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7pace Timetracker for Azure Devops (on-prem and cloud) prerequisites, installation and upgrade guide, and internal tasks (vacation, sick days, meetings) best practices

Install 7pace Timetracker on Your DevOps Services Organization

After logging in, access the Visual Studio Marketplace and locate and click on the 7pace Timetracker icon.

On the Timetracker application page, click Get.

The browser displays the organization page.

Click the drop-down list and select your DevOps Services organization, then follow the prompts to install.

Ensure "7pace Timetracker" Menu Selection Displays

Once the 7pace Timetracker server component is enabled on your organization, ensure that the "7pace Timetracker" menu selection appears on the main menu bar of DevOps Services. Please note that 7pace Timetracker will be visible for all DevOps users during your trial period. Upon trial expiry, Timetracker will no longer appear for users not already created in Timetracker.

Uninstalling the 7pace Timetracker Extension

Important: When you uninstall 7pace Timetracker from your system, the installer does not automatically remove the 7pace Timetracker extension - you must follow the steps below to complete the process.

1. Sign into your DevOps Services account.

2. Open your Collection in the DevOps Services Control Panel.

3. Select Extensions from the left-side menu.

4. Click the Uninstall link. 

Installation Guide for DevOps Server (on-prem)

https://youtu.be/3zsV9w-tpxg

When you first install DevOps Server, a default collection is created that contains all team projects. If you host multiple team projects in DevOps Server, you can manage these more efficiently by grouping them together with other projects that have similar requirements or objectives, such as those that access a specific code base.  By creating separate Team Project Collections, you can group team projects together in one or more organizational units, allowing you to manage the group of team projects as an independent resource with its own user groups, server resources, and maintenance schedule. When you create a collection, you specify the logical and physical resources that team projects within that collection can use. All the artifacts and data that those team projects use are stored in the single database of the collection.

7pace Timetracker is collection-based. Data from all collections is stored in one database. However, the data from these collections does not intersect. Each collection acts as a separate, unique organization, so you won't see Timetracker data from one collection in another collection; each collection has different data.

Download 7pace Timetracker Server (on-prem)

1. Access the https://www.7pace.com/ website.

2. On the main menu bar, click Try -> For Azure DevOps Server (On-Premises, Self-Hosted)

3. On the resulting page, click on Azure DevOps Server first, and then click the Get 7pace Timetracker button.

Your browser will download the installation file at your specified location in a .ZIP format.

Install 7pace Timetracker Server (on-prem)

1. Go to the location where you saved the 7pace Timetracker Server application.

2. Extract the installer zip file on your system.

3. Double-click the installer file to run the installer.

All necessary software will be checked for presence.

Note: Ensure that you are running the installer with administrator permissions.

The system will display the Welcome page.

4. Click Next.
   The system displays the "End User License Agreement" page.

5. Accept the agreement and click the "Next" button.

The Destination Folder window displays.

6. Choose the destination folder where you want to install 7pace Timetracker  (click "Change" if you want to select somewhere other than the default folder) and click "Next".

The "Ready to install 7pace Timetracker" page displays. 

7. Follow the installation prompts until the system displays the the 7pace Timetracker Setup Wizard confirmation page.

8. After copying the files for 7pace Timetracker Server, the installer applies the necessary configurations to the system. The system then displays the Windows Security dialog box for you to enter your username and password to connect to DevOps Server. After you provide valid credentials, the installer completes the remaining installation process and displays the page, below.

9. Click the Finish button.

Configuration Wizard - Initial Installation

After 7pace Timetracker installation completes successfully, the 7pace Timetracker configuration wizard that is bundled with the installer starts automatically.

The wizard allows you to configure Timetracker installed locally with DevOps Server or installed locally but integrated with the remote DevOps Server. You can re-start this tool any time you want, if you need to make changes, by running the TimetrackerOnline.ConfigTool application from the "Tools" folder in your 7pace Timetracker installation location. 

IMPORTANT: SSL v2 and v3 protocols are enabled, as some customers still use 7pace Timetracker with legacy TFS. To switch off/on any protocols 7pace Timetracker uses in the configuration tool manually during your installation of 7pace Timetracker, please see the links, below, for guidance:
https://disablessl3.com/iis.html
https://www.digicert.com/kb/ssl-support/iis-disabling-ssl-v3.htm

Note: Timetracker was not tested with and does not officially support hosting in a relative/virtual directory and can only be hosted in the root directory.

