.VisualStudio.Services.WebApi.dll

They will be in my base VM image. I'm going to use it to pull the latest deployment scripts from VC to a temporary local workspace folder when installing a new server.

tf workspace /new ... 
tf workfold /map ...
tf get "%WorkSpaceLocalFolder%" /recursive
tf workfold /unmap 
tf workspace /delete

<run deployment scripts from "%WorkSpaceLocalFolder%" >

rmdir "%WorkSpaceLocalFolder%"

(Sorry to post this as an answer, but I don't have enough reputation to comment, which I believe it should have been)

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Updated on January 21, 2022

Comments

  • 213897
    213897 about 2 years

    What's the minimum amount of software I need to install to get the 'tf.exe' program?

  • mbourgon
    mbourgon over 10 years
    that's a thing of beauty. I did need Microsoft.TeamFoundation.Build.Controls.dll to check in.
  • sirdank
    sirdank about 7 years
    I found tf.exe and its .config in C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 11.0\Common7\IDE, VersionControl.Controls.dll in C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 11.0\Common7\IDE\PrivateAssemblies and the DLLs in C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 11.0\Common7\IDE\ReferenceAssemblies\v2.0.
  • redwards510
    redwards510 over 5 years
    That's for Enterprise. If using Professional try this: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Professional\Common7\IDE\CommonExtensions\Micros‌​oft\TeamFoundation\T‌​eam Explorer\TF.exe
  • Frederic
    Frederic over 5 years
    Thank you, I added details in my answer.
  • Shan
    Shan almost 5 years
    Whether it can be used for AzureDevOps?
  • Jan Paolo Go
    Jan Paolo Go about 4 years
    This also works for VS2019. Also need to add Microsoft.TeamFoundation.Diff.dll

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