Part 1 of this series will focus on integrating SharePoint Foundation 2010 with SQL Server Reporting Services 2008 R2. Why SharePoint Foundation 2010 and not SharePoint Server 2010? Wel, three reason really:
- Cost - it is "FREE"!!! You can't get much cheaper than that. :) Of course, there are other things that you must purchase, like hardware, OS licenses, an Internet Connector license, etc. But, the cost of SharePoint Foundation Server itself is free. Now, if you do a simple Bing search, you'll be able to find a few ISP's that will provide a SharePoint environment for you, for a monthly fee.
- I love a challenge - Sure, I can probably have a better Business Intelligence experience right out of the box with SharePoint Server 2010 and all of the features that are offered with it, but I really like a challenge.
- How Far Can I go? - Lastly, I just want to see what sort of Business Intelligence story I can put together using SharePoint Foundation Server 2010 and a little bit of work. Can I pull off a "dashboard" that could rival something in SharePoint Server 2010?
Where to get SharePoint Foundation?
So, getting started with SharePoint Foundation was pretty simple. With an MSDN subscription and the right download URL's you'll be good to go in no time. First, you'll need to download SharePoint Foundation 2010 from this link: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=5970
My environment:
For this series, I am going to use the following hardware / software:
- Development machine - Dell XPS17, 2.5gHz quad core, 16GB ram, 256GB SSD internal and 500GB internal 7200 HD, Windows 7 64 bit. This laptop is sufficient to run up to four virtual machines.
- VMWare Workstation - I am using VMWare Workstation 8.0, but you could really use any software that you are most comfortable with. I've used others, and I prefer VMWare Workstation.
- Virtual Server - like I mentioned above, I am going to create a single virtual machine with Windows Server 2008 R2 to contain both SharePoint Foundation 2010 and Sql Server 2008 R2 instances. This may not reflect the same sort of environment that you are looking to setup, but it is a start and hopefully will get you going and then you can take it from there. [NOTE: I will be putting together a multiserver example of SPF 2010 / SSRS 2008 R2 integration in a later blog series.]
I don't want to reinvent the wheel or try to paraphrase from any of the existing sources on the web that cover installing Win2k8 R2 and SPF and SSRS; especially when these resources are so well written. So, shown below are the high level steps and corresponding links that cover each step. This will get you setup with a good Win2k8 R2 VM with SPF / SSRS integration. If any questions arise while you are following through these, please add them to the comments section and I'll do my best to provide answers / guidance.
- Setting up a BASE VM Server image -
- Description - This is a great resource for establishing a base server that you can then clone for any development purpose. The end result is that you have an image that you can clone and use for any development project. In this example, we'll then use this base (well, a copy of it) to install SSRS and SPF.
- Link - http://keithelder.net/2008/06/30/setting-up-windows-server-2008-vmware-virtual-machines-for-net/
- [NOTE - I skipped Steps 7, 8, and 9 in the above link]
- Cloning your machine -
- Description - This is just a note to remind you to make a copy of the VM that you created in the previous step. There are resources in the help section of VMWare Workstation that will help you through this, but here are the steps:
- In VMWare Workstation right click on the VM that you just created and select: Manage - Clone, then follow the wizard:
- Clone From: The current state in the virtual machine
- Clone Type: Create a full clone
- Virtual Machine Name: SharePoint Foundation - SSRS Dev [Feel free to use whatever name you want for this option.]
- Virtual Machine location: I store my VM's on an external USB 3.0 drive housing, but select the location where you store your VM's.
- Click Close. The wizard will now clone the BASE VM that we just created. For the rest of this blog series, we'll use this cloned VM not the BASE VM.
- Server Roles -
- Open the Server Manager tool, and then click on Roles.
- Click on Add Roles
- Add in the Web Server role and the Application Server role.
- Configuring the Server to be a domain controller -
- Description - In my examples, I am going to have my development server setup as a domain controller, follow the link below to setup your VM to be a domain controller.
- Link - http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/36200/How-to-setup-Windows-Server-2008-Domain-Controller
- Installing SPF and SSRS on the VM -
- Description - The following Microsoft TechNet and MSDN articles explain how to install SharePoint Foundation (SPF) and Sql Server Reporting Services (SSRS) on the same server. Follow these links below in this order:
- Link - Follow Step 8 from this link: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee554869.aspx, to ensure that you have all the necessary roles / features for SPF.
- Link - This link walks you through installing both SSRS 2008 R2 and SPF on your server: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb677368.aspx
- I also installed Analysis Services since I wanted to use the Adventure Works cubes in my example.
- I am using a default instance, not a named instance.
- Report Services Add-in installation -
- Configuring Report Server integration in SPF -
- Activating Report Server -
Hi Tim, Great post...looking forward to next series...when is it coming out?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post. I was a SharePoint 2010 user but now have migrated to a free SharePoint 2013 site with http://www.cloudappsportal.com. Thanks again.
ReplyDelete