Would it be better with a book template (i.e. the step style pages used in the installation guide)

Configure The Crystal Web Service

Both Quick Reports and Operational Reports of type Crystal Reports could be previewed and printed from both IFS Enterprise Explorer and IFS Web Client. Yet, there are some configuration parts one would have to carry out before using this feature. The following describes how you can install and setup the Crystal Report Web Service.

Contents

Installing and configuring Crystal Web Service

  

Local system Administrator account should be used for all the below configuration steps. 

Prerequisites

  1. CRYSTL component must be included in the build.
  2. Dot Net runtime version 4 or later. You can download and install this from the Microsoft download site, http://www.microsoft.com/download
  3. Java 1.5 or any certified java version should be installed. The path to the Java bin folder should be available in the PATH system environment variable. If you install Java after installing IIS, then restarting the World Wide Web Publishing service is required. In order for the Crystal Web Service to access the Java installation directory, make sure that execute access to the Java installation directory is given to the IIS_IUSR and  Authenticated users.
  4. Microsoft IIS.
  5. Install “IIS 6 Management Compatibility” Role. Follow the steps given below to install it. Without this the Crystal Web Service installation will not run properly.

     

    1. From Windows go to Start\Administrative Tools\Server Manage (This example is with respect to Windows 2008)

Server Manage

  1. On the left Navigation tree go to Server Manager\Roles\Web Server (IIS) and select "Add Role Service"

Add Role Service

  1. On the "Select Role Services" pane, scroll down to "IIS 6 Management Compatibility". Select the all check boxes underneath the node.

IIS 6 Management Compatibility

  1. Click "Next" from the "Select Role Services" pane, and then click "Install" at the "Confirm Installations Selections" pane.

Select Role Services

Confirm Installations Selections

  1. After the installation finishes successfully click “Close” to leave the “Add Role Services” wizard.
  1. Oracle Runtime Client needs to be installed. The client runtime of Oracle version 11G Release 2 (11.2) or any later certified Oracle version should be installed. When installing keep in mind that the Oracle Client Runtime and the Crystal Dot Net runtime files you install in step 8 should be of the same bit version. Both should be either 64 bit or 32 bit. Having mixed versions will cause database connect  issues. An entry matching the Oracle TNS entry specified under <ORACLE_TNS> tag found in ifs-crystal-config.xml in the Web Service installation folder needs to configured in to the tnsname.ora file. You will find this ifs-crystal-config.xml file after you install the Crystal Web Service. For example C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\IFSCRWebSetup.
  2. After installing the Oracle Runtime Client make sure that that line SQLNET.AUTHENTICATION_SERVICES= (NTS) in <ORACLE_HOME>\network\admin\sqlnet.ora file is commented. 
# SQLNET.AUTHENTICATION_SERVICES= (NTS)
  1. Install Crystal Dot Net runtime files. Locate the Crystal Merge Module which contains the Crystal Dot Net runtime files required to run the Web Service at <ifs_home>\instance\<instance_name>\CrystalWebService_xbit_<instance_name>.zip select the correct zip according to the architecture of the web-service host . Unzip and locate the correct mis file and install.
    eg:32bit CRRuntime_32bit_13_0_1.msi 
    eg:64bit CRRuntime_64bit_13_0_1.msi 

  2. When in a WindowsServer 2012 with .NET 4.5, the ASP.NET v4.5 should be enabled by following the below steps.
    Go to Server Manager > Add Roles and Features Wizard.

    Make sure to check on .NET 3.5 and 4.5 features under Features. Then install it.


If all prerequisites are met, follow the steps below to install and configure the Crystal Web Service.