Configuration Guide

After installation is complete, the "Welcome!" page of the 7pace Timetracker Configuration wizard displays.

1. Click the Next button to continue.

The wizard detects the local DevOps Server on which you have installed 7pace Timetracker and displays your DevOps URL.

2. Choose one of the required options from the following selections:

Install on local machine along with DevOps Server: 7pace Timetracker is installed on the local system where DevOps Server is also installed.

Install locally and integrate with remote DevOps Server: 7pace Timetracker is installed on the local system but integrated with the remote DevOps Server.

3. Click the Next button.

The system displays the "Database Settings (Microsoft SQL Server)" page.

Note: On the "Database Settings (Microsoft SQL Server)" page, the option to select the same Microsoft SQL Server as DevOps Server is disabled if you are configuring your 7pace Timetracker with remote DevOps Server. In that case, you will need to specify the SQL Server details. Also please note that only general Latin collations in the SQL Server database (for example: SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS) are supported.

4. Check that the database server name and authentication details are correct and click the Next button. 

The system displays the "Internet Information Server (IIS) Settings" page.

Note: 7pace Timetracker is using the same technology as DevOps Server and we put a security cookie into every request. This cookie can, in some cases, interfere with the DevOps Server cookie. Having Timetracker on the same domain as DevOps Server can cause cookies to be overridden. The solution is to change the address of Timetracker to something distinct/different from the DevOps Server address.

5. Check that the "Host Name" and "Network Host Port" are correct. 

Note: The HTTPS Certificate drop-down list only appears if you are using secured http (that is, 'https'). The configuration tool only looks for certificates in the Web Hosting store. If the certificate is stored in a personal or alternative store, it will not be listed.

6. Click the HTTPS Certificate drop-down list and select the certificate that you want to use.

7. Click the Build-in-Account drop-down list, and select the application pool account or click the Custom Account and specify the custom account details.

8. Click the Next button.

The system displays the "Service Account" page. 

Here, you can configure the "Service Account" (found within the "Settings" page of 7pace Timetracker -> "Service Account") to display data that is usually not visible to all users. You can either enter the details for a "Custom Service Account" (we recommend that you use a team member who belongs to the Project Collection "Administrators" user group, since this has the highest permission level), or use the same account that you configured as the Application Pool Account. Important: The Service Account is required in order for server side tracking and Work Item Automation to work. You can read more about it here: What is the Service Account used for?

9. Enter a valid username, including the domain name, if necessary.

10. Enter a valid password for the specified username.

11. Click the Next button to continue.

The Email Settings page displays.

If you "Enable Email Alerts", the users will receive an email notification when tracking was stopped by the system due to no response from the user during activity checks. Under "Authentication", most mail servers require authorization in order to send emails. Please enter your credentials here.

12. Click Next. 

The Installing Work Item Form Contributions page displays.

This window allows you to select the Project Collections to which you want the 7pace Timetracker tab and "Start Tracking" button on the work item form to be installed. 

13. Click Next.

The tool starts applying the settings. 

14. Click Next.

After a "Kudos! 7pace Timetracker is configured and ready to go" message, the wizard setup will be complete.

15. Click the Finish button to close the wizard.

Making Configuration Changes

Once you successfully complete the installation of 7pace Timetracker for DevOps Server, and configure it with the automatic configuration tool wizard that is bundled with the installer, the configuration tool is a part of your system. This tool allows you to configure Timetracker installed locally with DevOps Server or installed locally but integrated with the remote DevOps Server. Should you need to make any configuration changes in the future, it's easy to open the tool and make those changes at a later time.

The Service Account is required for server side tracking and Work Item Automation to work. Additionally, there is a new page to assist you in setting up email notifications in the Timetracker configuration wizard. 

You can find the 7pace Timetracker Configuration tool in the Tools directory at the default location (C:\Program Files (x86)\7pace Timetracker\) of Timetracker.

7pace Timetracker Configuration Tool

Starting and Stopping 7pace Timetracker

With the 7pace Timetracker configuration tool, you can start and stop the 7pace Timetracker application.

