Installing SSRS – 3 dumb things

I know a lot of folks who like to hate-on SSRS. I feel like it is mostly unfounded. Unfortunately, when you install SSRS and configure it, there are 3 kinda-stupid things that will probably get in your way. So if your first experience with SSRS is to install it, you will probably start things off on the wrong foot, bad-first-impression, etc.

I’d like to show you where those landmines are buried, and how to disarm them safely

1. Before you install SSRS, it requires (Microsoft) SQL Server for storing its settings. If your project / team / company dislikes Microsoft SQL Server, or think you already have something better, that is okay, but you still need SQL Server to store the settings for SSRS. You can use a light/free edition, as long as it is Microsoft SQL Server. Similar sounding products won’t work. I know, I know. It sounds dumb. Feel free to review the title of this blog post, and then continue.
2. The configuration steps are in the wrong order. It goes 1, 3, 2, 4… I was in the army. We weren’t always the smartest, but we never did 1, 3, 2, 4. Maybe we were dumb and should’ve done 1 3 2 4 like SSRS configuration. Maybe I just don’t recognize genius when I see it. Then again, maybe a lot of people don’t. So always 1) set up your service account first. Use/make a “service account”, or just leave it as “Virtual Service”. 3) You must pick the SQL server, so you can store your settings for the Web Service URL, and then do the rest (2, 4).
   
3. If you intend to call/run the reports from ASP.NET, (or other web) and you want to pass-through user credentials/identity (aka “double hop”), you need to set up Kerberos trusts in AD. Which is easy if you know it, or nasty if you don’t.
4. (bonus P.I.T.A.)(maybe)
   – For older versions of SSRS (pre 2016), once it is configured, you might need to use Internet Explorer to manage some of the settings. It doesn’t fully work correctly from Edge, Chrome or Firefox.
   – For newer versions, the admin screen takes a few (20) seconds to get the screen contents at-first. So you will open to the main screen and nada. There are no options (yet), because JS is loading it on a background thread. Wait for it… wait… okay, there it is. Proceed. (smh)

Okay. So now you have SSRS installed, and it runs nicely on localhost. Time to crack-a-beer, right? Not so fast! Hell awaits (maybe). (see my next blog post about SSL/TLS)