I was using TFS2017 on a single machine, and needed to transfer it to a new machine.  I performed a backup, installed on the new machine, and attempted to restore my backup.  At this point I found I had not been using the latest version of TFS, and couldn’t restore my backup.

I still had the installer file for the old version I was using, and was able to install, restore and then upgrade.  But this got me thinking.  If I didn’t have the old install files, I’d be in trouble.  So I found a way to download the install files for offline use in the future.

Download the web installer for TFS from https://www.visualstudio.com/tfs/

Run the installer with the following switches: /layout %PATHTOSAVE%

eg:

tfsserver2017.1.exe /layout c:\temp\tfs\installfiles

The installer will begin, and confirm the file location

Put the install files in a safe place in case you ever need to reinstall and you find you are not on the latest version.

You can also use the /passive switch to bypass the are you sure prompt.

Check out all the switches by using /?

Now off to go find out how to get TFS to tell me that a new update is available!