1. From the Windows start menu, run the 7pace Timetracker Configuration tool.

2. In the 7pace Timetracker Status field, check the current status of 7pace Timetracker (if it is running or stopped).

3. In the 7pace Timetracker Status field, click the Start/Stop Application link.

The "Start/Stop Application Pool" window displays.

• If 7pace Timetracker DevOps Server is running, click the Stop button to stop the 7pace Timetracker application.

• If 7pace Timetracker DevOps Server is stopped, click the Start button to start the 7pace Timetracker DevOps Server application.

4. Click the Close button to close the window.

Changing IIS Settings

With the 7pace Timetracker DevOps Server configuration tool, you can "Change IIS Settings".

1. From the Windows start menu, run the 7pace Timetracker Configuration tool.

2. In the Application Pool Account field, check the current application pool configuration.

3. In the Application Pool Account field, click the Change IIS Settings link.

The system displays the IIS Settings window.

4. Specify the appropriate values for the Host Name and Network Host Port.

(Optional) Click the HTTP Certificate drop-down list and select appropriate certificate.

Note: The HTTPS Certificate drop-down list only appears if you are using secured http (that is, 'https'). The configuration tool looks for certificates only in the Web Hosting store. If the certificate is stored in a Personal or other store, it will not be listed.

5. In the Application Pool Account section, select the account that you want to use or specify the custom account settings.

6. Click the Save button.

Changing the DevOps Server URL

From the DevOps Server Timetracker configuration tool, you can change the DevOps Server URL.

1. From the Windows start menu, run the 7pace Timetracker (on-prem) Configuration tool.

2. In the DevOps Server URL field, you can see the DevOps Server URL that is currently configured.

3. In the DevOps Server URL field, click the Change DevOps Server URL link:

4. In the DevOps Server URL field, enter a valid DevOps Server URL.

(Optional) Click the Show me where to find this information link to for additional information on where you can get the correct DevOps Server URL.

5. Click the Save button.

Changing SQL Settings

From the 7pace Timetracker configuration tool, you can change the SQL Server settings.

1. From the Windows start menu, run the 7pace Timetracker Configuration tool.

2. In the SQL Server field, you can see the SQL Server that is currently configured.

3. In the SQL Server field, click the Change SQL Settings link.

The Database Settings window displays.

4. Select the appropriate server name and the authentication required for that server.

5. Click the Save button.

Changing the Service Account

Important: Please note that the Service Account is required for server side tracking and Work Item Automation to work. You can read more about it here: What is the Service Account used for?

1. From the Windows start menu, run the 7pace Timetracker Configuration tool.

2. In the Service Account field, you can see the Service Account that is currently configured.

Note: A blank status indicates that Service Account has not been configured.

3. In the Service Account field, click the Change Service Account link.

-> The system displays the Service Account window.

7pace Timetracker Service Account Window

Note: Users don't have the option to not use the Service Account when configuring Timetracker, as it is required for server side tracking to work.

4. Click the appropriate option for the Service Account.

5. If selecting the "Custom Service Account" option, enter the required username and password for the selected Service Account.

6. Click the Save button.

Changing Email Settings

From the 7pace Timetracker configuration tool, you can change Email Settings.

1. From the Windows start menu, run the 7pace Timetracker Configuration tool.

2. In the Email Settings field, you can see the email account that is currently configured. 

3. In the Email Settings field, click the Change Email Settings link.

The Email Settings window displays.

4.  You can choose to enable or disable email alerts. If enabled, users will receive an email notification when tracking was stopped by the system due to no response from the user during time tracking activity checks. Under "Authentication", most mail servers require authorization in order to send emails. Please enter your credentials here.

5. Click the Save button.

Update Availability

From the 7pace Timetracker configuration tool, you can update the "7pace Timetracker" tab and "Start Tracking" button (added to the work item form) settings. 

Clicking the "Update availability" link allows you to reinstall the WiT "7pace Timetracker" tab and "Start Tracking" button (added to the work item form) to existing collections. If you create a new collection, you can navigate to the configuration tool and manually apply the "7pace Timetracker" tab and "Start Tracking" button here. 

Activating 7pace Timetracker for DevOps Server (Online & Offline) and Activating Proxy Server Settings

Activating 7pace Timetracker

Note: Before purchasing a license for 7pace Timetracker for DevOps Server, install the trial version by downloading the application from www.7pace.com. With the trial, you can use all 7pace Timetracker features for 28 days, without any limitations.

