Allen Kinsel - SQL DBA
SQL Server, PASS, and other data mishaps
Adventures in SSRS
Jan 7th
Came across a strange permission issue today that I thought I’d blog about since it is apparently somewhat common judging by the number of unanswered forum posts about it.
Adding/editing or Testing SSRS Datasources in Report Manager generates a permission error
A developer was trying to add a datasource and use “test connection” in the report manager web interface instead of BIDS which, incidentally worked. When they tried to save or test the data source, an error occurred “The permissions granted to user “Domain\User” are insufficient for performing this operation. (rsAccessDenied)” After much websearching and digging through verbose SSRS logs, SQL Traces, Windows Event logs, Process Monitor traces, etc. I had just about given up hope and turned to twitter to vent about the error. Luckily, Chris Testa-O’Neill , Doug Lane, and Tamera Clark came to my rescue and headed me down the right path of this being an SSRS catalog permission issue (Thanks again!)
Environment Details
SSRS 2008r2
Folder inheritance is broken and the developer account has Browser permissions on the root folder as well as Browser, Publisher and Report Builder permissions on the sub-folder. There are no system level permissions for the account.
The Problem
In the SSRS error log I found the following messages which are only slightly more helpful (Highlighted for influence)
System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException: System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException: The permissions granted to user ‘Domain\User’ are insufficient for performing this operation. —> Microsoft.ReportingServices.Diagnostics.Utilities.AccessDeniedException: The permissions granted to user ’Domain\User’ are insufficient for performing this operation.
at Microsoft.ReportingServices.WebServer.ReportingService2010Impl.TestConnectForDataSourceDefinition(DataSourceDefinition DataSourceDefinition, String UserName, String Password, String& ConnectError)…
The command is failing on the “TestConnectForDataSourceDefinition” method. The permissions needed are those required by this method.
The Fix
Near the bottom of the documentation for the TestConnectForDataSourceDefinition the permissions required are listed as “Execute report definition”
Granting this permission is accomplished by connecting to the SSRS server with SSMS and creating a new system role with just this permission
Then grant the new role “Execute Report Definitions” permission
Finally add the user account to the new system role, this is done in report manager under Site Settings ->Security -> New Role Assignment
PASS Chapters Update Q4 2012
Dec 20th
Welcome New Chapters
This past quarter several new Chapters have joined the PASS community:
Astrakhan .NET & SQL User Group, Russia, led by Yana Kuranova
SQL Professionals of Northwest Nevada, US, led by Christopher Sherrill
Taiwan SQL Server User Group, China, led by Byron Hu and Pohan Chen
Codificando .NET, Sao Paulo, Brazil, led by Erickson Ricci
PASS Beijing, China, led by Quan Zhang
BIDN, Johannesburg, South Africa, led by Mark Stacey
BITUGA, Portugal led by Paulo Matos
New Zealand BI User Group, led by Reza Rad
We also have had a lot of new Chapter Leaders join us in existing Chapters as well as rebooting some inactive Chapters and we look forward to helping them keep their Chapters thriving. Be sure to reach out to your Regional Mentors and the PASS Community Evangelists for any questions you have, they are here to help you.
Regional Mentor Updates
It has been great to see more and more Chapter Leaders utilizing the great resources we have in Regional Mentors. We have some Regional Mentor changes to announce for January 2013.
Leaving the role of RM for the UK is Chris Testa O’Neill. Chris has done a tremendous job in helping with the awareness and growth of PASS in the UK the past couple of years and we are thankful for his efforts. Taking the reins in the UK and working along with Jonathan Allen in 2013 will be Mark Broadbent. Mark has been a great supporter of PASS as well as a strong Chapter leader and presenter, and most recently hosted his first SQLSaturday in Cambridge. His experiences in these areas will be a great benefit to helping others in his region.
Alexandro Prado is leaving his role as RM for Brazil after much success in spreading PASS communities in that region. Due to the tremendous size and growth potential Brazil, we decided to appoint two RMs to cover that region. Luciano Moreira, of the Chapter in Brasilia, will work along-side with Laerte Junior out of Sao Paulo. Laerte was co-leader of SQLSaturday #100, the first PASS SQL Saturday event in Brazil. We are confident that Luciano and Laerte will make a dynamo team for that country, and we look forward to seeing what will come in 2013.
