This is a solution I’ve had to put in place in almost all BI positions in some form or another. Its something that remains a “custom workaround” through all versions of SQL Server Reporting Services, right up to 2016.
I go into a lot of detail in my post on SQL Shack about a simple & effective way to alert on failed subscriptions using a SQL Agent job. Have a look over at SQL Shack:
I’m now splitting my blog posts between here & SQL Shack. You’ll see mostly non-SQL content here. I’m still working with Powershell a lot so Ill post any handy scripts I put together here. All SQL based how-to’s and issues Ill blog about over on SQL Shack though. It’s a great opportunity to contribute to an already active site where the content should get better visibility.
For completeness though, Ill always link to articles from here.
Have a read at my first post on scaling out SSRS & the changes in 2016
Scaling out Reporting Services & changes in SQL Server 2016
Check out my first post over on @SQLShack on Scaling out Reporting Services & changes in SQL Server 2016 https://t.co/KouhSfkUXH
— Craig Porteous (@CPorteous) January 19, 2017
Ta
This is something Ive put together to keep track of errors coming through the SSRS logs.
We capture the majority of priority errors through other methods but I find some still slip through if you’re not checking your log files regularly. It still baffles me that SSRS doesnt have better error monitoring/logging for subscriptions in particular. Even in 2016 we still use a custom SQL job to monitor & alert on failed subscriptions.
Here’s a quick overview of what Im doing with the logs:
A small change to remember when looking to upgrade to SQL & SSRS 2016 is a change to the Report Manager URL format.
If you have any apps or custom scripts that build or use existing report URLs (for 2014 & below) you should be ok as the old format is still valid (…for now?) & appears to redirect internally, rendering the report with the new URL.
Here’s an example:
2016: http://……/reports/report/FOLDERNAME/REPORT%20NAME
up to 2014: http://……/Reports/Pages/Report.aspx?ItemPath=%2fFOLDERNAME%2fREPORT+NAME&ViewMode=Detail
You may be happy to hear though that the ReportServer URL format remains the same.
PS. As updated in this previous post, this issue/quirk still applies in 2016! http://craigporteous.com/2016/03/ssrs-report-name-case-driven-from-url/
Hope this helps!
Thanks
UPDATE 1 (19/07/2016): After posting this to twitter last night I got some instant help from the Senior Program Manager for SSRS at Microsoft. Thanks to Riccardo Muti for the info. I will update here again when Ive been able to confirm. Ill leave the post intact as Im sure others will go through the same thought process!
@Technitrain @CPorteous @SQLServerBI Nothing to update for RSWebApp itself; it doesn't use https://t.co/LJUEu0UIn0 Web Forms or ViewState.
— Riccardo Muti (@RiccardoMuti) July 18, 2016
Having came through very little in the way of teething problems doing an in-place upgrade from SQL & SSRS 2014 Ive now come up against a doozy!
With the new configuration of SSRS there is no Report Manager subfolder. Instead we see this new RSWebApp folder.
With SQL Server 2016 you now have the ability to customise Report Manager’s look & feel. This comes in the form of applying a “Brand Package”. Its not free reign over the css for the site but its a giant leap in the right direction for the BI platform.
There is a great technet blog post that goes through the customising process & elements but I wanted to go into greater detail and define what every element in the JSON file affects on the page so I painstakingly documented the effects of changing each element & re-uploading to Report Manager.
Ill explain all of the elements found in the JSON file in the table below then present views of Report Manager annotated with these elements to better explain what they affect. Read More →
This training lab provided by Microsoft for the new SQL Server 2016 Mobile reporting functionality turned out to be a great tool for pulling together a quick Proof of Concept. I hope this info helps someone with the same task.
When I completed the lab on a local SQL 2016 instance (instead of the Lab VM) I was able to easily demonstrate the new functionality in SSRS through the Report Manager interface & the iOS PowerBI app.