Troubleshooting Common Issues in Microsoft Team Explorer Everywhere

Troubleshooting Common Issues in Microsoft Team Explorer EverywhereMicrosoft Team Explorer Everywhere (TEE) is a cross-platform, command-line and plug-in toolset that enables developers on macOS and Linux to collaborate with Team Foundation Server (TFS) and Azure DevOps. Despite its utility, users sometimes run into configuration, connectivity, authentication, or workflow problems. This article walks through common issues, diagnostic steps, and practical solutions to get TEE working smoothly.

---

1. Confirm compatibility and prerequisites

Before troubleshooting, verify your environment:

• Supported TEE versions: Ensure you’re using a TEE version that supports your server (TFS or Azure DevOps). Older TEE releases may not be compatible with recent server versions.
• Java runtime: TEE requires a Java Runtime Environment (JRE). Use a supported JRE version (typically Java 8 or Java 11 depending on TEE build) and confirm JAVA_HOME points to the correct installation.
• Eclipse/IDE integration: If using the Eclipse plug-in, confirm the Eclipse version is compatible with the TEE plugin.
• Network access to server: Confirm DNS, ports (usually 443 for HTTPS or 8080 for HTTP), and proxies are properly configured.

If any of these prerequisites are missing or mismatched, install/update them first and re-test.

---

2. Authentication failures (invalid credentials, NTLM/Kerberos issues)

Symptom: Authentication prompts repeatedly appear, or login fails with ⁄₄₀₃.

Steps and fixes:

• Verify username and password are correct by logging into the Azure DevOps/TFS web portal.
• If using NTLM or Kerberos in a corporate domain:
  • Ensure the OS and Java can perform Windows integrated authentication. Java may need additional configuration (JAAS, configuring krb5.conf, or setting up a keytab).
  • For Kerberos, validate the machine time sync, DNS resolution, and correct service principal names (SPNs).
• For Personal Access Tokens (PATs):
  • Create a PAT in Azure DevOps with appropriate scopes and use it as the password when prompted.
• When behind a proxy that requires authentication:
  • Configure proxy settings for Java and the Eclipse IDE. For command-line TEE, set environment variables like HTTP_PROXY/HTTPS_PROXY or pass proxy settings to the java command.
• If using Alternate Credentials (older TFS setups), confirm they are enabled and not expired.

Collect and inspect authentication logs: enable verbose logging in TEE (see section 6) to capture actual authentication exchange and error codes.

---

3. Connection/timeouts and SSL certificate errors

Symptom: Timeouts, SSL handshake failures, or certificate trust errors.

Troubleshooting:

• Test connectivity using curl or a browser to the server URL to confirm network reachability.
• For SSL errors:
  • If using a self-signed certificate or an internal Certificate Authority (CA), import the certificate into the Java truststore used by TEE:
    1. Export the server’s certificate (PEM or DER).
    2. Use keytool to import into the JRE’s cacerts or create a separate truststore and reference it with -Djavax.net.ssl.trustStore and -Djavax.net.ssl.trustStorePassword.
  • Avoid disabling certificate validation in production — prefer trusting the issuing CA.
• Adjust timeout settings if large operations frequently time out. Network latency, server load, or a misconfigured proxy can exacerbate timeouts.

---

4. Workspace mapping and synchronization issues

Symptom: Files don’t appear, pending changes not detected, or conflicting workspace mappings.

Common causes and solutions:

• Understand TEE workspace types:
  • Server workspaces vs. local workspaces behave differently in terms of file locking and change detection.
• Check workspace mappings:
  • Run the TEE command-line client to list and inspect mappings (tf workspaces, tf status, tf workspace -collection:).
  • Ensure local paths match the repository mappings and aren’t nested under other TFS-mapped directories.
• If files appear out of sync:
  • Use tf get to force-get latest, or tf reconcile to detect local changes (if supported).
  • For conflicting local edits, consider shelving changes or creating a branch to preserve work before resetting mappings.
• Case sensitivity on macOS/Linux:
  • TFS is case-insensitive while the file system might be case-sensitive. Normalize filenames or adjust mappings to avoid duplicate/renamed file conflicts.
• If using multiple workspaces or multiple users on the same machine, carefully manage workspace ownership and mappings.

