Over the weekend, I experienced some frustration installing the SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services Add-in for SharePoint Technologies. The last time I tried this for SQL 2005, I ran into problems caused by that fact that I use Windows 2008 Server (as a workstation) and have User Account Control enabled. This time, the issue was different and equally elusive. Fortunately, I learned of a better way to do this installation rather than using the GUI and hoping for the best.
It all started when I logged in using the machine-local Administrator account and ran the install. Since UAC isn’t (by default) enabled for this account, I was hoping to pro-actively avoid any similar situation as the last time. Also, I had granted this account Farm Administrator privileges to my local instance of MOSS. I thought I was good to go. However, after successfully running the installation and seeing no errors of any kind in the event logs, the expected Reporting Services section in Central Admin never appeared. I then decided to switch to command-line install mode as described in the "readme" file. This is a two-step process:
- Run rsSharePoint.msi SKIPCA=1
- Run rsCustomAction.exe /i
HINT: The location of rsCustomAction.exe will always be your temp directory. To get there quickly, just type CD %TEMP% and then run the command.
Step 1 completed without issues, which I expected since its a simple file install. On step two, I noticed the following:
C:UsersADMINI~1AppDataLocalTemp>rsCustomAction.exe /i
User: Administrator
Installing Report Server feature.
Calling copyappbincontents command.copyappbincontents command completed successfully.
Adding Report Server feature to farm.
Installed Report Server feature.
Activating Report Server feature to root level site collections.
Activating feature in web app ‘SharePoint – sharepoint80’
Activating feature to root site collection: http://sharepoint
******* User does not have permission to add feature to site collection: http://sharepoint
Activateing Report Server feature in all admin site collections.
Activating feature in web app ”
Activating feature to root site collection: http://devws1:23777
******* User does not have permission to add feature to site collection: http://devws1:23777
Updating DocIcon.xml file
DocIcon.xml file updated.
Beginning install of cab files.
Calling HCInstal for lcid ‘1033’Outcome code is: 4
Calling HCInstal for lcid ‘3082’
…
I immediately recognized that even though the Administrator account as assigned SharePoint Farm Admin, it still wasn’t good enough. Logging in as my own account, which was used to install MOSS in the first place, and executing the process with an elevated command prompt gave me the correct behavior.
C:UsersTNIELSENAppDataLocalTemp>rsCustomAction.exe /i
User: tnielsen
Installing Report Server feature.
Calling copyappbincontents command.copyappbincontents command completed successfully.
Adding Report Server feature to farm.
Installed Report Server feature.
Activating Report Server feature to root level site collections.
Activating feature in web app ‘SharePoint – sharepoint80’
Activating feature to root site collection: http://sharepoint
Activated feature for root site collection: http://sharepoint
Activateing Report Server feature in all admin site collections.
Activating feature in web app ”
Activating feature to root site collection: http://devws1:23777
Activated feature for root site collection: http://devws1:23777
Updating DocIcon.xml file
DocIcon.xml file updated.
Beginning install of cab files.
Calling HCInstal for lcid ‘1033’Outcome code is: 4
Calling HCInstal for lcid ‘3082’
…
So I definitely recommend using this process for any installation of this add-in. It gives you visibility into what’s actually happening and will save you tons of time and frustration.
