Securing My Reports
The My Reports feature provides a user-managed workspace for working with reports. In order to serve its intended purpose, the My Reports folder requires less restrictive permissions than other folders that are available for general use. Users who have permissions to only view and run reports in other folders might require an expanded set of permissions to manage their My Reports folders and content that they own. Reporting Services provides a specialized role assignment and role definition for this purpose.
Note
My Reports is available only in Report Manager. It is not available in SQL Server Management Studio.
Role Assignment for My Reports
The role assignment for My Reports has preset elements and is automatically created for each user who activates a My Reports folder. Having the report server automatically assign security is especially useful for organizations that use My Reports widely because administrators do not have to enable access for each My Reports user.
A My Reports role assignment consists of the following elements:
- The user's My Reports folder, which is located in Users Folders\<username>\My Reports folder.
- The user account, which is determined when the My Reports folder is activated. A folder is activated when a user clicks a My Reports folder in Report Manager or when publishing a report to a My Reports folder from Report Designer. This folder is also activated when a user requests properties on the My Reports link.
- The predefined role definition for My Reports.
Role Definition for My Reports
The My Reports role definition includes tasks that support content management of a My Reports folder. The My Reports role is intended to be a single-purpose role. Although you can choose it for any item-level security policy, you should avoid doing so to minimize the chance that you will modify it to accommodate other folder requirements. Reserving the My Reports role for the My Reports feature can help you maintain a consistent experience for users.
By default, only report server administrators modify the My Reports role. You can customize the My Reports role by changing the tasks it contains. You can also substitute a different role. For more information, see My Reports Role.
Denying Access to My Reports
You can prevent users from accessing My Reports by:
- Disabling My Reports on the Site Settings page. For more information, see Enabling and Disabling My Reports.
- Removing all tasks from the My Reports role.
When you disable My Reports, the link to a My Reports folder is removed from Report Manager. The underlying folder structure that supports My Reports (that is, the Users Folders folder and subfolders) is still available and can be accessed if a user knows the folder path. Removing tasks from My Reports role ensures that access is prevented.
See Also
Concepts
Managing My Reports
Securing Reports and Resources
Securing Folders
Managing Permissions and Security for Reporting Services