This topic explains the requirements and steps for installing and configuring Reporting Services on Microsoft Windows Server 2008. You can install any edition of 32-bit or 64-bit Reporting Services on any edition of Windows Server 2008.
Installing Reporting Services in the default configuration is recommended because there are known issues with the Reporting Services Configuration tool when configuring a files-only installation. The installation mode is specified during setup. You can specify a default installation when you choose the Install the default configuration option in the Report Server Installation Options page.
SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 (SP2) is required for running SQL Server components on Windows Server 2008.
Before installing Reporting Services, you must enable ASP.NET and IIS. To enable these features, configure a server role:
If any of these features are not enabled, Setup will exclude Reporting Services from the Components to Select page.
After you enable the required features, you must start the World Wide Publishing Service if you want to install the default configuration of Reporting Services. Otherwise, you must install Reporting Services in files-only mode and configure the report server after SQL Server Setup is finished.
Log on to Windows Server 2008 and enable ASP.NET and IIS features as described in the Prerequisites section.
Verify that the World Wide Web Publishing service is started. If it is not started, configure it for Automatic startup:
Install SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services:
Apply SP2.
Start the services if you have not done so already. If you are installing the Express Edition with Advanced Services, reset IIS. To reset IIS, click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, select Run as administrator, type iisreset, and press ENTER.
Start the Reporting Services Configuration tool. To open the tool, click Start, click All Programs, click SQL Server 2005, click Configuration Tools, and then click Reporting Services Configuration.
Click Continue.
In the Instance Selection dialog box, select the report server instance and then click Connect.
Set the application pool for Report Manager and the Report Server Web service to ReportServer or Classic .NET AppPool:
You cannot use Default Application Pool with Reporting Services. Reporting Services runs as a legacy application on IIS 7.0 and requires that you use an application pool that has Managed Pipeline Mode set to Classic. Avoid running the Report Server Web service under the default application pool on IIS 7.0. You will encounter HTTP 500 errors if you try to use it.
Note that in the Beta 3 version of Windows Server 2008, if you are using custom application pool settings, you cannot configure the Report Manager application pool to run under a domain user account.
If you installed the default configuration, no other configuration changes are required. If you are configuring a files-only installation, you must configure virtual directories and create the report server database. For instructions on how to configure these and other settings, see Reporting Services Configuration How-to Topics.
Open a browser window with Run as administrator permissions. Point to Start, click All Programs, right-click Internet Explorer, and select Run as administrator.
Start Report Manager. By default, the Report Manager URL is http://<servername>/reports (or if you are using SQL Server Express with Advanced Services, http://<servername>/reports$sqlexpress).
Add http://<servername> to the Local Intranet security zone:
Create role assignments that grant permissions for local administration:
Close Report Manager.
Re-open Report Manager in Internet Explorer, without using Run as administrator. You should have full access to all Report Manager features, including the Site Settings menu at the top of the page.
You installed SQL Server 2005 Express Edition with Advanced Services on Windows Server 2008 Beta 3, and you chose the Install but do not configure the server option in Setup, and you now encounter numerous error indicators (red x icons) when configuring the instance in the Reporting Services Configuration tool.
There is a known workaround that will allow you to successfully configure your installation. First, open the Report Server Virtual Directory page. Although the green icon indicates it is configured, the virtual directory is not yet created. To create it, select an existing Web site and then type a virtual directory name. You will need to click Apply several times before the virtual directory is created, but the tool will create the directory.
After the directory is created, you can continue with other tasks:
In Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0, there are new permission requirements for ISAPI extensions that use a wildcard (*) script mapping. If you run code or script to configure the report server virtual directory, you might encounter the following error when attempting to access the virtual directory:
"HTTP Error 403.1 Forbidden"
You have attempted to run a CGI, ISAPI, or other executable program from a directory that does not allow executables to run.
Edit permissions on the virtual directory to allow scripts to run: