Windows Azure SQL Reporting FAQ

Windows Azure SQL Reporting is a cloud-based reporting service you add to your existing Windows Azure subscription. This article contains FAQs for SQL Reporting.

In this article:

Scenarios
Comparison
Getting Started
Connectivity and Security
Managing Report Servers

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Scenarios

Q: What are the supported scenarios for Windows Azure SQL Reporting?

When you add SQL Reporting to your Windows Azure subscription, a report server is automatically provisioned for your account. After the report server is available, you can do the following:

Publish reports to a SQL Reporting report server from SQL Server Business Intelligence Development Studio. Reports display data from Windows Azure SQL Databases.
View embedded reports hosted on a SQL Reporting report server in a Windows Azure web role or worker role that includes a Microsoft Report control, ReportViewer control, in remote mode, and that you deploy from your Windows Azure account.
Programmatically manage reports and SQL Reporting report server content by using the report server Web service SOAP endpoints.

For sample code for each of these scenarios, see Windows Azure SQL Reporting Samples.

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Windows Azure SQL Reporting provides features similar to on-premise SQL Server 2008 R2 Reporting Services configured in native mode. For the list of differences between the platforms, see Guidelines and Limitations.

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Getting Started

Q: How do I get started using SQL Reporting?

See Getting Started with Windows Azure SQL Reporting.

Q: How do I view published reports?

Login to the SQL Reporting portal by using the report server URL and either the report server administrator credentials or a the credentials provided by your administrator. Navigate the folder structure to the report, and click on the report.

For more information, see Getting Started with Windows Azure SQL Reporting for Report Readers.

Alternatively, create a Windows Azure Web role or worker role application that points to the hosted report.

For more information, see Getting Started with Windows Azure SQL Reporting for Application Developers.

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Connectivity and Security

Q: How do I connect to SQL Reporting report server?

When you add SQL Reporting to your existing Windows Azure subscription, you will get the URL to the report server, the report server administrator user name. You specify the password. Use these report server administrator credentials to:

Log in to the Windows Azure SQL Reporting portal
Publish reports from a client authoring tool
View a published report

The report server URL is the Web Service URL with /reportserver appended. You must use the https protocol to access the report server. For example, if your Web Service URL is abcdefgh.database.windows.net, the report server URL is https://abcdefgh.database.windows.net/reportserver.

For a summary of when to use which credentials, see Getting Started Guides for Windows Azure SQL Reporting.

Q: I am unable to connect to a Windows Azure SQL Database. How can I troubleshoot this problem?

For troubleshooting common connectivity problems to SQL Database, see the Windows Azure SQL Database Connectivity Troubleshooting Guide.

For troubleshooting reports and report servers, see SQL Reporting Troubleshooting .

Q: Where can I find sample connection strings for SQL Reporting report data sources?

Only the Windows Azure SQL Database report data source type is supported. A typical connection string looks like this:

Data Source=<server>.database.windows.net;Initial Catalog=<database>; Encrypt=True; TrustServerCertificate=False

You must get database login credentials (user name and password) from the database administrator. By design, credentials are not included in the connection string.

For more information, see Troubleshooting Tips in SQL Reporting Troubleshooting.

For more information about working with database administrators who manage the data that you want to use in your report, see Getting Started with SQL Reporting for Database Administrators.

Q: How do I publish a report to a SQL Reporting report server?

Use a report authoring client tool to publish reports to your SQL Reporting report server. You can also upload reports, one at a time.

For a list of tools, see Tool Compatibility.

For a list of which credentials to use, see Credential Summary.

Q: Can I report from SQL Databases that are not part of my Windows Azure subscription?

Yes.

From a report published on a SQL Reporting report server, data sources and data source credentials are stored on the report server. Access to databases hosted on SQL Database require only the connection string and login credentials that you received from the database administrator.

To preview reports on a client tool, the database administrator must add your client IP address to the firewall exception list for the database.

For more information about working with database administrators who manage the data behind your report, see Getting Started with SQL Reporting for Database Administrators.

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Managing Report Servers

Q: How can I create more SQL Reporting report servers?

When you add SQL Reporting to your Windows Azure subscription, the service provisions one report server. To provision more report servers, create additional Windows Azure subscriptions.

Q: How does the billing model work for Windows Azure SQL Reporting?

Like other services on the Windows Azure Platform, SQL Reporting is designed to support elastic scale. Based on your usage and seasonal requirements, you can easily and quickly add subscriptions and report servers to extend the capacity of your SQL Reporting environment and delete subscriptions and servers to decrease it. For more information, see Accounts and Billing in Windows Azure SQL Reporting (Windows Azure SQL Reporting).

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