Roman's Weekly SQL Server Tip - How to run Reporting Services 2000 and 2005 side by side
When I was installing SQL Server 2005 last weekend, one of the first things I wanted to find out was whether I could run SSRS 2000 and SSRS 2005 on the same computer. I seriously doubted it was possible knowing that RS installs a windows service and creates a couple of ASP.NET sites. But after a lot of digging in BOL, I found that you can indeed run both version on the same computer under certain conditions - you have to run Windows Server 2003, SQL Server 2000 has to be the default instance and SQL Server 2005 has to be a named instance. This procedure is from BOL:
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Verify that SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services is running as the default instance.
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Run Setup for SQL Server 2005. When you use the SQL Server Installation Wizard, specify a unique instance name on the Instance Name page. When you run Setup from the command prompt, specify a unique instance name by using the instancename option.
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Choose a files-only installation for the report server. Use the install but do not configure option in the Report Server Installation Options page in the SQL Server Installation Wizard or RSCONFIGURATION=filesonly in a command line installation.
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Run the Reporting Services Configuration tool to deploy the new SQL Server 2005 instance. Choose a unique virtual directory for the report server and Report Manager. The names cannot be identical to those used in the SQL Server 2000 instance.
The path to the topic in BOL is "ms-help://MS.SQLCC.v9/MS.SQLSVR.v9.en/instsql9/html/4ae50570-7c84-4404-8f4f-f76b646f8518.htm".
I ran into a couple of issues. I was not for whatever reason able to configure a RS database. I tried creating it many times and the configuration tool was showing that it was not able to connect to the report server database. Eventually I got it working after uninstalling and reinstalling SSRS 2005. The other issue was that when I ran rsconfig manually (hoping I would be able to create connection settings this way), the utility was modifying the config file for my SSRS 2000 install. So keep in mind that if you decide to run rsconfig to configure SSRS 2005, you have to refernce the one in the "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Tools\Binn" folder because the DOS PATH will likely use the 2000 version since it appears in the PATH before the new one. The chance is that you may never have to touch it since the RS config tool can do the full setup, but it's good to know.
Before you start instaling SSRS 2005, you should backup up both RS 2000 databases, make a copy of the key and the RSReportServer.config file just in case your SSRS 2000 instance gets messed up.