SSRS - Programmatically import built Reports

Question

Are there any known good practices on how to import Reports into Reporting Services, without using it's built-in GUI?

I'm in a situation where a project need to upload and update reports to a report server easily, but also be able to easily switch between test and production environment when deploying reports.

Some advice here?

Can I use SSIS integration packets for deploy?

I understand there is a Report WebService. It is usable for this?

Answer 1

Reporting Services offers the rs.exe tool for this sort of thing.

See rs Utility (rs.exe) (SSRS).

This utility takes a VB.NET script which contains code that interacts with a specified SSRS web service.

You can add user-defined parameters to specify any other required variable.

The main advantage with this is that rs.exe already has all the required references built in, so all you need to is specify the deployment location instead of creating a .NET project with WSDL references, etc.

Disadvantage is that obviously this needs to be installed where you're deploying, i.e. typically run on a server with SSRS already installed. Also, it's VB.NET, which might not be to your taste. But the core functionality, i.e. connection to the web service, basic file operations are all natively available.

You can also use these same sort of web service calls with Powershell.

See Deploying SSRS artefacts using Powershell ( Simply).

This is another lightweight option, depends on how much you like working with Powershell, but all functionality, i.e. file manipulation and web service interaction can be achieved.

I would look at rs.exe in the first instance.

Answer 2

Try using the web service, at first it might seem a little difficult.

Use this link to get started.

There are many more such solutions based on the rs.exe utility that will let you publish reports on a server.