To determine the best 7pace Timetracker subscription for you and your team, please view our different per-user pricing plans at https://www.7pace.com/pricing. The purchasing experience is within the installed software. After starting a trial or installing Timetracker, head for the 'Organization Settings' of your Azure DevOps organization, and look for '7pace Timetracker'. Here, you can manage your subscription. For more information on purchasing before or after your trial expires, see How to Buy 7pace Timetracker After Your Trial Ends.

You will find your subscription ID on any invoice or email from the commerce system. 7pace Timetracker can then be activated via two different methods - online or offline.

Applying your license online

Online activation requires an internet connection to run 7pace Timetracker server. Support for a proxy server is available. For more information, see below.

We recommend online activation of your license because of the following benefits:

• Upon renewal, activation continues without interruption of service

• You only need to apply your subscription ID once

• Changes to your subscription appear immediately in all your server systems

1. On the "Settings" page, selection "Subscription" or follow the direct path Organization Settings -> Extensions -> 7pace Timetracker -> Subscription.

2. On the "Subscription" page, you can click "Buy Now" if your trial has expired or under "Do you have an existing subscription?" copy and paste your subscription ID into the "Subscription ID" field and click the "Apply" button.

The page refreshes, displaying subscription info.

Applying your license offline

If your server cannot connect to the Internet, please contact us at support@7pace.com and provide us with your subscription ID. We will issue a file for offline activation for you.

1. On the 7pace Timetracker menu bar, click Settings - > Subscription or follow the direct path Organization Settings -> Extensions -> 7pace Timetracker -> Subscription.

2. Click the Enforce offline validation mode hyperlink.

The file dialog box opens.

4. Click the Continue to enforce Offline Activation link to select the license file.
5. Apply the license.

Enabling proxy server settings

When you use an online subscription ID to activate your 7pace Timetracker for DevOps Server license, Timetracker keeps connecting to the license server to check whether the subscribed license is active or not. However, if your DevOps server is behind a proxy server, Timetracker won't be able to connect to the license server and will display a message that your license is inactive.

Important: Currently, 7pace Timetracker only supports the http(s) proxy settings.

1. On the "Settings" page of the 7pace Timetracker menu, click on "Subscription" and follow the hyperlink or access directly from path Organization Settings -> Extensions -> 7pace Timetracker -> Subscription.

2. Click the Proxy settings link.

The Proxy Settings for the License dialog box opens.

2. Click the Enable proxy check box.

3. In the Server address and port field, specify the correct proxy server address with the port number.
(Optional) Click the Use PROXY authentication checkbox if your proxy server requires authentication.

4. In the Username and Password fields, type in your credentials.

5. Click the Apply button.

You might get an error message if the specified proxy server address is incorrect or the specified proxy server is not reachable.

Upgrading 7pace Timetracker for DevOps Server (on-prem) & Updating DevOps Server

7pace Timetracker 3 and later | Important

You can update DevOps Server while still keeping Timetracker 3 and above installed. Prior to Timetracker 3, you had to uninstall Timetracker first, before you were able to update DevOps Server. With Timetracker 3 and higher, you no longer have to uninstall Timetracker before beginning your DevOps Server update.

Timetracker 2.x | Important

For 2.x versions of Timetracker, you can update DevOps Server while keeping Timetracker 2.x installed if you are not crossing releases/updates of DevOps Server with architecture changes. Otherwise, you will have to uninstall Timetracker before upgrading your version of DevOps Server. For additional information and instruction on how to do this, please read this article in the "FAQ" section of our Knowledge Base.  

Upgrading Timetracker 

Upgrading 7pace Timetracker for DevOps Server to the latest available version does not require you to backup your data or save any custom settings from your current version; existing data and settings are retained in the database. In addition, there is not a fixed upgrade path that you need to follow; you can upgrade from any previous version of the application to the very latest version available on the 7pace Timetracker website. (Please note that there is no way to roll back from Timetracker to previous versions once the update has been done.) Although you can directly download 7pace Timetracker to your production environment, we recommend that you first do so to your test environment to identify any issues specific to your environment. You also need to ensure that your current version of DevOps Server supports the latest version of Timetracker.

