Email settings in Reporting Services native mode (Report Server Configuration Manager)

You can distribute reports through email by using the SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) email delivery extension. Depending on the email subscription configuration, distribution might include a notification, link, attachment, or embedded report. The email delivery extension works with your existing mail server technology that uses a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) server or forwarder. The report server connects to an SMTP server through Collaboration Data Objects (CDO) libraries (cdosys.dll) provided by the operating system.

The report server email delivery extension isn't configured by default. You use the Report Server Configuration Manager to minimally configure the extension. To set advanced properties, edit the RSReportServer.config file. If you can't configure the report server to use this extension, you can deliver reports to a shared folder instead. For more information, see File share delivery in Reporting Services.

Configuration requirements

Report server email delivery is implemented on Collaboration Data Objects (CDO) and requires a local or remote SMTP server or SMTP forwarder. SMTP isn't supported on all Windows operating systems. If you use the Itanium-based edition of Windows Server 2008, SMTP isn't supported. For more information about configuration options provided through CDO, see Configuration CoClass.

The configured authentication account must have permission on the SMTP server to send mail. The email delivery extension uses UTF-8 encoding in email attachments. You can't modify encoding. The HTML rendering extension only supports UTF-8.

Note

The default email delivery extension doesn't support digitally signing or encrypting outgoing mail messages.

Configuration options

Before you can use Report Server email delivery, you must set configuration values that provide information about which SMTP server to use. The following table describes the two ways you can configure a report server for delivery:

Method Description
Report Server Configuration Manager Use the Report Server Configuration Manager if you're specifying just an SMTP server and a user account that has permission to send email. These settings are the minimum required for configuring the Report Server email delivery extension.
Optional
rsreportserver.config file
Use a text editor to configure extra settings if you use a local SMTP server or you're restricting email delivery to specific hosts. The rsreportserver.config file contains all of the configuration settings for report server email delivery. For more information about finding and modifying configuration files, see Modify a Reporting Services configuration file (rsreportserver.config).

Note

Report server email settings are based on CDO. For more information about specific settings, see the CDO production documentation.

Configure report server email by using the Report Server Configuration Manager

  1. Start the Report Server Configuration Manager and connect to the report server instance.

  2. Go to E-mail Settings.

  3. In Sender Address, enter the email address to use in the From: field of a generated email. Specify a user account that has permission to send emails from the SMTP server. The value you enter for the Sender Address is saved in the <From> field in the rsreportserver.config file.

  4. In SMTP Server, specify the SMTP server or gateway to use. The value you enter for the SMTP Server is saved in the <SMTPServer> field in the rsreportserver.config file. This value can be:

    • An IP address
    • A NetBIOS name of a computer on your corporate intranet
    • A fully qualified domain name
  5. In the Authentication list, specify how to authenticate to the SMTP server.

    Authentication type Description
    No authentication Connects anonymously to the mail server.

    This option sets <SendUsing> to a value of 2 and <SMTPAuthenticate> to a value of 0 in the rsreportserver.config file.
    Username and password (Basic) Specify a username and password to connect to the mail server. You can also select Use secure connection to have this authentication go over an encrypted connection to your mail server.

    This option sets <SendUsing> to a value of 2 and <SMTPAuthenticate> to a value of 1 in the rsreportserver.config file. Selecting Use secure connection sets SMTPUseSSL to True. Username is set in <SendUserName> as an encrypted value. Password is set in <SendPassword> as an encrypted value.
    Report server service account (NTLM) Uses the service account you specified for the report server. If you use the report server service account for authentication, verify that the service account has Send As permissions on the SMTP server.

    This option sets <SendUsing> to a value of 2 and <SMTPAuthenticate> to a value of 2 in the rsreportserver.config file.
  6. Select Apply.

If you want to adjust other fields for the email configuration, use the rsreportserver.config file as described in the following sections.

Example report server email configuration

The following example illustrates the settings in the rsreportserver.config file for a remote SMTP server. For more information about the setting descriptions and valid values, see RsReportServer.config configuration file.

<RSEmailDPConfiguration>
     <SMTPServer>mySMTPServer.Adventure-Works.com</SMTPServer>
     <SMTPServerPort></SMTPServerPort>
     <SMTPAccountName></SMTPAccountName>
     <SMTPConnectionTimeout></SMTPConnectionTimeout>
     <SMTPServerPickupDirectory></SMTPServerPickupDirectory>
     <SMTPUseSSL>False</SMTPUseSSL>
     <SendUsing>2</SendUsing>
     <SMTPAuthenticate>2</SMTPAuthenticate>
     <From>my-rs-email-account@Adventure-Works.com</From>
     <EmbeddedRenderFormats>
          <RenderingExtension>MHTML</RenderingExtension>
     </EmbeddedRenderFormats>
     <PrivilegedUserRenderFormats></PrivilegedUserRenderFormats>
     <ExcludedRenderFormats>
          <RenderingExtension>HTMLOWC</RenderingExtension>
          <RenderingExtension>NULL</RenderingExtension>
          <RenderingExtension>RGDI</RenderingExtension>
     </ExcludedRenderFormats>
     <SendEmailToUserAlias>True</SendEmailToUserAlias>
     <DefaultHostName></DefaultHostName>
     <PermittedHosts>
          <HostName>Adventure-Works.com</HostName>
          <HostName>hotmail.com</HostName>
     </PermittedHosts>
     <SendUserName></SendUserName>
     <SendPassword></SendPassword>
</RSEmailDPConfiguration>

Configuration options for setting the To: field in a message

User-defined subscriptions that are created based on permissions granted by the Manage individual subscriptions task contain a preset user name based on the domain user account. When the user creates the subscription, the recipient name in the To: field is self-addressed with the domain user account of the person creating the subscription.

