TFS 2015 and later - Tagging agents

Question

Does anyone know if the feature to tag agents has dissapeared? I could not find anything related to over the internet.

My idea is to have certain builds use a specific agent. On TFS 2013 I would use tagging, but i no longer see that option. On the other hand, I see that it is possible to connect a build definition to a certain agent queue.

Answer 1

There is no more agent tags for TFS 2015 or later version. If you want to use a particular build definition and a specific build Agent which used to run the build.

You could add a user Capability to that specific build agent then in the build definition you put that capability as a demand (General tab).

Another way is directly using Agent.Name or Agent.ComputerName demands in build def or when queuing a build. Take a look at this blog: How to send TFS build to a specific agent or server, which also support on TFS2015.

Oren: Is this feature works in TFS15 SP3?

Reply Eric Parvin: Yes, this should work on TFS 2015 to the newest version.

Answer 2

Use demands and capabilities for this. Add a custom capability to the build agent, and then add a matching demand to the build definition.

Answer 3

Demands and capabilities would work, and you could also create a specific queue, with a single available agent in it, and set the queue to your desired build, so you would achieve the same behavior as desired one.