Add external image to SSRS report

Question

I am trying to add an external image to an SSRS report. The path to the image is saved in a field in the dataset. EX: N:/Images/513/1079513_View.jpg. When I run the report I just get an x in the image box. This file is saved on a mapped drive on the server. I have tried replacing the drive letter with the IP address. Nothing seems to work. Any ideas?

Answer 1

AFAIK that isn't supported. You can 1) embed an image directly in the report, 2) use a relative path to an image that is stored in the SSRS catalog, use a URL or retrieve the image from a database column.

Note that mapped drives are per user so you cannot use a mapped drive anyway. You can try using the full UNC path instead (e.g. \\server\share) and see if it works. However be aware that support for this has become questionable for security reasons and some browsers may not support it. Using the file:// URL is also potentially limited. In all cases SSRS needs to have access to the file on the remote path in order for it to render anything.

Answer 2

Hi @Paula Houst
I did a test. I set up a shared folder locally as a mapped network drive and saved an image in that folder. Then added the path to that external image in the report designer. Images can be displayed after preview, but not after deploying the report.

Based on the warnings from the Error List, this seems to be related to how the mapped network drive is accessed. Actually, I don't know much about mapping network drives, I'm using an admin account, and tried different ways to connect, but none of them show the image after deployment.

I suggest you use the full UNC path or the URL of the image. For more details, you can refer to this link: add-an-external-image-report-builder-and-ssrs.

Best regards,
Aniya