If you use an SMTP server or forwarder with email accounts that are different from the domain user account, the report delivery fails when the SMTP server tries to deliver the report.

To work around this issue, modify configuration settings that allow users to enter a name in the To: field:

  1. Open RSReportServer.config with a text editor.
  2. Set <SendEmailToUserAlias> to False.
  3. Set <DefaultHostName> to the Domain Name System (DNS) name or IP address of the SMTP server or forwarder.
  4. Save the file.

Configuration options for remote SMTP service

The following configuration settings determine the connection between the report server and an SMTP server or forwarder:

Setting Description
<SendUsing> Specifies a method for sending messages. You can choose between a network SMTP service or a local SMTP service pickup directory. To use a remote SMTP service, set this value to 2 in the RSReportServer.config file.
<SMTPServer> Specifies the remote SMTP server or forwarder. This value is a required value if you use a remote SMTP server or forwarder.
<From> Sets the value that appears in the From: line of an email message. This value is a required value if you use a remote SMTP server or forwarder.

The following table shows the other settings that are used for remote SMTP service:

Note

You don't need to specify these values unless you want to override the default values.

Setting Description
<SMTPServerPort> Configured for port 25 by default.
<SMTPAuthenticate> Specifies how the report server connects to the remote SMTP server. The default value is 0 (or no authentication). In this case, the connection is made through Anonymous access. Depending on your domain configuration, the report server and the SMTP server might need to be members of the same domain.

To send email to restricted distribution lists (for example, distribution lists that accept incoming messages only from authenticated accounts), set <SMTPAuthenticate> to 1 or 2. If you set it to 1, you also need to set <SendUserName> and <SendPassword>. The best practice is to change this setting through the Report Server Configuration Manager as it encrypts the values for <SendUserName> and <SendPassword>.

Configure a remote SMTP service for the report server

Note

The best practice is to configure the mail server through the Report Server Configuration Manager.

  1. Verify that the Report Server Windows service has Send As permissions on the SMTP server.
  2. Open the RSReportServer.config file in a text editor.
  3. Verify that <UrlRoot> is set to the report server URL address. This value is set when you configure the report server and it should be filled in already. If it isn't set, enter the report server URL address.
  4. Set <SMTPServer> to the name of the SMTP server. This value can be an IP address, a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) name of a computer on your corporate intranet, or a fully qualified domain name.
  5. Set <SendUsing> to 2 if you want to use the service account for the report server. Set <SendUsing> to 1 for basic authentication. If you set it to 1, you must also supply a value for <SendUserName> and <SendPassword>. If you want those values to be encrypted, set the authentication within the Report Server Configuration Manager.
  6. Set <SMTPAuthenticate> to 1 if you set <SendUsing> to either 1 or 2.
  7. Set <From> to a user account that has permission to send mail from the SMTP server.
  8. Save the file.

The report server uses the new settings automatically. You don't need to restart the service. You can specify other SMTP settings to further configure how the SMTP server is used for report server email delivery.

Configuration options for local SMTP service

Configuring a local SMTP service is useful if you're testing or troubleshooting report server email delivery. The local SMTP service isn't enabled by default.

The following configuration settings determine the connection between the report server and a local SMTP server or forwarder:

  • <SendUsing> is set to 1.
  • <SMTPServerPickupDirectory> is set to a folder on the local drive.

    Note

    Make sure that you don't set <SMTPServer> if you use a local SMTP server.

  • <From> sets the value that appears in the From: line of an email message. This value is required.

Configure a local SMTP service for the report server

  1. In Control Panel, find the Turn Windows features on or off feature to start the Add Roles and Features Wizard.
  2. Select Role-based or feature-based installation and select Next.
  3. Select the server to install Internet Information Server (IIS) onto and select Next.
  4. Select Next on the Server Roles page.
  5. On the Features page, select SMTP Server and then select Next. If you receive the prompt to add features that are required for SMTP Server, select Add Features.
  6. Select Next on the Web Server Role (IIS) page.
  7. Select Next on the Role Services page.
  8. Select Install on the Confirm installation selections page.
  9. Verify that the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) windows service is running in the Services console. To configure the local SMTP server, you need to use the IIS 6.0 Manager under Admin tools.
  10. Open the RSReportServer.config file in a text editor.
  11. Verify that <UrlRoot> is set to the report server URL address. This value is set when you configure the report server,
  12. and it should be filled in already. If it isn't set, enter the Web Service URL address for your report server.
  13. Make sure <SMTPServer> is present, but empty.
  14. Set <SendUsing> to 1.
  15. Set <SMTPAuthenticate> to 0.
  16. Set <SMTPServerPickupDirectory> to the SMTP Service Pickup folder. Default location is C:\inetpub\mailroot\Pickup.
  17. Set <From> to a user account that has permission to send mail from the SMTP server. This sets the value that appears in the From: line of an email message.
  18. Save the file.