Getting Started with JasperReports Server

Overview

JasperReports Server builds on the JasperReports Library to provide a fully functional report server. JasperReports Server provides important application features such as security, a repository, and scheduling. To enable integration with other applications and the capability to easily customize functionality, JasperReports Server exposes comprehensive public interfaces.

Jaspersoft offers various versions of JasperReports Server to its community including commercial versions. To understand which is right for you, please review our "Compare Editions" Web Page.

The Reader may also review the JasperReports Server User Guide » Introduction to JasperReports Server » Getting Started Page for more information.

The heart of the Jaspersoft BI Suite is JasperReports Server, which provides the ability to:

• Easily create new reports using an intuitive web-based drag and drop Ad Hoc reporting interface. (Professional Edition capability)
• Efficiently and securely manage many reports.
• Interact with reports, including entering parameters and drilling on data.
• Arrange reports and web content to create appealing, data-rich dashboards that quickly convey business trends. (Professional Edition capability)
• Host separate organizations securely and transparently through multi-tenancy. (Enterprise Edition capability)

For advanced BI users, Jaspersoft offers Jaspersoft OLAP, which runs as an add-on feature to JasperReports Server to provide OLAP based data analysis capabilities.

For more details, see What is JasperReports Server?

Requirements

See the supported platform datasheet for the currently supported browsers, application servers, JVM versions, and databases. 

In addition, for proper behavior, it is recommended that your browser security settings are set to allow the following:

• Cookies
• Pop-ups (new windows/tabs)
• Javascript
• AJAX
• DHTML

System requirements

The JasperReports Server Install Guide includes some basic minimum system requirements and JVM settings that should be used when running JasperReports Server.  Depending on your specific usage scenarios and JVM configurations, you will likely find that your JasperReports Server implementation requires additional resources in the form of Memory or CPU. The success of your deployment depends on tuning your system (including your JVM and network) to account for the following:

• The overall number of organizations, users, and reports to be stored in the system
• The number of concurrent users
• The size of the data sets against which analysis and reports will be run
• The size of the reports that could be run/scheduled concurrently
• The latency between the JasperReports Server and the databases it connects to.

In cases where there is a large population of users, large datasets, or many scheduled reports, etc., it is recommended that a 64-bit JVM be used to allow for the proper allocation of memory.

Downloading

You can download either the commercial or community versions of Jaspersoft products here.

Installation

The JasperReports Server Install Guide (available within the docs folder in the installation package or within the Docs area of the community site, is the official and best guidance for understanding how to install JasperReports Server.  However, the following provide a general description of the installation process:

• For an installation with the bundled installer, see Installer Distribution.
• For a manual, WAR file installations, see WAR File Binary Distribution.

Configuration

Here is a Jaspersoft Product Configuration Reference. Also, take a look at the JasperReports Server Ultimate Guide for additional information.

Using JasperReports Server

Connecting to Your Data

Creating a Datasource

• Connecting JasperReport Server to your Database for reporting (creating a datasource).
• Comprehensive List of Articles on Data Sources

Creating a Domain

• Creating a Domain from your datasource.
• Video Tutorials about Domains
• Comprehensive List of Articles on Domains

Domain Security

• Defining a Domain Security File.

Creating your first Ad Hoc View

Please review JasperReports Server User Guide, in particular, Chapter 5, Working with the Adhoc Editor.

What If I Need Help?

Here is a list of Jaspersoft's formal Support Options.

See Also...

For additional information, see the following resources:

• JasperReports Server product page on the Jaspersoft website
• JasperReports Server overview page on the Jaspersoft community site
• Getting Started with REST Web Service API
• Other JasperReports Server Getting Started Articles