I’d like to once again thank Alexandro and Chris for their volunteer time commitment as well as their service to PASS in this key role for Chapters. Their efforts in their local regions will be recognized as the foundation that we will build on for years to come.
Updated Chapters Toolset
Chapter leaders have hopefully already heard about improvements we are making in the tools PASS has for Chapters. We are continually rolling out new improvements so be sure to check in often for updates. To see what we’ve been up to, if you are a PASS Chapter leader and have a PASS hosted DNN site, log into your admin page. If you don’t have a PASS Hosted DNN site, head to the dashboard at http://www.sqlpass.org/PASSChapters/ChapterDashboard.aspx. There you can see:
Profile/Addresses
We are displaying most of the information we have about your chapter within the dashboard. I would like to request that every chapter leader log in to the dashboard and make sure the information is up-to-date. Some fields are intentionally not user updateable so if a field cannot be updated, and needs to be corrected please send an email to with the update you’d like to make. Please pay particular attention to the “Chapter Leaders” tab when making sure the information is correct. In the future we will be relying on this information being up-to-date when making key decisions about Chapters.
Events/Meetings
For Chapters using a PASS hosted website, you can now benefit from the Events module integration. With this new tool you can enter your event/meeting details in one place and it will auto update those details to the Events page of the SQLPASS website, as well as to your home page of your own Chapter website and your event will also show up on myPASS for members associated with your Chapter. Other events module features include local timezone/ical support, prescheduling future meetings, uploading of meeting presentations/resources, auto archiving old events and more. For instructions on how to setup & publish an event, check out our handy guide listed on the Chapter Resources page. We will continue to update this module with more features in the coming months. Future plans include linking to many other sites/marketing avenues as well as better support for RSVP’s and more.
Chapter Emailer
In addition to contacting those members who’ve registered with PASS and are associated with your Chapter, you can now upload your own mailing lists and email those specific lists about your Chapter. Thank you for the great feedback about the Emailer during the Chapter Leader Meeting at Summit. We’re working to ensure many of your concerns will be addressed in future versions of the tool. As myPASS use increases we are seeing more and more PASS members associate themselves with local Chapters so don’t miss out on this opportunity to reach a great pool of potential new members.
myPASS
MyPASS is the new default homepage for all PASS members who are logged in to the main SQLPASS.org site. We designed this page to bring all of the Chapter and Virtual Chapter meeting information into one easy to use interface for your members. While looking at myPASS please check your profile and make sure it is up to date as well. Early in the new year, the Chapter dashboard will be getting the myPASS look and feel. It will show up on the left side as a tab that is visible only to Chapter Leaders
Summit Downloads for Chapter Leaders
Finally some news I know Chapter leaders have been patiently waiting for! Chapter Leaders should now have access to download the Summit 2012 sessions. The following should enable you to begin downloading/streaming the sessions immediately:
- Go to the Summit 2012 Session listings (you will need to login, or be currently logged in with your PASS Chapter leader Account)
http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2012/Sessions/BuildSchedule.aspx
- Click on the “session recording” link next to the session name
- From there you should see a DOWNLOAD button below the streaming player
- Note that in order to play this file you may need to update codecs in your media player
If you are unable to download the sessions, please contact the helpdesk
Introducing Wendy Pastrick
As you may know by now, Wendy Pastrick was elected to the PASS Board of Directors during the last election, and will begin her term on the Board January 1, 2013 by leading the Global Chapters portfolio. PASS’s support of local Chapters through Regional Mentors, Community Evangelists, tools, best practices, and more has grown tremendously over the last few years, but there’s still much to do. I hope you will all welcome Wendy and continue to provide her the same great feedback you always have with me. Wendy can be reached on .
Goodbye for now or until we meet again
As my year as Director of Global Chapters is coming to a close, I wanted to take this opportunity thank each of you for helping Chapters as well as recognize the progress we made together this year in helping PASS communities grow stronger. We were able to make some very visible progress during the last year to better support PASS Chapters and their members and with the team we have in place I expect we will maintain that momentum going forward.
