Witadmin importgloballist fails but says it succeeded

Question

I'm running witadmin from the Visual Studio 2013, Update 4.
I'm importing a new global list.
I run witadmin as follows;
c:\program files x86)\microsoft visual studio 12.0\common7\ide\witadmin.exe importgloballist /collection:http://<servername>:8080/tfs/<collection name> /f:<path to global list.xml>
The program says:
The global list was successfully imported.
I then run 
c:\program files x86)\microsoft visual studio 12.0\common7\ide\witadmin.exe exportgloballist /collection:http://<servername>:8080/tfs/<collection name> /f:<path to global list.xml>
The changes have not been made.
After much trial and error, I finally determined to delete the TFS cache by typing:
%localappdata%\microsoft\team foundation server\5.0\cache
I then run the witadmin to import the global list and it works!
Why do I have to delete the local cache to get it to work?  Why can't I rely on the result message from witadmin to tell me the truth?
- Bruce
Bruce

Answer 1

While I haven't been able to recreate this issue, I am having considerable struggles with the Cache that TFS creates.  
A note of information might be helpful here.  
We are working on combining multiple projects and collections into a single project and single collection for work items.  
Because I am constantly switching between collections and projects, I am also constantly having to delete the cache.  
Yesterday I was running my migration tool, which copies work items from one project and into another project, this time within the same collection.
When I got done I had hundreds of errors that said the Area Paths and Iteration Paths were incorrect.  I looked at the destination project and the Area Paths and Iteration Paths all seemed to be correct.  After much research and digging, my co-worker
asked if I had cleared my TFS Cache.  I told him that I couldn't remember.  
So, I decided to frequently delete the TFS Cache.  Every step of the process requires me to be switching between TFS collections.  Therefore, every time I switch between collections, I would exit Dev Studio and delete the cache. I now do this religiously
every step of the way.
When I ran the migration tool again, it worked flawlessly, copying over 14,000 work items and 25,000 test cases with no errors having to do with Area Paths and Iteration Paths.
While the TFS cache may be a good idea, it can also be a great detriment, causing one to believe that he/she is doing something wrong, when, in fact, it is the cache that is messed up.  This is especially true if you are switching between TFS Collections
frequently.
Just thought I would mention this.  
Bruce