  1. Create a folder in the machine where the Crystal Web Service is going to be installed and copy the Crystal Report files that are going to be previewed from IFS Enterprise Explorer to this folder. This folder will be referred to as the OpenReportPath later on in the installation process. If the reports are Info Services Reports make a folder by the ordering language inside the "OpenReportPath" folder and copy the files in to that languge folder. For example, if one is are going to order Info Service reports with "en" language then create a folder called "en" inside the "OpenReportPath" folder and copy the Info Service layout of type Crystal in to the "en" folder.
  2. From the Application Server locate the CrystalWebService_<instance_name>.zip file found at <ifs_home>\instance\<instance_name> where <instance_name> is the name of the Extended Server instance. Unpack it into a folder on the same or a different machine to install the Crystal Web Service. Run the setup.exe to install the Web Service.
  3. Select Default Web Site as the Site, enter a new name for the Virtual Directory or leave the default value as it is and select the Application Pool as ASP.NET v4.0 like in this example (or any the available latest version), click Next to start the installation. (If any of the recommended versions of .NET is unavailable, install\reinstall Dot Net and restart the setup )

Web Service Setup

  1. The following is shown if the installation is successful.

Web Service Setup

  1. After successfully installing the web service, browse to the virtual directory folder in wwwroot of IIS (e.g. C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\<Virtual Directory>) and open the Web.Config file from a text editor. Specify the folder where the Crystal Reports are stored under the key OpenReportPath. This is the same folder that was referred to as the OpenReportPath at the beginning of this installation process.

For example,

<appSettings>
   <add key="OpenReportPath" value="C:\reports\Test Reports\CXI"/>
</appSettings>
  1. Browse to <OS folder>\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.xxxx\CONFIG folder (e.g. C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\CONFIG) and open the machine.config file from a text editor. Under the  <configuration>\<system.web> section, comment the following line
<processModel autoConfig="true"/>

and insert the following line,

<processModel enable="true" userName="SYSTEM" password="AutoGenerate" />
  1. From the IIS, Check the Basic settings for the Virtual Directory , Make sure its running on ASP .NET v4.0 Application Pool.

  1. In IIS version 6 the Dot Net Web Service Extensions are Prohibited by default. Make sure these Web Service Extensions are Allowed in the environment where the Crystal Web Service is installed. To allow these extensions, from the IIS Manager, go to Web Service Extensions. From the right hand side panel make sure that the, Active Server Pages and ASP .NET v.4.0.xxxxx Web Service Extension status are set to Allowed. If not, select these two extensions and click the Allow button to (or select Allow from the RMB menu) change the status to Allowed.

Do the following in order to enable Web Service Extension in IIS version 7. Please note that this example is based to Windows 2008 and IIS 7.

  1. From Windows go to Start\Administrative Tools\Server Manage.
  2. On the left Navigation tree go to Server Manager\Roles\Web Server (IIS) and select "Add Role Service".
  3. On the "Select Role Services" pane, scroll down to "Application Development" and select “ASP .NET” and ”ASP” check boxes. You will be prompt to add some other required features in order for ASP .NET to run properly. Select “Add Required Role Services”.

Application Development

Add Required Role Services

  1. The final selection will look like below.

ASP Selection

  1. Click Next from the "Select Role Services" pane, and then click "Install" at the "Confirm Installations Selections" pane.
  2. After the installation finishes successfully click “Close” to leave the “Add Role Services” wizard.
  1. The "Anonymous Authentication" for the corresponding virtual directory should be enabled.
  2. Restart the machine which has the Crystal Web Service installed.

Configuring the System Parameters

One needs to configure some System Parameters in order for IFS to communicate with the Crystal Web Service. Namely these System Parameters are,

System Parameter Name Description Example
The machine name where the Crystal Web Service is installed The machine name to be used when accessing Crystal Web Service is installed. The default value is *. CMBGSEAPP4
The protocol of the Web Server where the Crystal Web Service is running The protocol to be used when accessing the Crystal Web Service. Normally this is the IIS default protocol. The default value is http. http
The IIS port for the above mentioned Web Server The port to be used when accessing the Crystal Web Service. Normally this is the IIS default port. The default value is 80. 80
The Virtual Directory name given to the Crystal Web Service in IIS The Virtual Directory name be used when accessing the Crystal Web Service. This is the name one would specify when installing the Crystal Web Service. The default value is IFSCRWebSetup. IFSCRWebSetup
Specify if web database access security check is required Specify if web database access security check is required when previewing/printing Quick Reports. The default value is 'NO'. NO

Note: If you set YES to web database access security system parameter then you need to add the CR_WEB_INIT procedure in the CRYSTAL_WEB_UTIL_API package to your Crystal layout. Check the developer guide lines on how to add the CR_WEB_INIT procedure  to a layout.

Enabling Crystal Web Service logs

Known limitations