---

5. Performance problems (slow operations)

Symptom: Slow checkout, get, or history operations.

Causes and mitigations:

• Network latency: Run operations on a faster network or use a VPN closer to the server.
• Large repository or deep history: Use narrow scope operations (get a single folder or changeset) instead of whole-repo actions.
• Server-side load: Coordinate with server admins to check TFS/Azure DevOps server health and indexes.
• Client-side Java memory: Increase Java heap size for TEE if you see OutOfMemory errors or GC thrashing. Example JVM option: -Xmx1024m.
• Disable unnecessary plugins in Eclipse to reduce client overhead.

---

6. Enabling and interpreting logs

Symptom: Need detailed error diagnostics.

How to enable logging:

• For the command-line client, run with verbose/debug flags (for example, tf get -login:user,password -noprompt -verbose depending on client version) or add -debug where supported.
• For the Eclipse plug-in:
  • Enable logging in Eclipse’s Error Log view.
  • Start Eclipse from the command line with -debug and a logging configuration to capture plugin output.
• Java-level logging:
  • Use -Dorg.apache.commons.logging.Log=org.apache.commons.logging.impl.SimpleLog -Dorg.apache.commons.logging.simplelog.showdatetime=true -Dorg.apache.commons.logging.simplelog.log.org.apache.http=DEBUG to enable HTTP-level debug logging when troubleshooting network/auth issues. Collect logs, note timestamps, and correlate errors with user actions. Share sanitized logs with admins when requesting help.

---

7. Plugin integration problems with Eclipse or other IDEs

Symptom: TEE menu items missing, change sets not visible, or plugin errors in IDE.

Fixes:

• Verify the plugin is installed and enabled: check Eclipse -> Help -> About -> Installation Details -> Installed Software.
• Confirm plugin version matches TEE server compatibility and Eclipse version.
• Clean the Eclipse workspace:
  • Exit Eclipse and restart with eclipse -clean to refresh plugin caches.
  • If the workspace metadata is corrupted, try starting with a new workspace and re-import projects.
• Check the Eclipse .log (in the workspace .metadata/.log) for stack traces to identify missing dependencies or classpath issues.
• Reinstall the plugin if installation appears corrupted.

---

8. Source control operations: checkin, merge, shelve issues

Symptom: Check-in rejected, merge conflicts unresolved, or shelved changes missing.

Steps:

• Review the server error message when a check-in is rejected—common reasons include code review policies, branch protection, or pending merge conflicts.
• Resolve conflicts using TEE merge tools or external diff/merge utilities. After resolving, mark conflicts as resolved and pend the merge before checking in.
• Shelved changes:
  • Confirm the shelf set was created successfully on the server.
  • Use the correct user/context to unshelve; shelf sets are associated with the creating user unless explicitly shared.
• Work item policy enforcement:
  • Some servers require associating a work item or passing build validations before allowing check-ins. Ensure your changes meet these policies.

---

9. Error codes and common messages

Useful quick references:

• 401 / 403 — Authentication/permission issues (check credentials, PAT, and user access).
• SSLHandshakeException — Certificate trust problems (import CA cert into Java truststore).
• SocketTimeoutException — Network or proxy timeouts.
• Access Denied / TF14045 — Permission or policy rejections (server-side security or check-in policies).

Always capture the full stack trace and log snippet for precise diagnosis.

---

10. When to involve server admins or support

Involve admins when:

• Server-side errors appear (500-series errors) or when server maintenance, upgrades, or indexing are suspected.
• Permission or group membership changes are required.
• You need server configuration changes (e.g., enabling alternate credentials, updating SSL certs, or changing workspace quotas). Provide admins with: user account details, exact timestamp, log snippets, and steps to reproduce.

---

Appendix: Quick command references

• List workspaces: tf workspaces -collection:https://your-server/tfs/DefaultCollection
• Get latest: tf get -recursive
• Check pending changes: tf status
• Create/unshelve: tf shelve / tf unshelve
• Resolve conflicts: tf resolve

---

If you want, I can tailor troubleshooting steps to your exact OS (macOS/Linux), TEE version, and a specific error message—provide those details and I’ll produce concrete commands and log-parsing steps.