Selecting Reporting Services Components to Install

Article
12/03/2008

SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services (SSRS) consists of server-side and client-side components that can be installed together or separately. Once you know which components you want to use, you can run Setup to install them. For more information about how to install specific components, see Installing Reporting Services Using Setup.

You can run Setup multiple times to install multiple instances of the report server on a single computer. Client components can be installed on any computer, using any edition of Reporting Services. Server components require a SQL Server license. You must have a valid SQL Server license for any computer on which you install a Reporting Services server component.

Note

The edition you are installing determines the availability of some features. For more information, see Features Supported by the Editions of SQL Server 2005 in SQL Server Books Online.

Server Components

The following server components are included with Reporting Services.

Report Server

A report server provides report processing, rendering, and delivery for interactive and scheduled reporting. The report server is implemented as a Microsoft Windows service and as an ASP.NET Web service that runs on Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS). It is a stateless server that stores metadata and object definitions in a report server database. When the report server component is installed, both the Windows service and Web service are installed on the host computer.

Microsoft recommends that you install a report server on computers that run either Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP. Although you can install and run the report server component on Windows 2000 Server, there are known limitations around impersonation and network access that restrict the use of some report server functionality.

Important

When choosing a computer to host the report server, avoid using a computer that has an underscore in the computer name. Report server does not persist session state information on computers that have an underscore character in the computer name and that have been patched with Internet Explorer Security Patch MS01-055. The security patch prevents cookies from being set on client computers that have an underscore in their names, breaking the session management features of Reporting Services. Recommended solutions are documented in Microsoft Knowledge Base article 316112.

Report Server Database

Reporting Services uses two SQL Server databases to provide internal storage for a report server instance: one for storing data that is used on an ongoing basis, and one for temporary storage. The databases are created together and bound by name. By default, the database names are reportserver and reportservertempdb, respectively. Reporting Services requires a local or remote SQL Server instance to host the report server databases. You can use either a SQL Server 2000 or SQL Server 2005 instance. For more information about edition requirements on the report server database, see Creating a Report Server Database.

The report server databases can be created during or after Setup. Setup can create the report server databases if you are installing a SQL Server 2005 Database Engine instance and Reporting Services concurrently on the same computer. However, if you want to use SQL Server 2000 to host the report server database, or if you want to use any remote SQL Server instance, you must choose the Install but do not configure server installation option and use the Reporting Services Configuration tool after Setup completes to create and configure the report server databases. For more information, see How to: Install a Local Report Server and Remote Report Server Database.

Report Manager

Report Manager is a Web-based administration tool used to manage a single report server instance. It is installed with the report server by default. If you are using other tools to manage a report server (for example, SQL Server Management Studio or a custom application), you can omit this component by removing it from the Feature Selection tree.

Report Builder

Report Builder is a ClickOnce application that provides users with a way to create ad hoc reports that are driven off of data models that you create and publish in Model Designer. Report Builder is installed with the report server component. Users can access it through Report Manager or a URL. You can restrict or prevent access to Report Builder by configuring role assignments or setting report server system properties. For more information, see Role Assignments for Report Builder Access in SQL Server Books Online.

Reporting Services Configuration

The Reporting Services Configuration tool is installed with a report server instance. You can use it to customize or deploy a report server installation. The tool is a required component in a report server installation.

Client Components

The following client components are used with Reporting Services. These components can be installed on client computers, and do not require a SQL Server license.

Report Designer

Reporting Services includes a report authoring tool named Report Designer. You can use Report Designer to create, edit, and preview reports, and then deploy them to a report server. Report Designer runs within Visual Studio 2005.

Model Designer

Model Designer is a tool used to create models for ad hoc business reporting in Report Builder. It is used to specify the data relationships that are ultimately used to support ad hoc reporting. Model Designer runs within Visual Studio 2005.

Command Prompt Utilities

Reporting Services includes several command prompt tools that you can use to administer a Reporting Services installation. In most cases, you can use the Reporting Services Configuration tool in place of the command prompt utilities. However, if you prefer a command line approach, you can install the following utilities to perform report server administration tasks:

Rsconfig is used to modify report server database connection settings after installation is complete. It is also used to set encrypted account information used for unattended report processing.
Rs is a script host that can be used to process Microsoft Visual Basic scripts to perform common tasks repeatedly or to run the same tasks on different computers.
Rskeymgmt is used to backup and restore the encryption keys used by the report server.

For more information about each tool, see rsconfig Utility, rs Utility, and rskeymgmt Utility in SQL Server Books Online.

SQL Server Management Studio

You can use Management Studio to administer one or more report server instances. Management Studio provides a comprehensive server management workspace that you can use to manage all of your SQL Server component servers from one place.

SQL Server Configuration Manager

You can use SQL Server Configuration Manager to view and set the properties of the report server Windows service used for scheduled report server operations and report server initialization.

Choosing a Deployment Model

You can install all server components on the same computer if you want to conserve SQL Server licenses or if your reporting requirements are not extensive. However, if you are supporting a large number of report users, you will get better performance if you install the report server database on a dedicated server. For more information about deployment models, see Planning a Reporting Services Deployment in SQL Server Books Online.

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