Candy Apple Grey (Installing SSRS and Windows Vista)

It's a bit tricky to get Reporting Services (including the report server that comes with SQL Express with Advanced Services) to work on Windows Vista. The key is to turn on the right set of IIS components in the "Turn Windows features on or off" tool in the Vista control panel. Here is the list of required IIS features you need to add for Reporting Services to work:

  • Web Management Tools
    • IIS 6 Management Compatibility
    • IIS 6 WMI Compatibility
    • IIS Metabase and IIS 6 configuration compatibility
  • World Wide Web Services
    • Application Development
      • .NET Extensibility
      • ASP.NET
      • ISAPI Extensions
      • ISAPI Filters
    •  Common HTTP Features
      • Default Document
      • Directory Browsing
      • HTTP Redirection
      • Static Content
    •  Security
      • Windows Authentication

Note that IIS7 in Vista Home Premium does not include Windows Authentication functionality so it will not work with SSRS.

You will get a compatibility message when you start to install SQL Server 2005. This is to let you know that you will need to install SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 after the installation finishes. You should also read Section 5.5 of the SQL Server 2005 Readme (Reporting Services Considerations for Windows Vista) for known issues and limitations.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    May 01, 2007
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    May 02, 2007
    After applying all of your recommendations I cannot get SRS to work on Vista Premium. Will the Vista "Ultimate" run SRS in SQL 2005 ExpressADV SP2 ??Thanks for your insights.
  • Anonymous
    May 02, 2007
    Same thing, here. I used WindowsAnytimeUpdate.com to purchase and install Vista Ultimate. Upon the completion of the install and reboot, I noticed that Windows Authentication was now listed as an IIS option; however, all of the IIS options I had previously installed were no longer installed.I installed all of the IIS options listed in that blog entry--which match the list of required options in MSKB 920201, BTW. Next, I re-ran SQL Server 2005 Express Edition with Advanced Services SP2. The System Configuration Check displayed the same warning about IIS being disabled or not being installed. I continued with the install anyway. Sure enough, the Feature Selection list did not display Reporting Services as an option. On the plus side: At least it no longer listed Reporting Services as an option, let me select it, and then not install it without any error message!So at this point, I still haven't been able to install Reporting Services. Any other ideas?
  • Anonymous
    May 02, 2007
    I upgraded from Vista Home Premium to Vista Ultimate earlier today, but I still can't get Reporting Services installed. I selected all of the IIS features that you itemized (including Windows Authentication), but Reporting Services doesn't even show up in the Feature Selection list during the SQL Server install.
  • Anonymous
    May 03, 2007
    Actually, I have Reporting Services running on Vista Premium.Not the best solution, but it got me back to developing locally again.I had to give my user account full folder permsissions on the reporting services PHYSICAL directories. ie: C:Progra~1Microsoft Sql ServerMSSQL.2Reporting ServicesReportServer.Worked like a charm and saved me a one time upgrade cost.
  • Anonymous
    May 03, 2007
    Sorry - forgot to mention that I enabled basic authentication on the IIS7 VD's
  • Anonymous
    May 12, 2007
    I'm having that same problem trying to install SQL 2005 Developer Edition on Vista Enterprise.  I went so far as to turn on every single install feature checkbox under IIS.  SQL Setup still says IIS is missing.
  • Anonymous
    June 06, 2007
    "I have Reporting Services running on Vista Premium."Jason, I trying to try your solution, but before I can do that, how did you get Reporting Services to install on Home Premium?  Setup won't allow me to select Reporting Services.  Is there a way to force setup to install Reporting Services?
  • Anonymous
    June 10, 2007
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    July 03, 2007
    I spent a couple of hours today trying to get SSRS 2005 working on Vista. I was getting the infamous
  • Anonymous
    August 26, 2007
    I did all that and when running http://localhost/reports/  I still get:Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.ReportingServices.Interfaces' or one of its dependencies. The parameter is incorrect. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80070057 (E_INVALIDARG))I have vista Ultimate and I connect to a domain.
  • Anonymous
    February 13, 2008
    Hi,I have Vista Home Premium only. I have found a solution of sorts. I have installed SQL Server Reporting Services 2008 only (not database engine as well) and created the ReportServer database on my SQL Server 2005 instance using the SSRS 2008 Configuration Manager. Then I have followed the instructions on this page http://www.jameskovacs.com/blog/ReportingServicesOnWindowsVistaRedux.aspx to fix security issues.And now reporting services runs without having to upgrade Vista. Although it does seem to run VERY slowly. Not sure why but does work. Have just deployed a report from BIDS and run it in Report Manager.Cheers
  • Anonymous
    March 09, 2012
    This is a guide that helps you to install SSRS 2008:www.soheib.com/how-to-install-sql-server-reporting-services-2008-on-a-virtual-machine