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How to: Configure a URL (Reporting Services Configuration)

Before you can use Report Manager or the Report Server Web service, you must configure at least one URL for each application. Configuring the URLs is mandatory if you installed Reporting Services in "files-only" mode (that is, by selecting the Install but do not configure the server option on the Report Server Installation Options page in the Installation Wizard). If you installed Reporting Services in the default configuration, URLs are already configured for each application. If you have a report server that is configured to use SharePoint Integrated mode and you update the Report Server Web Service URL by using the Reporting Services Configuration tool, you must also update the URL in SharePoint Central Administration.

Use the Reporting Services Configuration tool to configure the URLs. All parts of the URL are defined in this tool. Unlike earlier releases, Internet Information Services (IIS) Web sites no longer provide access to Reporting Services applications in SQL Server 2008.

Reporting Services provides default values that work well in most deployment scenarios, including side-by-side deployments with other Web services and applications. Default URLs incorporate instance names, minimizing the risk of URL conflicts if you run multiple report server instances on the same computer.

This topic provides instructions for the following tasks:

  • Create a URL for the Report Server Web service.

  • Create a URL for Report Manager.

  • Set advanced URL properties to define additional URLs.

For more information about how URLs are stored and maintained or interoperability issues, see About URL Reservations and Registration (Reporting Services) and Deploying Reporting Services and Internet Information Services Side-by-Sidein SQL Server Books Online. To review examples of URLs often used in a Reporting Services installation, see Examples of URLs in this topic.

Prerequisites

Before you create or modify a URL, remember the following points:

  • You must be a member of the local Administrators group on the report server computer.

  • If IIS 6.0 or 7.0 is installed on the same computer, check the names of virtual directories on any Web site that uses port 80. If you see any virtual directories that use the default Reporting Services virtual directory names (that is, "Reports" and "ReportServer"), choose different virtual directory names for the Reporting Services URLs that you configure.

  • You must use the Reporting Services Configuration tool to configure the URL. Do not use a system utility. Never modify URL reservations in the URLReservations section of the RSReportServer.config file directly. Using the Reporting Services Configuration tool is necessary to update both the underlying URL reservation that is stored internally and synchronize the URL settings stored in the RSReportServer.config file.

  • Choose a time that has low report activity. Each time the URL reservation changes, you can expect that the application domains for Report Server Web service and Report Manager might be recycled.

  • For an overview of URL construction and usage in Reporting Services, see Configuring Report Server URLs.

To configure a URL for the Report Server Web service

  1. Start the Reporting Services Configuration tool and connect to a local report server instance.

  2. Click Web Service URL.

  3. Specify the virtual directory. The virtual directory name identifies which application receives the request. Because an IP address and port can be shared by multiple applications, the virtual directory name specifies which application receives the request.

    This value must be unique to ensure that the request reaches its intended destination. This value is required. It is case-insensitive. There is a one-to-one correspondence between a virtual directory name and an instance of a Reporting Services application. If you create multiple URLs to the same application instance, you must use the same virtual directory name in all of the URLs you define for this application instance.

    For the Report Server Web service, the default virtual directory name is ReportServer.

  4. Specify the IP address that uniquely identifies the report server computer on the network. If you want to specify a host header or define additional URLs for the same application instance, you must click Advanced. For instructions on how to set advanced properties on the URL, see the instructions later in this topic. Otherwise, use the Web Service URL page to select from the following values:

    • All Assigned specifies that any of the IP addresses that are assigned to the computer can be used in a URL that points to a report server application. This value also encompasses friendly host names (such as computer names) that can be resolved by a domain name server to an IP address that is assigned to the computer. This is the default value for a Reporting Services URL.

    • All Unassigned specifies that the report server will receive any request that has not been handled by another application. We recommend that you avoid this option. If you select this option, it becomes possible for another application that has a stronger URL reservation to intercept requests intended for the report server.

    • 127.0.0.1 is the IPv4 address used to access to localhost. It supports local administration on the report server computer. If you select only this value, only users who are logged on locally to the report server computer will have access to the application.

    • ::1 is the loopback address in IPv6 format.

