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Troubleshooting Configuration Problems

Use this topic to troubleshoot problems that you encounter when configuring a report server. It addresses the following issues:

  • Administration Problems on Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008

  • URL Reservation and Registration Errors

  • Version Requirements for the Reporting Services Configuration Tool

  • Named Instance Not Found error when granting database access in SharePoint integrated mode

  • Localhost Restrictions for a SharePoint Farm

  • Service Account Requirements for Reporting Services in a SharePoint deployment

  • Domain Account Requirements for Administrative Services in a SharePoint Deployment

  • Database Version Requirements for Reporting Services in a SharePoint Deployment

  • Exception caught instantiating TERADATA report server extension

Administration Problems on Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008

On Windows Vista , Windows Server 2008, or Windows Server 2008 R2, the report server does not work as expected after you install the default configuration because additional configuration is required for local administration. For more information, see How to: Configure a Report Server for Local Administration on Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 (UAC).

URL Reservation and Registration Errors

URL reservation will fail if the syntax is invalid or an identical URL is already defined. The following error conditions apply to URL reservations:

  • A URL that you are attempting to define already exists.

  • No values are stored for an application that requires URL reservations. Both Report Manager and the Report Server Web service require at least one URL reservation.

  • One or more values stored in the RSReportServer.config file do not exist in HTTP.SYS.

  • For multiple URL entries for the same application, the virtual directory name is different. If you create multiple URLs for one application, you must use the same virtual directory name in all of the URLs.

  • An SSL certificate is specified but not installed.

  • A prefix is set to HTTPS, but there is no SSL certificate installed.

  • The URL reservation is missing, possibly deleted through another tool.

  • The report server service that is associated with the reservation is different from the actual report server account. This can occur if you modify the service account using a system or administrator tool rather than the Reporting Services Configuration tool.

URL registration will fail if you manually removed a report server URL from HTTP.SYS using a system tool or utility rather than the Reporting Services Configuration tool. It will also fail if you modify the service account in an external tool, causing the service account that is associated with the reservation to be out of synch with the actual service account of the Report Server service. Finally, URL registration will fail if another process is already using the reservation. URL registration errors are logged to the application event log file. For instructions on how to view the log file, see Windows Application Log.

If you encounter an erroneous URL reservation error that prevents you from using the default URLs because a previous installation used those values, you can use the Advanced Multiple Web Site Configuration dialog box in the Reporting Services Configuration tool to clear the URL so that you can re-use the defaults.

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

  2. On the Web Service URL page, choose a non-default value for the IP address (for example, 127.0.0.0).

  3. Click Apply.

  4. Restart the service. You can use the Stop and Start buttons on the Report Server Status page in the Reporting Services Configuration tool.

  5. Reopen the Web Service URL page.

  6. Click Advanced.

  7. Click Add.

  8. In IP Address, click All Assigned.

  9. Select port 80.

  10. Click OK.

  11. On the Web Service URL page, click Apply.

  12. In the URLs list on the Web Service URL page, click the URL to verify it is valid.

  13. Delete the URL that you created in the first step if you do not want to use it. Click Advanced to select and then remove the URL.

Version Requirements for the Reporting Services Configuration Tool

If you cannot start the Reporting Services Configuration tool, verify that the version you are using is compatible with the report server instance to which you are connecting. You cannot use the SQL Server 2008 version of the Reporting Services Configuration tool to configure a pre-SQL Server 2008 report server. This incompatibility occurs because the Reporting Services Configuration tool uses a new version of the WMI provider, which is not backward compatible. If you attempt to use the Reporting Services Configuration tool with an unsupported version, the following error will occur: "The WMI Provider has returned an unspecified status at ReportServicesConfigUI.WMIProvider.ConfigurationItem.CreateConfigurationItem."

Named Instance Not Found error when granting database access in SharePoint integrated mode

If you get the error "Named Instance Not Found" when configuring report server access to the SharePoint configuration and content databases in the Grant Database Access page in Central Administration, there is a version mismatch between the report server and the Reporting Services Add-in.

The error occurs when you try to use the SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services Add-in with a SQL Server 2005 SP2 report server that is configured for SharePoint integrated mode. The SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services Add-in cannot be used with earlier versions of Reporting Services.

To continue, upgrade the report server to SQL Server 2008, or uninstall the current Reporting Services Add-in and download the Reporting Services 2005 Reporting Services Add-in to use instead.

Localhost Restrictions for a SharePoint Farm

When you specify a report server URL in the Manage integration settings page in SharePoint Central Administration, do not use http://locahost/reportserver for the report server URL if the report server is integrated with SharePoint Web applications that are part of a farm deployment. A URL address that specifies https://localhost will not be valid for SharePoint Web front-ends that are installed on remote servers.

