TFS Extension already exists but not shown

Question

I have created a build extension and first time I tried to upload it I got an error because the json file wasn't well formatted. After fixing and trying again I get the error The extension already exists but the extension is not shown in the tfs extension list. How can I remove the extension from tsf database or from tfs cache server? Is there any specific location on server? I even cleared my local cache but didn't help.

Answer 1

Just try to clean the client caches (including both TFS and Browser), then try it again.

• TFS: C:\Users\{your account}\AppData\Local\Microsoft\TeamFoundation\{version}\Cache

• Browser, IE for example (based on your settings) :

  C:\Users\{your account}\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache

---

If that still not work, just try below things:

1. Delete the existing extension with the REST API: (On success the server will return 204 Not Content.)

   Delete http://server:8080/tfs/_apis/gallery/publishers/{publisher}/extensions/{extensionId}

(You can get the publisher and extensionId from the vss-extension.json file.)

Just use the tools such as Postman to send the Delete request, or you can use below PowerShell script to delete the existing extension:

Param(
   [string]$tfsurl = "http://server:8080/tfs", 
   [string]$publisher = "Andy",
   [string]$extensionId = "sample-extension",
   [string]$user = "username",
   [string]$token = "password"
)  
# Base64-encodes the Personal Access Token (PAT) appropriately
$base64AuthInfo = [Convert]::ToBase64String([Text.Encoding]::ASCII.GetBytes(("{0}:{1}" -f $user,$token)))

$baseUrl = "$tfsurl/_apis/gallery/publishers/$publisher/extensions/$($extensionId)?api-version=3.2-preview.2"           
$response = (Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $baseUrl -Method Delete -ContentType "application/json" -Headers @{Authorization=("Basic {0}" -f $base64AuthInfo)})

2. Upload the fixed extension again.

Another workaround is changing the extension ID for the fixed extension and package it again, then upload it.