I’ll be staying involved with the PASS Community going forward and for now I’ll be focusing on wrapping up some of the Chapter tools changes and working towards a successful handoff of that project. It has been my privilege to work with y’all and I look forward to seeing each of you in the future.
It was 2 good years
Oct 17th
The voters have spoken and I will not be returning to the PASS board as an elected director in 2013. A week ago I wrote a post about campaigning being hard and in it I wrote something that I believe and keep coming back to.
I’ve spent many thousands of hours of my life serving the PASS organization and want the opportunity to spend a few hundred
thousandmore in the same role over the next two years. However, if by chance the community wants to see someone else in my seat on the board I can live with that, there aren’t any bad choices.
As much time and energy as I’ve put into PASS over the years this outcome stung a bit personally but I’ve come to accept the reality of it. Thanks to everyone who supported me in this election cycle, I was truly humbled to receive your support.
Congrats to JRJ, Sri and Wendy. I’m sure yall will do a great job keeping the organization moving forward on the right track.
Have your voice heard
Oct 12th
Its nearing the end of the road for this years PASS elections cycle and according to the elections timeline, in just a few short hours this years election will be over. Voting will officially end at 12PST tomorrow. To help the inner procrastinator in all of us, heres a link that should tell you when the very last moment is for your vote to count!
Hopefully if you’re taking the time to read this blog you are in the final stages of deciding which of the 5 candidates for the PASS Board of Directors you’d like to vote for. I want to thank you for being an educated PASS member and taking your valuable time to vet the candidates. In order to help make that process a bit easier, following is an aggregate of all my pass views about the election.
Detailed info about my candidacy
- Outlining my decision to run and a few important opportunities for change
- A recap of some issues I plan on tackling
- Why Campaigning amongst friends is tough
- Listing many of the things Ive accomplished on the board in 2 years
- Outlining a strategic advantage I have to getting things done
- My answers to questions on the PASS elections forums
- Official election platform
Additional places around the web where I’ve been mentioned
- Grant Fritchey appreciates my PASSion
- David Stein has witnesed my ability to listen and care about community issues
- An audio interview with Denny Cherry
- Ryan Adams believes in the changes & effort Ive put forward
- Laerte Junior likes the direction we’re headed
- Letter of recomendation from Andy Warren
- Letter of recomendation from Jeremiah Peschka
- Letter of recomendation from TJay Belt
Hopefully this makes finding as much info as you need about what I stand for with PASS easier to find. I would be honored If you would cast one of your votes for me. I’m running for the PASS Board of Directors, and I need your help to make a difference.
Getting things done on the PASS Board
Oct 10th
Previously I’ve written about many things I’ve done while on the PASS Board. It’s often easy to take credit as a member of the board for doing things with PASS. The reality though is that there’s always more to it than just deciding to do something, digging in and personally accomplishing some goal. PASS is lucky to have a paid staff that executes on many of our objectives. This staff collectively is often referred to simply as “HQ” and they are the primary source of continuity within the organization.
PASS HQ
PASS HQ consists of about 16 people who are permanent salaried staff and at times (summit) upwards of a dozen additional contractors. The Community Evangelists (Karla Landrum and Niko Neugebauer) will be the most likely contact points for most community members however they are just the front lines. The other people within the HQ team are where much of the additional work happens that allows us to put on great events like the Summit. These largely unsung heroes of the SQL community do the majority of the heavy lifting from day to day and in many ways should be recognized as critical members of our SQL Community even if most of them wouldn’t know a tempdb from a checkdb.
Relationships matter
Learning to work within the HQ structure is very important for Board members as HQ has such a huge impact on all things PASS that they can greatly contribute to helping make a board member’s priorities a reality or conversely they can contribute to that same board member’s priorities languishing. I’m happy to say that in the years I’ve been volunteering with PASS, I have taken the time to build strong relationships across the organization that allow me to get things done effectively. Building these relationships has not always been a cakewalk, in fact far from it, but adversity seems to have had a way of making the working relationship I have within PASS HQ better. Knowing where to turn within HQ to get answers or to unstick a hung process has proven to be invaluable in my tenure as a volunteer with PASS and now even more so as a Board member.
Please consider voting for me. I’m running for the PASS Board of Directors, and I need your help to make a difference. Click here to read about why I’m running.