Service Account Requirements for Reporting Services in a SharePoint deployment

Restrictions on using built-in accounts apply to some deployment topologies of Reporting Services that include a report server running in SharePoint integrated mode. The following combination of factors will result in service account requirements:

  • Report Server is integrated with a SharePoint farm comprising more than one computer.

  • The report server and SharePoint Central Administration web site run on separate computers.

In this scenario, if the Report Server service runs under a built-in account such as NetworkService, the Grant database access option in SharePoint Central Administration will not work correctly. Consequently, accessing any Reporting Services feature through a SharePoint site will result in the following error:

"An unexpected error occurred while connecting to the report server. Verify that the report server is available and configured for SharePoint integrated mode. --> Server was unable to process request. --> Client found response content type of 'text/html; charset=utf-8', but expected 'text.xml'."

Choose either of the following approaches to avoid this error:

  • On the computer that hosts the report server, continue to run the Report Server service as NetworkService and add the built-in account, such as NT_AUTHORITY\NetworkService to the WSS_WPG Windows group.

    -- Or --

  • Configure the service account to run under a domain user account as follows:

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

    2. On the Service Account page, click Use another account, enter a domain user account, and click Apply.

    3. Click Web Service Identity, for Report Server, click New, type an application Restart the Report Server service.

Domain Account Requirements for Administrative Services in a SharePoint Deployment

A deployment of a SharePoint product or technology uses a variety of accounts to run services and access front-end and back-end servers. If you specify domain accounts for your deployment, be sure to follow best practice recommendations and specify accounts that are used exclusively by the SharePoint Web application. Do not configure a service account to run under the domain user account of an actual person who will be accessing the SharePoint site. If you access a SharePoint site using service credentials, you might encounter access denied errors when you open reports.

If you do not use a domain account, you might encounter a second issue provided you have the following combination of factors:

  • The report server is integrated with a SharePoint farm that consists of more than one computer.

  • The SharePoint site and the report server are on different computers.

  • The SharePoint site is hosted in an application pool that runs as a built-in account, such as NetworkService.

  • The Reporting Services proxy endpoint connection to the report server is configured to use Trusted Account mode.

In this scenario, when a user views a report or accesses Reporting Services features from the SharePoint site, the following error occurs:

"An unexpected error occurred while connecting to the report server. Verify that the report server is available and configured for SharePoint integrated mode. The permissions granted to user '<acccountname>' are insufficient for performing this operation."

To avoid this error, follow the recommendations in the SharePoint product documentation and run the application pool service as a domain account. For more information about service account requirements and recommendations, see the SharePoint product documentation on msdn.microsoft.com.

Database Version Requirements for Reporting Services in a SharePoint Deployment

The Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services Add-in for SharePoint Technologies requires a SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services database. This add-in is not supported with earlier versions of SQL Server.

If you have a pre-SQL Server 2008 report server and you install or upgrade to the SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services Add-in for SharePoint Technologies, you will receive an error message that this add-in is not supported on earlier versions of SQL Server. You can continue with the installation or upgrade process, but the report server might not function as expected. For example, if you try to run a report, the following error occurs:

"An attempt has been made to use a rendering extension that is not registered for this report server."

To avoid this error, upgrade your Reporting Services database to SQL Server 2008. You can upgrade your database before or after you install or upgrade to the SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services Add-in for SharePoint Technologies, although it is preferable to upgrade the database first.

"Exception caught instantiating TERADATA report server extension"

After you install SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services, you might see the following error message in the Reporting Services log file and the System Event Log:

"Exception caught instantiating TERADATA report server extension."

This error is logged under the following circumstances:

  • After a new installation of SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services.

  • Each time the Report Server service restarts.

This error occurs because the Teradata extension is registered in the Reporting Services configuration file by default, but the Teradata assemblies are not shipped with SQL Server 2008 or as part of the .NET Framework. If the error message does not bother you, you can ignore the error when it is logged.

However, if you want to avoid this error, do one of the following:

  • Open the Reporting Services configuration file, and remove or comment out the Teradata extension. Do this only if you do not require functionality that the Teradata extension provides.

  • Install the .NET Data Provider for Teradata. Do this only if you require functionality that the Teradata extension provides. You can obtain the provider from the Teradata Web site. Reporting Services requires that the provider be version 12 or later.

For more information about working with Teradata data sources, see Teradata Connection Type (SSRS) and Creating and Using Teradata-Based Report Models.