In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:
- Adjusting a report server's configuration
- Setting up report deployment settings
- Deploying reports
- Creating Cue definitions
- Adding a Cue group
- Adding Cues
- Editing quick links
- Configuring Analysis Services
This chapter focuses on the administration tasks for reporting, business intelligence, and user interface elements that provide key business information (metrics) to our users.
All reporting and analysis are performed through close integration in Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) and SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS). The reporting services' integration is very tight. Even though reporting services is a separate product, the user experience is that of an internal reporting framework. The development of reports is also tightly integrated into AX, although some work is required by the developer or administrator in order to deploy them (refer to the Deploying reports recipe).
For Analysis Services, you are supplied with a default analysis service project, which is built using metadata from the model store. The development of Analysis Services' cubes is beyond the scope of this book, but we will go through the configuration of Analysis Services and deploying the standard cubes.
Although your reporting services' configuration will be configured as part of the original installation, there are occasions when we need to change this configuration or add to it. For example:
- Installation of a new Application Object Server (AOS): If you install a new AX Server (which is an AOS), you will need to tell that server which report server it should use
- Move the report server to a new physical host: In this case, you will need to update all the AX Servers that use it to point to the correct location
- Environment refresh: More commonly, once we have refreshed a test environment from a live environment, we need to adjust the report server configuration to point to the correct report server
The third example can be the most frustrating for the developers as their report appears to remain the same despite the changes they have made; they are even more amazed when it continues to work when they have deleted it.