Report Viewer (Processing Mode - Remote)

Hate the yellow header and necessary links when viewing reports directly from the server? Hate is such a strong word maybe dislike.

One option(amongst others) is to create a customised report that runs on your web server, sounds like work to me. Another option is to change the reporting services config file to hide.collapse it, not an option if you share the server since this will affect all users.

Why don't we just run the rdl (report definition file) file from the server through report viewer. Good news, you can!

Did I mention the report runs faster, lets begin.

Report Viewer Configuration

Make sure the processing more is set to "Remote", use the markup below as a guide for the rest.

<ServerReport ReportServerUrl="http://<report server name/ip>/ReportServer" ReportPath="/<folder path>" DisplayName="Returns"></ServerReport>
</rsweb:reportviewer>

Things to Note


  • Use ReportServer not Reports when post-fixing the ReportServerUrl

  • There is no need to prefix the ReportPath with 'Reports'

  • The file type does not need to be specified e.g. '.rdl', leave it out


On final thing, allow your web server (iis) to view the report. Give '<domain name>/<server name>$' browsing rights.