Sunrise SQL Server Reporting Services for Sunrise 4.5 XA
By Brandon Hansen
Sunrise SQL Server Reporting Services is a powerful addition to Sunrise 4.5 XA that can be used at your
site to view, maintain, and distribute the Sunrise 4.5 XA reports. Sunrise SQL Reporting Services is
optional to the Sunrise 4.5 XA system unless Sunrise Medication Manager reports are also being used. In
this case, Sunrise SQL Reporting Services is a mandatory installation.
Sunrise 4.5 XA SQL Server Reporting Services uses Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services for report
generation in order to provide users with a higher level of flexibility and accessibility for improved report
maintenance and delivery. Microsoft’s SQL Server Reporting Services will become mandatory for all Sunrise
report writing and distribution of Sunrise reports with the future release of Sunrise 5.0 XA.
There are several important things to consider and tasks that must be performed when installing and
configuring Sunrise SQL Server Reporting services. These points of consideration and tasks are as follows:
1.) the location of Sunrise SQL Reporting Services, 2.) the installation of additional components, 3.) the
installation and configuration of the development workstation, 4.) the environment profile configuration for
the SQL Server Reporting Services URI, and 5.) the security configuration for SQL Server Reporting Services.
Each one of these steps is discussed in more detail below.
Location of Sunrise SQL Reporting Services
The location of the SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services server is a very important consideration in order
to provide users with the best performance possible. Eclipsys recommends that the Sunrise SQL Server
Reporting Services database be installed and ran on a server that is separate from the Sunrise XA database
server. Database and network traffic generated from Sunrise SQL Server Reporting Services will have an
adverse impact on the Sunrise XA master active database and will greatly hinder the overall performance of
the Sunrise XA system.
Depending on the additional components that are installed with Sunrise SQL Server Reporting Services, the
server should be installed either on the consolidated server or a stand-alone server that can also be used
as a development workstation to edit and configure SQL reports.
Installation of Additional Components
Sunrise SQL Reporting Services requires that additional software be installed. There is also a
particular order in which this software must be installed. The additional software and the order in which
the Sunrise SQL Reporting Services’ additional software should be installed are as follows:
Internet Information Services (IIS) version 5.1 or later
The Internet Information Services (IIS) software should be installed on the same server as the Sunrise
SQL Report Services server. IIS must be installed first in order for the Sunrise SQL Reporting Services’
virtual directory to be created during the installation of the Sunrise SQL Reporting Services. After the
installation of Sunrise SQL Reporting Services and the creation of the virtual directory, IIS will also be
used by the server administrator to configure and maintain the properties and security of the Sunrise SQL
Reporting Services’ Internet interface.
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 with Service Pack 3 or higher
SQL Server 2000 with Service Pack 3 or higher should be installed on the Sunrise SQL Reporting Services
server in order for the Reporting Services database to be created during the Sunrise SQL Reporting Services
installation.
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services with Service Pack 2
After SQL Server 2000 is installed on the SQL Reporting Services server, SQL Server 2000 Reporting
Services should also be installed. When the SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services is installed on the same
server as SQL Server 2000, no additional licenses are required.
Once SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services is installed, the SQL Server Reporting Services Service Pack 2
installation must also be completed.
Sunrise 4.5 XA SQL Reporting Services
After all the necessary components are installed, Sunrise 4.5 XA SQL Reporting Services should now be
installed. The Sunrise 4.5 XA SQL Reporting Services application should be installed on the same SQL
Reporting Services server where the aforementioned components have already been installed. In addition, the
Sunrise 4.5 XA SQL Reporting Services must also be installed on any development workstations the site has
designated to use as the workstation to edit SQL Reports.
Installation and Configuration of the Development Workstation
A development workstation should be set-up for your site to use if you want to modify your SQL Reports to
use with Sunrise XA SQL Reporting Services. There are two different locations where the development
workstation can be used. These locations and their requirements for each location are as follows:
The Development Workstation set up on the SQL Reporting Services Server
The development workstation can be installed on the same server where SQL Server Reporting Services is
installed. The same components that are installed for the SQL Reporting Services must be installed as well
as one additional component. Microsoft’s VS.NET application must also be installed in order for users to
configure SQL Reports. The VS.NET application must be installed after IIS is installed on the server and
before the Microsoft SQL Server 2000 installation is performed. As part of the VS.NET application install,
the ASP.NET Web Components must also be installed.
After VS.NET and the ASP.NET Web Components are installed on the SQL Reporting Services server, the
VS.NET application must be registered to IIS. This can be done by running the following command:
“<vs.net installed path>/aspnet_regiis.exe - i”
The Development Workstation installed on a Stand-Alone Machine
The development workstation can also be installed on a stand-alone workstation. In this case, the only
requirements are as follows:
- The VS.NET with ASP.NET Web Components must be installed.
- The ASP.NET Web Component service must be registered to IIS.
- SQL Server Reporting Services with Reporting Services Service Pack 1 must be installed on the
development workstation.
After all the pre-requisite software is installed on the development workstation, the Sunrise 4.5 XA SQL
Reporting Services application can now be successfully installed. Please refer to the Installation Guide
for more information on how to install the Sunrise 4.5 XA SQL Reporting Services application.
Environment Profile Configuration for the Reporting Services URI
After the Sunrise XA 4.5 SQL Reporting Services installation is complete, the environment profile setting
for the URI of the SQL Server Reporting Services server must be created. This must be done before the SQL
reports can be ran from within the Sunrise 4.5 XA applications. The environment profile setting is created
and configured from within the Configuration Tools application of Sunrise 4.5 XA.
Security Configuration for SQL Server Reporting Services
The default installation of Sunrise 4.5 XA SQL Server Reporting Services grants full access to the user
account performing the installation. However, all other accounts, including the anonymous account are
granted ‘No Access’ rights. Furthermore, additional security constraints are applied due to the fact that
Sunrise XA reports are published at run-time.
There are additional security configurations that must be completed on the SQL Server Reporting Services
server after the installation of the Sunrise 4.5 XA SQL Reporting Services application in order to allow
users the ability to view and distribute reports. These security configurations are as follows:
- Add an anonymous Internet Information Server (IIS) user account to SQL Server Reporting Services.
- Grant the anonymous IIS user account roles that allow for report publication and viewing.
- Enable anonymous access to the SQL Server Reporting Services web site.
The powerful, report-generating integration engine of Sunrise 4.5 XA SQL Reporting Services built on
Microsoft’s SQL Server Reporting Service functionality allows users to have greater access for report
maintenance and ease of report viewing and distribution.
The installation and configuration of Sunrise 4.5 XA SQL Reporting services will also help prepare you
for a better and complete transition to Sunrise 5.0 XA where SQL Server Reporting will become the required
reporting application. These items of consideration and the completion of the tasks presented in this
article will help make your site more successful and efficient in the use of your reports now as well as in
the future.