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How to: Configure Data Source Properties for a Report (Report Manager)

When you run a report, the report server retrieves property information to determine how to connect to a data source. The data source type, connection string, and credential information are specified in the Data Source property pages of the published report. You can set the properties to vary the data source connection information from the original values that were specified when the report was created.

Alternatively, if you have a predefined shared data source that already specifies the connection information you want to use, you can specify a shared data source instead. To use a shared data source, click A shared data source on the Data Source properties page of the report.

To configure an embedded data source

  1. Start Report Manager.

  2. In Report Manager, navigate to the Contents page. Navigate to the report that you want to configure a report-specific data source for, and open the report.

  3. Click the Properties tab. The General properties page opens.

  4. Click the Data Sources tab. This opens the Data Source properties page of the report.

  5. Click A custom data source to specify data source connection information within the report.

  6. In the Connection Type list, specify the data processing extension that is used to process data from the data source.

  7. For Connection String, specify the connection string that the report server uses to connect to the data source. It is recommended that you do not specify credentials in the connection string.

    The following example illustrates a connection string for connecting to the local SQL Server AdventureWorks2008R2 database:

    data source=<localservername>; initial catalog=AdventureWorks2008R2

  8. For Connect using, specify how credentials are obtained when the report runs:

    • If you want to prompt the user for a logon name and password, click Credentials supplied by the user running the report.

    • If you intend to use the data source with reports that support subscriptions or other scheduled operations (such as automated report history generation), click Credentials stored securely in the report server.

    • If you want the report server to pass the credentials of the user accessing the report to the server hosting the external data source, click Windows Integrated Security. In this case, the user is not prompted to type a user name or password.

    • If the data source does not use credentials (for example, if the data source is an XML file that is accessed from the file system), click Credentials are not required. You should only specify this credential type if it is valid for the data source. If you select this option for a data source that requires authentication, the connection will fail. If you select this option, be sure to configure the unattended execution account that allows the report server to connect to other computers to retrieve data or files when user credentials are not available.

For more information about configuring credentials, see Specifying Credential and Connection Information for Report Data Sources (SSRS). For more information about the unattended execution account, see Configuring the Unattended Execution Account.