Before You Start

Read and/or subscribe to the 7pace Blog for the most up-to-date list of features, fixes, and improvements in the version to which you want to upgrade.

Update DevOps Server

1. Ensure that DevOps Server is updated to the latest supported update. On your DevOps Server, open the Administration Console and check the current DevOps Server version in Application Tier Summary. 

2. Access the Microsoft Visual Studio website (https://www.visualstudio.com/) and download the required update for your DevOps Server version (refer to the Microsoft MSDN website for information on the latest DevOps Server update).

3. After completing the update, check that you can successfully access DevOps Server. If it is running properly after the update, you are now ready to upgrade your version of 7pace Timetracker.

Install the Latest Version of 7pace Timetracker

1. Go to the 7paceTimetracker website (https://www.7pace.com/download).

2. On the Download page, check the supported system requirements.

3. Download the latest 7pace Timetracker version that will support the updated version of your Azure DevOps.

4. Install 7pace Timetracker, as per the installation guide, above. 

5. After the installation has successfully completed, check the "About" or "Overview" page of Timetracker within the "Settings" page.

• Go to Time > Settings > About.

• Check that the version number has changed to the upgraded version.

Uninstalling 7pace Timetracker

Note: Uninstalling 7pace Timetracker Server does not remove its data from the database. You can install it again after uninstalling it and view your previous data on all pages (data will be retained for one year).

1. Go to your DevOps Server system where you installed 7pace Timetracker.

2. Open the Windows Control Panel and then select "Programs".

3. Click "Uninstall".

4. Select 7pace Timetracker and click the Uninstall button. 

.NET Core Update Requirements

With the release of Timetracker 5.53.0, 7pace Timetracker made the switch to .NET 8

1. .NET 8 runtime bundle is a prerequisite for this update. Please make sure you install it before proceeding (see documentation).

2. System requirements: 7pace Timetracker no longer supports TFS 2015 (any version) and requires Windows Server 2016 or Windows 8.

3. Please ensure that your DevOps Server and Timetracker instances use HTTPS protocol.

4. This version of 7pace Timetracker introduces significant changes. Please make sure you backup your database before proceeding.

5. During the installation, you will be asked to enter all passwords (SQL Server, Service Account and Email) again when configuring Timetracker. Please ensure you are ready to enter the required information when prompted.

6. .NET 6 runtime bundle is a prerequisite for 7pace Timetracker 5.46 - 5.52

7.  Net Core 3.1 runtime bundle is a prerequisite for 7pace Timetracker 5.11 - 5.44.3

List of IP ports and URL’s that should be whitelisted

The following IP addresses must be whitelisted:

40.114.210.78
13.89.172.5
13.71.123.138
13.70.72.34
20.50.2.18

The following domains should be also whitelisted:
*.cdn.7pace.com
*.timehub.7pace.com/
timehub.7pace.com 
*-7pace-timetracker.azureedge.net
panel.timehub-services.7pace.com

Inherited Process Model configuration vs XML 

Starting with Azure DevOps Server 2019, the Inheritance Process Model configuration is supported. This has been the default process used in Azure DevOps for quite some time now. 

Upon creating a new collection in your Azure DevOps Server 2019 and newer, you will be asked to choose the process model for the new collection (see screenshot, below).

The main difference for 7pace Timetracker (and the end user) is that to add Work Item Contributions (the additional "7pace Timetracker" tab and "Start Tracking" button on the work item form) for an XML-based collection, it is required to modify all Work Item types' XML and upload modified XML definitions back to DevOps server.

In the Inheritance Process Model, this is no longer required and supported, and extensions will work out-of-the-box after installation. In this case, the 7pace Configuration Tool will display a disabled checkbox on the "Installing Work Item Form Contributions" window:

To configure visibility in the inherited processes, you can navigate to Process Customization page and change visibility of Timetracker contributions (see details here).

Collecting 7pace Timetracker Error Logs

7pace Timetracker does not generate error log files, however, you can use the Event Viewer application of the Windows operating system to collect any error details in Timetracker.

Timetracker Web Application

1. On the Windows system where you installed the 7pace Timetracker Server, open the Windows Event Viewer application.

2. In the left pane, click Event Viewer (Local) -> Windows Logs -> Application.

3. In the applications list, search for Error in the Level column.

4. Select the Error level.

The General tab displays the error details.

