TFS – Unable to create a team project due to Sharepoint permissions

If you setup TFS with a service account and then attempt to create a Team Project within a Team Project Collection (TPC), you might come across the following error:

TF218017: A SharePoint site could not be created for use as the team project portal. The following error occurred: TF250044: A SharePoint site cannot be created at the following location: http://tfs01/sites/TestCollection/Test. The following user account does not have the required permissions in SharePoint Products to create a site at that location: AD\user. The user account must have sufficient permissions to create a sub-site on the following site: http://tfs01/sites/TestCollection/Test. For more information, see the Microsoft Web site (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=166742).

The privilege to create a team project should not be handed to everyone (especially in a large organization). Users who should be able to create a team project within a team project collection need to be added to the “Site Collection Administrators” list.

To do this:

Go to the TPC site. (typically : http://{tfsServer}/sites/{TeamProjectCollectionName}/)

Click “Site Actions”

Under “Users and Permissions”, Click on “Site Collection Administrators”

Add the users that need the privilege of being able to create Team Projects.

Things to note:

You cannot add groups. I am not sure why Microsoft did this, because in a large organization, this certainly makes it a pain to administer TFS.