SQL Server Reporting Services Service Start Timeout

SSRS will often timeout when starting under Windows Server:

The error is:  Windows could not start the SQL Server Reporting Services (MSSQLSERVER) service on local computer.  Error 1053:  The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion.

This problem is detailed here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2745448, and it's a result of the SSRS service checking for certificate revocation lists (CRL).  If you're like most people, you've got a firewall blocking Internet access from your server, so each call for a CRL has to time out before SSRS will start.

The above KB article mentions a handful of ways of dealing with this problem; the most-frequently used method is to increase the service start timeout in the registry.  This works, but it requires a server reboot.  And it doesn't really get to the root of the problem, that SSRS is taking a long time to start.

Now, generally a CRL is a good thing, even if only in theory.  But if your server can't get to the Internet, anyway, there's precious little danger of it getting to a revoked certificate.  After all, you're not using the server to browse the web.  Right?

So:  disable CRL checking within SSRS.  This is done with the generatePublisherEvidence elementin the ReportingServicesService.exe.config file.

By default, this file is in the <drive>:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSRSxxx.MSSQLSERVER\Reporting Services\ReportServer\bin directory.

To disable CRL checking, add the following just before the </runtime> tag at the bottom of the ReportingServicesService.exe.config file:

<generatePublisherEvidence enabled="false"/>

If SSRS is slow to start as a result of CRL checking, this will dramatically speed the service startup.  One benefit to doing this, too, is that it doesn't require a server reboot or anything to take effect:  it'll work at the next SSRS start.