Script deployment and administrative tasks

Reporting Services supports the use of scripts to automate routine installation, deployment, and administrative tasks. Deploying a report server is a multi-step process. You must use several tools and processes to configure a deployment; there's no single program or approach that can be used to automate all the tasks.

Not every step should be automated. In some cases, performing a step manually or through a graphical tool is the simplest and most effective approach. For example, if you want to deploy a large number of reports and models, it's better to copy the report server databases rather than write code that recreates report server environment.

Some steps require custom code. For example, configuring the URLs for the Web service and Report Manager can be automated, but only if you write custom code that makes calls into the Report Server Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) provider. If you don't want to write code, you must use the Reporting Services Configuration tool to perform the step.

To run script that configures a report server, you must be a local administrator on the computer that you're configuring. For more information, see Configure a report server for remote administration.

This article describes recommended approaches for automating specific steps. Several programs and programmatic interfaces are mentioned; descriptions of each one are provided later in this article.

Deployment tasks and how to automate them

The following table summarizes the installation and configuration tasks that are necessary for deploying a report server. You can use the table to match a specific task to an approach that allows you to automate or perform the task unattended.

Tools and technologies for automating server deployment

The following list summarizes the programs and interfaces that can be used to automate deployment and maintenance tasks:

• The Setup program can be run in unattended mode to install and sometimes configure report server components. You must use the Files-Only installation option to have Setup configure a report server instance.

• The Reporting Services WMI provider and Reporting Services command line utilities can be used for local and remote server configuration.

  The Reporting Services WMI provider exposes classes, properties, and methods that allow you to configure all aspects of a Reporting Services installation. Those aspects include specifying the service account and configuring URLs. They might also include creating and configuring the report server database or configuring a report server for e-mail delivery. You must write custom code or script to use the WMI provider. For more information, see Access the Reporting Services WMI Provider.

  An alternative to writing code is to use the command line utilities (rsconfig.exe and rskeymgmt.exe). You can write batch files that run the utilities. You can use the utilities to automate some but not all configuration tasks.

• The report server script host tool (rs.exe) can run custom Microsoft Visual Basic code that you might write to re-create or move existing content from one report server to another. With this approach, you write script in Visual Basic, save it as an .rss file, and use rs.exe to run the script on the target report server. The script you write can call the SOAP interface to the Report Server web service. Deployment scripts are written using this approach because it allows you to re-create a report server folder namespace and content, and re-create role-based security.

• The SQL Server 2012 release introduced PowerShell cmdlets for SharePoint integrated mode. You can use PowerShell to configure and administer the SharePoint integration. For more information, see PowerShell cmdlets for Reporting Services SharePoint mode.

Use Scripts to Migrate Report Server Content and Folders

You can write scripts that duplicate a report server environment on another report server instance. Deployment scripts are written in Visual Basic and then processed using the report server script host utility.

For a detailed example, see Sample Reporting Services rs.exe script to copy content between report servers.

Use scripts to copy folders, shared data sources, resources, reports, role assignments, and settings from one server to another. You write a script for one report server instance, and then run it on another server to re-create the report server namespace. If you have multiple report servers in your Reporting Services deployment, you can run the script on each server individually to configure all servers in the same way.

The following list describes the steps for migrating reports from one server to another.

1. Set your script variable to the URL of the source report server.

2. Use the GetItemDefinition and GetProperties methods to retrieve the report definition and the properties of the report.

3. Set the URL to point to the destination server.

4. Use CreateCatalogItem method, passing the properties returned from GetProperties and the report definition returned by GetItemDefinition.

By using a combination of get and create methods, you can perform similar steps to migrate settings, folders, shared data sources, and resources. For more information about the methods available to you, see Technical reference (SSRS).

For more information about how to format and run a script file, see Script with the rs.exe utility and the web service.

Using Scripts to Set Server Properties

You can write scripts that set system properties on the report server. The following Visual Basic .NET script shows one way to set properties. This example disables the RSClientPrint ActiveX control, but you can replace EnableClientPrinting and False with any valid property name and value. To view a complete list of server properties, see Report server system properties.

To use the script, save it to a file that has an .rss extension, and then use the rs.exe command prompt utility to run the file on the report server. The script isn't compiled, so it isn't necessary to have an installation of Visual Basic. This example assumes that you have permissions on the local computer that hosts the report server. If you're not logged on under an account that has permissions, you must specify account information through other command line arguments. For more information, see RS.exe utility (SSRS).

Public Sub Main()  
        Dim props(0) As [Property]  
        Dim setProp As New [Property]  
        setProp.Name = "EnableClientPrinting"  
        setProp.Value = "False"   
        props(0) = setProp  
        Try  
            rs.SetSystemProperties(props)  
        Catch ex As System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException  
            Console.Write(ex.Detail.InnerXml)  
        Catch e as Exception  
            Console.Write(e.Message)  
        End Try  
End Sub  

Related content

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GenerateDatabaseRightsScript method (WMI MSReportServer_ConfigurationSetting)
GenerateDatabaseUpgradeScript method (WMI MSReportServer_ConfigurationSetting)
Install SQL Server from the command prompt
Install Reporting Services native mode report server
Reporting Services report server (native mode)
Report server command prompt utilities (SSRS)
Browser support for Reporting Services
Reporting Services tools

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