Defining VSS Roles and Processes

Determine who will be the VSS project leader, and the roles and permissions you need to configure. At a minimum, you need an administrator role and a developer role. The VSS administrator manages the VSS database, VSS users, and VSS file tasks such as archiving. A developer creates and updates files and checks them in and out of a Project. Other roles that you might include are supporting developers, code reviewers, technical writers, software testers, and project managers.

Establish a process for using VSS. Items to consider are: what objects will be checked in to VSS, how often developers should check in their source code to the repository, the appropriate procedure for releasing code to production, and the process for retiring the code base when an application in no longer live.

Decide what level of logon security is required at your enterprise. Is network authentication enough or should a separate authentication be required for logging on to the VSS database? This decision will determine how you configure the settings under the General tab (discussed later in this article).