5. Copy the error details and paste those details into a text file.

6. Send the text file to the 7pace Timetracker Support team for further analysis of the error.

7pace Timetracker for Windows App

To access Windows App error logs, please navigate to:

%APPDATA%\Local\Timetracker\{win app version}\app.log

Managing Internal Targets

Internal targets are tasks that fall outside the realm of epics, stories, features, and work items, such as vacation, sick days, meetings, parental leave, travel, etc.

You can manage your internal targets in 7pace Timetracker in one of the following ways:

1. Include them as part of your project and/or sprint 

2. Maintain them independently

Include Internal Targets as Part of Your Project

To include internal tasks as part of your project or sprint, you would simply create separate work items for the vacation, sick days,meetings, etc., within the project or sprint, and ask your team members to track time to these work items. The downside to this method is that when your sprint is over, the internal tasks are included in that, and so you then loose the detailed history that goes with it.

Maintain Internal Targets Independently 

To maintain your internal targets independently from your project work items, you would create a separate project for them, define the work items for each internal target/task, and then track time to those targets/tasks.

Managing internal targets independently from within a separate project has the following benefits:

• Define once, use forever: You define the work items once in a separate project, irrespective of the project or sprint, and keep tracking time to them indefinitely.

• Budget Assignment:You can assign a budget to the project that contains your internal targets and then ask your team members to track time against that budget. Once you set the budget, you can always check the time tracked for the internal targets across the budgeted time. This provides managers with detailed information about planned vs. tracked time by all team members for all internal targets.

• Data Analytics: You can export time details for the project containing internal targets and generate reports that provide detailed analysis of the time spent on these tasks by all your team members. For example, if a team member took one vacation day in a given work week, they would fill out their timesheet for that week with eight (8) hours logged to an internal target/task that belongs to its own separate project. When the time details report is generated, you can clearly see the total time spent by that team member on true work items and the time logged as vacation. 

Configuring Internal Targets as an Administrator

Below, we have listed the steps that you, as an administrator, need to perform to configure internal targets/tasks, from identifying which tasks you want to include, to setting up the template, structure, and hierarchy.

Note: We have explained these steps according to the 'Scrum' project template, but you can use any template. You do, however, need to ensure that you maintain proper hierarchy from project to work items.

Step 1: Identify all required internal targets

For example, vacation, parental or extended leave, meetings, travel.

Step 2: Create a new project in Azure DevOps for your internal targets

For example, "Internal Targets".

Note: While naming the project, we advise you to choose a name that you can easily recognize and distinguish from other projects as unique to internal targets.

Step 3: Create a "dummy" iteration to group the PBIs and tasks

For example, "Internal-tasks".

You can use this iteration to group the PBIs and tasks created for the internal targets.

Step 4: Create a single PBI for the entire team or separate PBIs for different groups in the team.

For example, "Internal" or "Int-Developers", "Int-Testers", "Int-Support". 

Step 5: In the PBI, create task-type work items for each internal target that you identified for your team.

For example, int-vacation, int-leaves, int-travel, int-daily scrum, int-sprint review, int-sprint planning, and so on.

Note: You'll notice that the naming structure of the PBIs and work items we used starts with a specific string, like "Int". You can elect to follow a similar naming structure so it's easier to search for these work items when you add time or filter them in reports.

After performing these steps, the Azure DevOps project (with 'Scrum' template) structure will look something like this:

Step 5: (Optional) Create a new budget and assign the PBIs and tasks for internal targets to the budget.

On the "Iteration" page, you can view the items created for internal targets. Assign a budget to these items, if desired.

Tracking Time for Internal Targets as a Team Member

Once an administrator creates the outlined internal targets and shares the work item IDs for those, as a team member, you can then either track your time using the Windows or Mac App or the built-in Web App (for example, for a meeting) or manually add time after-the-fact (such as for a sick day or vacation) on the "Monthly" or "Timesheet" pages or directly on the internal target work item ID.

Viewing Time for Internal Targets as a Manager or Team Lead

For a manager or team lead, Timetracker provides different options for you to view the worklog details of internal targets. On the "Times Explorer" page, you can filter by project, title, or team member, to view exactly the details you want to see. On the "Budgets" page, you can export the details of just the internal targets project, and view those details in Excel.