How to: Set Team Foundation Server Reader Permissions

To enable users to act in different Team Foundation roles, users must have the appropriate permissions for Team Foundation Server, SQL Server Reporting Services, and SharePoint Products and Technologies. This topic describes what permissions a Team Foundation project reader needs and how you can set those permissions appropriately. 

Generally, a Team Foundation project reader does not contribute directly to a particular project, but has responsibilities that require a basic view into a project's progress. Members of the Readers group have the most restricted set of permissions of any Team Foundation Server users. A Team Foundation project reader can access the team project portal and process guidance for a team project. A team project reader must be a member of the following groups:

• Team Foundation Project Readers

• Windows SharePoint Services Reader

• SQL Server Reporting Services Browser

Note

Even after you configure permissions for your users in Team Foundation Server, Reporting Services, and SharePoint Products and Technologies, they might not be able to view team project portals or reports correctly until they add the sites to their lists of Trusted Sites in Internet Explorer. For more information, see the Microsoft Web site.

Required Permissions

To perform these procedures, you must be a member of the following:

• Project Administrators group or have the Edit Server-Level Information permission set to Allow

• Windows SharePoint Server Site Administrators group, a member of the SharePoint Administration group, or a member of the Administrators group on the Team Foundation application-tier server

• SQL Reporting Services Content Managers group or the SQL Reporting Services Project Content Managers group

For more information about permissions, see Team Foundation Server Permissions.

In addition to these permissions, you might need to address the following requirements on a computer that is running Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista:

• To follow a command-line procedure, you might need to open an elevated Command Prompt by clicking Start, right-clicking Command Prompt, and clicking Run as Administrator.

• To follow a procedure that requires Internet Explorer, you might need to start it as an administrator by clicking Start, clicking All Programs, right-clicking Internet Explorer, and then clicking Run as administrator.

• To edit web.config files, you might need to start the text editor as an administrator by clicking Start, clicking All Programs, right-clicking the editor, and then clicking Run as administrator.

• To access Report Manager, reports, or Web sites for Reporting Services, you might need to add these sites to the list of trusted sites in Internet Explorer or start Internet Explorer as an administrator.

For more information, see the Microsoft Web site.

To add a member to the Readers group

1. In Visual Studio, open Team Explorer, and then connect to Team Foundation Server.

   For more information, see How to: Connect to Team Foundation Server.

2. Right-click the team project node, point to Team Project Settings, and then click Group Membership.

3. Select Project_Name**\Readers**, where Project_Name represents the name of the project to which you are trying to add a reader, and then click Properties.

4. In Add users and groups, select Windows User or Group, and then click Add.

5. Add the Windows logon name for the person you want to add to the Readers group.

6. Click OK twice.

To add a member to the Reader group in SharePoint Products and Technologies

1. In Visual Studio, open Team Explorer, and then connect to Team Foundation Server.

2. Right-click the team project node, and then click Show Project Portal.

3. Perform one of the following sets of steps:

   If you are using Windows SharePoint Services 3.0:

   1. Click Site Actions, click Site Settings, click People and Groups, click New, and then click Add Users.

   2. In Add Users, type the account name for the user or group to whom you want to grant Reader permissions.

   3. In Give Permission, select the Read check box, and then click OK.

   If you are using Windows SharePoint Services 2.0:

   1. Click Site Settings, click Manage Users, and then click Add Users.

   2. In Step 1: Choose Users, type the account name for the user or group to whom you want to grant Reader permissions.

   3. In Step 2: Choose Site Groups, click Reader, and then click Next.

   4. In Step 3: Confirm Users, type the e-mail address of the user.

   5. In Step 4: Send E-mail, specify whether to automatically send the user an e-mail.

   6. Click Finish.

To add a member to the Browser group in Reporting Services

1. Open Internet Explorer**.**

   Note

   Even if you are logged on with administrative credentials, you must start Internet Explorer as an administrator to perform this function on a computer that is running Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista. To start Internet Explorer as an administrator, click Start, click All Programs, right-click Internet Explorer, and then click Run as administrator. For more information, see the Microsoft Web site.

2. Type the following into the address bar, where ReportingServices represents the name of the server that hosts Reporting Services: http://ReportingServices/Reports/Pages/Folder.aspx

   You can find the name of the report server by opening Team Explorer, expanding the **Reports **node, and viewing the properties of a report.

   Important Note:
   If you are using a named instance, you must include its name in the path to the reports. You use the following syntax, where ReportingServices is the name of the server that hosts Reporting Services and InstanceName is the name of the SQL Server instance: http://ReportingServices/Reports_InstanceName/Pages/Folder.aspx

3. Click the Properties tab, and then click New Role Assignment.

4. In Group or User Name, type the account name for the user or group you want to add to this group.

5. In Role, click Browser, and then click OK.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Set Team Foundation Server Administrator Permissions

How to: Set Team Foundation Server Project Lead Permissions

How to: Set Team Foundation Server Contributor Permissions

Concepts

Team Foundation Server Permissions

Team Foundation Server Default Groups, Permissions, and Roles

Other Resources

Managing Users and Groups

Securing Team Foundation Server