    • Specific IP addresses also appear in this list. IP addresses can be in IPv4 and IPv6 formats. Nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn is the 32-bit IPv4 address of a network adapter card on your computer. IPv6 addresses are 128-bit, with eight 4-byte fields separated by colons: <prefix>:nnnn:nnnn:nnnn:nnnn:nnnn:nnnn

      If you have multiple cards or if your network supports both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, you will see multiple IP addresses. If you select only one IP address, it will limit application access to the just the IP address (and any host name that a domain name server maps to that address). You cannot use localhost to access a report server, and you cannot use the IP addresses of other network adapter cards that are installed on the report server computer. Typically, if you select this value, it is because you are configuring multiple URL reservations that also specify explicit IP addresses or host names (for example, one for a network adapter card used for intranet connections and a second one used for extranet connections).

  5. Specify the port. Port 80 is the default for Reporting Services on Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008 because it can be shared with other applications. If you are using 32-bit Windows XP SP2, the default port is 8080. If you want to use a custom port number, remember that you will have to always specify it in the URL used to access the report server. You can use the following techniques to find an available port:

    • From a command prompt, type the following command to return a list of TCP ports that are being used:

      netstat –a –n -p tcp

    • Review the Microsoft Support article, Information about TCP/IP port assignments, to read about TCP port assignments and the differences between Well Known Ports (0 through 1023), Registered Ports (1024 through 49151), and Dynamic or Private Ports (49152 through 65535).

    • If you are using Windows Firewall, you must open the port. For instructions, see How to: Configure a Firewall for Report Server Access.

  6. If you have not done so already, verify that IIS (if it is installed) does not have virtual directory with the same name you plan to use.

  7. If you installed an SSL certificate, you can select it now to bind the URL to the SSL certificate that is installed on your computer.

  8. Optionally, if you select an SSL certificate, you can specify a custom port. The default is 443 but you can use any port that is available.

  9. Click Apply to create the URL.

  10. Test the URL by clicking the link in the URLs section of page. Note that the report server database must be created and configured before you can test the URL. For instructions, see How to: Create a Report Server Database (Reporting Services Configuration).

  11. Additionally, if your report server is configured to use SharePoint Integrated mode, configure the Report Server Web service URL in SharePoint Central Administration. For more information about how to update the Report Server Web service URL in SharePoint Central Administration, see How to: Configure Report Server Integration in SharePoint Central Administration.

To create a URL reservation for Report Manager

  1. Start the Reporting Services Configuration tool and connect to the report server instance.

  2. Click Report Manager URL.

  3. Specify the virtual directory. Report Manager listens on the same IP address and port as the Report Server Web service. If you configured Report Manager to point to a different Report Server Web service, you must modify the Report Manager URL settings in the RSReportServer.config file. For instructions, see How to: Configure Report Manager in SQL Server Books Online.

  4. If you installed an SSL certificate, you can select it to require that all requests to Report Manager are routed over HTTPS.

    Optionally, if you select an SSL certificate, you can specify a custom port. The default is 443 but you can use any port that is available.

  5. Click Apply to create the URL.

  6. Test the URL by clicking the link in the URLs section of page.

Setting Advanced Properties to Specify Additional URLs

You can reserve multiple URLs for the Report Server Web service or Report Manager by specifying different ports or host names (either an IP address or a host header name that a domain name server can resolve to an IP address assigned to the computer). By creating multiple URLs, you can set up different access paths to the same report server instance. For example, to enable intranet and extranet access to a report server, you might use the default URL for access across the intranet, and an additional fully qualified host name for extranet access:

You cannot set multiple virtual directory names for the same application instance. Each Reporting Services application instance is mapped to a single virtual directory name. If you have multiple instances of Reporting Services on the same computer, the virtual directory name for an application should include the instance name to ensure that each request reaches its intended target.

To set advanced properties on a URL

  1. On either the Web Service URL or Report Manager URL page, click Advanced.

  2. Click Add.

  3. Click IP Address or Host Header Name. If you specify a host header, be sure to specify a name that the DNS service can resolve. If you are specifying publicly available domain name, include the whole URL, including http://www.

  4. Specify the port. If you specify a custom port, the URL to the application must always include the port number.

  5. Click OK.

  6. Test the URL by opening a browser window and entering the URL.

URLs for Multiple Report Server Instances on the Same Computer

If you are reserving URLs for multiple instances of Reporting Services, you should follow naming conventions so that you can avoid naming conflicts. For more information, see URL Reservations for Multi-Instance Report Server Deployments.

Examples of URL Configurations

The following list shows some examples of what a report server URL might resemble:

URLs that you use to access Report Manager share a similar format and are typically created under the same Web site that hosts the report server. The only difference is the virtual directory name (in this case, it is reports but you can configure it to use whatever name that you want):