1. | Run SSRS setup on the node that will become part of the cluster. The critical step here is to do a file only installation. When using the SQL Server Installation Wizard, this option is labeled Install But Do Not Configure the Server. |
2. | Run the SQL Server Surface Area Configuration Tool to configure the Report Server. The Report Server service must be up and running for this to work because it is what registers the installation with the Report Server database. |
3. | Open the Reporting Services Configuration Manager. |
4. | Configure the virtual directories for use by the Report Server and Report Manager. In most scale-out deployments, this should be identical on all machines. |
5. | Continue to the Database Setup page and enter or select the name of the SQL Server database instance to connect to. Click Connect to connect to the instance and retrieve the list of running databases. To create a new database, click New. The new database is created with the ID of whoever is running the configuration tool. |
6. | Enter the credentials for SSRS to use to log in to the database. |
7. | 7. Click Apply for SSRS to connect to the database and complete the activation process. |
8. | Click the Encryption Keys tab and make a backup of the SymMetric key. |
9. | Click the Initialization tab, and make sure the Initialized check box is checked. If it is not, click the Initialize button. |
10. | Continue to enter the email settings and unattended execution account. At this point, you can verify that the Report Server is operational by requesting a page from the Report Server virtual directory ( / ReportServer ). Repeat steps 1-10 for every server in a web farm. |
11. | Open the rsreportsserver.config file and change the <UrlRoot> tag to use the cluster name instead of the machine's physical name. |
12. | Open the rswebapplication.config file and change the <ReportServerUrl> tag to use the cluster name instead of the machine's physical name. |
To add nodes to an existing cluster, follow these steps:
1. | Run SSRS setup on the node that will become part of the cluster. The critical step here is to do a file only installation. When using the SQL Server Installation Wizard, this option is labeled Install But Do Not Configure the Server. |
2. | Run the SQL Server Surface Area Configuration Tool to configure the Report Server. The Report Server service must be up and running for this to work because it is what registers the installation with the Report Server database. |
3. | Open the Reporting Services Configuration Manager. |
4. | Configure the virtual directories for use by the Report Server and Report Manager. In most scale-out deployments, this should be identical on all machines. |
5. | Continue to the Database Setup page and enter the name of the SQL Server database instance to connect to. Click Connect to connect to the instance and retrieve the list of running databases. To connect to an existing database, click Upgrade. All nodes on the same scale-out deployment must point to the same database. |
6. | Enter the credentials for SSRS to use to log in to the database. |
7. | On the Initialization tab, the entry for the new node should exist, but the Initialized check box should not be checked. |
8. | Launch the Report Server Configuration Tool on a machine that has already been initialized. |
9. | On the Initialization tab, select the machine that is to be added to the scale-out configuration and select Join. At this point, the Initialized check box should appear for both machines in the configuration. |
10. | 10. Open the rswebapplication.config and the rsreportserver.config files and change the <ReportServerUrl> and the <UrlRoot> tags, respectively, to state the cluster name instead of the network name. |
Note
To use ASP.NET with a web farm, the validationKey and decryptionKey should be the same on every machine in the web farm. Details of how to accomplish this can be found in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base Article: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q312906.
To remove a server, simply uninitialize it by opening the Reporting Services Configuration Tool from any node on the cluster, selecting the node to be removed, and clicking the Remove button. To move a node, remove the node from its existing setup and follow the steps to add it to the new cluster.