When you add, modify, or execute a report on
the MOSS server, the report server first compares
the item and its properties from the MOSS site with the corresponding copy (if one exists) in the
report server. If the report in MOSS is new or has
a later timestamp, a synchronization process copies
the new version to the report server database.
Even in integrated mode, the report server
performs all data processing, rendering, subscription
delivery, and snapshot and history
generation. The main difference between native
and integrated mode is the storage location for
report server content and properties.
Distributed deployment. Distributed deployments
come in many variations, but I limit my
review to two approaches that illustrate key configuration
points. You can set up MOSS on one
server and store its configuration and content
databases on a remote server. I call this the remote
SQL Server deployment method and assume
that SSRS also is installed on the remote
server. Or, you can install all MOSS components,
including the databases, on one server and
install SSRS on a second server. I call this the
MOSS stand-alone deployment method.
Alternatively, you can create a MOSS farm to
support multiple Web front-end servers. SSRS
integrates with the farm itself, not with any particular
MOSS server in the farm, and uses only
one report server database for the farm. If the
MOSS farm has multiple Web applications, each
Web application can use different authentication
providers. For example, one Web application
could use NTLM authentication while another
uses Kerberos, and the report server would interact
with each MOSS server by using the appropriate
authentication mode.
Installation Prerequisites
Because
this article is about SSRS-MOSS integration,
I assume that you have the report
server installed correctly and, if you're planning
a distributed deployment, that you have
MOSS installed on another server. The first
step to installing the integration components is to download and install on the report server
the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 Redistributable
Package, available at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=72322&clcid=0x409. If you
haven't already, you also need to download SQL
Server 2005 SP2 from http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=82758. Then you need to download
the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting
Services Add-in for Microsoft SharePoint Technologies
from http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=82753.
Using the Reporting Services Configuration
Tool, which you launch after installing SP2, you
must configure a service account for the SSRS
Windows service and its Web service. The service
accounts will later require write and execute permissions
on the MOSS content database to let the
report server add, change, or delete report server
items and properties. These permissions are assigned
when you configure the MOSS Web application for SSRS integration. But for now, make
sure you select the correct type of service account
for your environment, as Table 1 shows.
If you plan to use domain user accounts as the
SSRS service accounts, create them now. You also
need to know the username and password for the
account that MOSS uses to connect to its databases.
In addition, make sure you have the necessary
privileges, or schedule time with a person
who has them, before performing the five integration
configuration tasks that Table 2 describes.
Installing and Configuring MOSS
on the Report Server
You start the integration setup by installing SP2
on the report server. Next, install the Windows
SharePoint Services (WSS) object model on the
same server, following the appropriate installation
steps for your deployment mode, as follows.
(For information about using WSS or MOSS
Standard Edition instead of MOSS Enterprise
Edition, see the Web sidebar "What Can I Accomplish
with Other SharePoint Technologies?"
InstantDoc ID 96841.)
Single-server. In a single-server deployment,
the object model installs when you perform
an Advanced installation of Microsoft Office
SharePoint Server 2007 Enterprise Edition and
select the Complete server type. When installation
is complete, reboot if prompted, and run the
SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration
Wizard, which you find in the Microsoft
Office Server program group. On the wizard's
Connect to a Server Farm page, select No, I want
to create a new server farm. Type the name of
your SQL Server system, and provide a domain
account for MOSS database access. Then select
an authentication provider - NTLM or Kerberos - and click Finish.
When the wizard completes, the SharePoint
Central Administration page opens. To complete
a basic installation, first start the Office
SharePoint Server Search service to support indexing
and searching of MOSS content. Click
the Operations tab, click Services on server in the
Topology and Services section, and click Start
next to Office SharePoint Server Search. On the
following configuration page, select the Use this
server for indexing content and Use this server for
serving search queries check boxes. You must also
provide an email address for an administrator to
be contacted if indexing problems occur and a
domain account and password to run the search
service, then click Start to start the service.
Next, configure a new Web application to
create the SharePoint site on your Microsoft IIS
server. To do this, in SharePoint Central Administration,
click the Application Management
tab, click Create or extend Web application in the
SharePoint Web Application Management section,
then click Create a new Web application. On
the next page, keep the default settings, changing
the authentication provider to Kerberos if your
deployment requires it instead of NTLM. You
must also specify a domain account or select
a built-in account for the application pool assigned
to this Web application. If you have a remote
SQL Server deployment, be sure to change
the database server name. The MOSS content
and configuration databases will be created on
the specified server. Click OK.
The last configuration step in this deployment
model requires you to create a site collection for
the Web application you created. A site collection
is essentially a Web page that displays a tab
for each MOSS site you create in that collection.
Each site has one or more Web pages that you can
use to organize content to support a specific goal,
such as storing reports in a library or managing
collaborative activities. On the Application Management
page, in the SharePoint Site Management
section, click Create site collection. Provide
a title for the site collection, and set the URL for
the Web Site Address to http://your_server/sites/
Reports, for example. In the Template Selection
section, click the Enterprise tab, and select Report
Center. This site template adds to your MOSS
site a set of predefined Web pages that you'll use
later to manage reports and data sources. Specifically,
a Report Center site contains the document
libraries and other business intelligence (BI)
features that make information integration easy.
Type the domain account of the user who will be
the primary administrator of the site collection,
and optionally provide a domain account for a
secondary site collection administrator. Click OK
to create the site collection.
Distributed servers. For a distributed deployment,
the WSS object model installs when you
run the MOSS Web front-end setup on the report
server. Note that you can't mix SharePoint
technologies, which means you can't install WSS
on your report server and then integrate SSRS
with a MOSS server or vice versa.
Start the MOSS setup program on the report
server, choose the Advanced installation option,
and then select the Web front end option. When
the installation completes, reboot if prompted,
and then run the SharePoint Products and Technologies
Configuration Wizard. On the Connect
to a Server Farm page, select Yes, I want to connect
to an existing server farm. On the Specify
Configuration Database Settings page, type the
name of the database server, click Retrieve Database
Names, and select the MOSS configuration
database, which by default is SharePoint_Config.
Provide the password for the account that the
Web front end uses to connect to this database,
select either NTLM or Kerberos authentication
on the next wizard page, and then click Finish.
Finish the distributed deployment installation
by configuring a new Web application and site
collection as described in the previous section.
Continued on page 3.
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