Using SSRS with Azure SQL databases - sql-server

I have a requirement to set up SSRS for reporting with one of our web applications.
Just now I have SSRS installed locally and pointing to the local version of the database for development purposes which is fine and works.
The live and test SQL databases are on Azure and I would like to be able to connect to them from the Report Designer locally to create the reports.
Does anyone have advice on how this should be done? For example, should I create a SQL database on Azure and use the SSRS configuration manager to set this as the reporting database, then from within the report designed connect to the live or test database when creating the reports?
thanks in advance

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SSRS on EC2 vs SSRS on RDS

I have been looking around for the best practices when setting up Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) in AWS(Amazon Web Services) environment. We have two options
SSRS on EC2: We can launch an EC2 instance with SQL Server installed on it and then we can setup SSRS using Report Server Configuration Manager.
SSRS on RDS: We can add an option group for SSRS in RDS and that will enable the SSRS on RDS instance. We can set the limit of max memory % usage for SSRS while setting up SSRS option in RDS
I am looking for comparison between SSRS on EC2 vs SSRS on RDS in terms of security, performance or any other limitations/benefits of using any of these two options.
The entire reason AWS strived to provide SSRS support is due to the cries from Dev's.
I shouldn't take all the credit as MSFT China Support helped me get it going, manually automagically setting up SSRS on an EC2 prior to RDS offering the service.
Here is the script I wrote and if you take a look it's worth paying for the RDS service. If there is only one reason you go SSRS RDS, it's ease of use.
Before you read this answer, keep in mind I have SQL Reporting Server baked into an Amazon Machine Image (AMI). I can't have an Auto Scale Group (ASG) with a server that requires a 45minute install in its UserData (Bootstrap script).
Hence I have a pre-installed SSRS image and then restore the Reporting Config database over the top during the deployment. Here are the issues with that:
RSConfig generates a Dsn Connection String doesn't work
Resort to what I did if there's a blocker, take it as a Plan B. I've walked the path before...

Why do I need SQL Server to install Azure DevOps?

I'm currently working on a enterprise that uses TFS 2017, and we pretend to upgrade to Azure DevOps. So far I'm just studying about how to implement this TOOL. I'm new on devops things and I have these following doubts... Why do we need SQL Server to install DevOps Azure? What kind of information are stored in there?
In the server configuration wizard, I have the option to select an existing database to use for the Azure DevOps Server that's being deployed... Can I select the currently database that's used by TFS 2017?
Azure DevOps Server and Team Foundation Server store just about everything in massive SQL Server databases.
The main server configuration is stored in the tfs_configuration database and each project collection is stored in a separate database The default is tfs_defaultcollection.
The collection database holds all version controlled files (TFVC and Git), all work items (Product Backlog, Sprints etc), Test Cases and all test run attachments, your Pipelines, Builds and Releases as well as all of the artifacts produced by these pipelines.
These databases can grow considerably.
Whether you can keep your current database server depends on what version you're currently running. SQL Server 2016 SP1+ happens to be supported by both Azure DevOps Server 2020 as well as Team Foundation Server 2017. You could keep using that for the upgraded installation.
But my recommendation would be to install SQL Server 2019, you'll get all of the performance and security benefits of the new server, support for the latest Windows Server platform, as well as a support window that matches your new Azure DevOps Server installation.
You can find the SQL Server compatibility matrix for TFS/ADS here:
Azure SQL Database and SQL Server
TFS 2017 was one of the last versions to require a database for the Warehouse, which is a form of replicated data. Reports can be written to pull data from the warehouse, without impacting the user experience. The database is somewhat deprecated now, especially for reporting. Microsoft promotes the use of the API to pull data from the live database. TFS does however still need its "live" database to store all of the data presented to users. These will be work items, discussion comments, project templates, user mappings to AD, amongst other things.
You will need to upgrade your 2017 Schema to conform to the new standard as defined by Azure, which will be taken care of as part of the upgrade.
What kind of information are stored in there?
Issues, templates, build results, lots of things.
Can I select the database that's used by TFS 2017?
Yes, that will be upgraded during the installation.

Looking for MANAGE button in Azure SQL Databases

I am being tasked at a new job with managing some SQL Server databases hosted in Microsoft Azure, however it appears that some changes have been made to Azure Web Interface and there is no longer a MANAGE button option shown for a specific database, can anyone explain what happened to this option, and how to bring it back in the Azure Web Interface?
Basically this option let me view the data in the columns of the database tables, that is what I am trying to do.
The "manage" button you are referring to was removed for the latest generation of servers (v12) for Azure SQL Database. Using SSMS or Visual Studio is the recommended way to manage your servers going forward. However, if you really want the old web management portal you will need to create your SQL Database on a v11 server. You can do this in the portal in the new server blade by setting Create V12 server to "No".

Using existing database for SSRS

I am configuring SSRS 2012 on my system. It gives an option to select/create a report server database. If I am selecting "choose an existing report server database" and selecting the database I am using for my application, I get an error "The database you selected is not a report server database...."
Why can't I use my existing database for reporting service? What are the correct steps to configure SSRS and using my existing database for creating reports?
The database SSRS is asking for is not the database where you have data for reports, but the database where SSRS configuration and temporary datas stays.
These are the default ones:
If you do not have those 2 databases, let the setup create them for you.
You will create Data Sources to your database when you will create your first report.
You can't pick your own database for a report server database, the database it is referring to is the one for the reportserver application itself.
So you need to first create a report server database and link your report server to that, then the report server application will work, then inside this application you create a data source which points to your database with your data you want to report on, you can then start writing your reports.
Have a look here for more detailed steps:
Install Reporting Services Native Mode Report Server (SSRS)

Install reporting services 2005 on a web server

I have a SQL box and a web box; the SQL box is close to capacity. I'd like to install reporting services and thought about installing it on a SQL instance i would install on the web box, and only use that instance for reporting services. Is this a good option? What pitfalls will I have if I try to do this?
It's recommended to not mix IIS and SQL on the same box. Because 0f different access patterns and security at least.
The fact your SQL box is close to capacity should set alarm bells ringing and big red flags waving. The Report Server databases are quite small, and I'd lie awake at night if I thought it would overload my your DB server
SO: Should SQL Server be on the same machine as your IIS installation?
If you just install the Reporting Services (SSRS) web piece this should be fine. SSRS comes in 2 sections, the web piece and the database catalog so you could have a web site run on the web server and the catalog database would live on you normal database server. You will need to manually configure SSRS through the SSRS configuration utility and specify the remote server name during the database set up.
The downside of this is that you would be required to purchase an additional SQL license for the web server, since an SSRS installation counts as a SQL instance, but you should be able to use a standard edition license to for both instances.
I didn't find a lot a great resources but the steps would be like this:
--install just SSRS (and Client tools to debug connection issues) on the web server
--run the SSRS configuration tool and configure the app pools, virtual directories
--in the same config tool in the database section just specify the remote SQL server and select "create database" and it will create the database for you and apply the permissions needed to the database instance.
One thing I have found to be kind of quirky about the SQL 2005 SSRS config tool is that you have to "apply" changes when it doesn't seem that intuitive, so beware.
Here's an OK link:
http://www.databasejournal.com/features/mssql/article.php/3573361/SQL-2005-Reporting-Services-Part-1.htm

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