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Install Microsoft Report Builder

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Applies to: SQL Server 2016 (13.x) Reporting Services and later  Power BI Report Server

Microsoft Report Builder is an essential tool for people who create detailed, customized paginated reports.

For organizations with administrators, you can ask an administrator to install and configure Report Builder through the Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager. Administrators can manage permissions, download Report Builder from the web portal, and oversee folders and shared datasets saved to the report server.

If you don't have an administrator and need to install Report Builder yourself, several methods are available:

Whether you're setting up the software for your own use or deploying it across multiple machines, these methods ensure a smooth installation process.

Note

For information on Power BI Report Builder instead, see Microsoft Power BI Report Builder page on the Download Center.

Prerequisites

  • A supported Windows operating system: Windows 10, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2022, Windows 11
  • Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6
  • 80 MB of available hard disk space
  • 512 MB of RAM

Install Report Builder with Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager

Administrators can use Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager to push Report Builder to your computer. To learn how to use specific software to install Report Builder with Configuration Manager, see Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager documentation.

Important

Security features in Windows versions 10 and later require elevated permissions to run command line operations and prompt for permission to run the command line. The installation isn't silent. To make the installation silent, you need to run the command line as an administrator.

Install Report Builder from the web portal

Note

You can install Report Builder from a SharePoint library integrated with Reporting Services through SQL Server 2016.

You can start Microsoft Report Builder from a Reporting Services web portal or a SharePoint site integrated with Reporting Services. For information, see Start Microsoft Report Builder.

SharePoint site integrated with Reporting Services

On a SharePoint site integrated with Reporting Services, if the New Document menu doesn't list Report Builder Report, Report Builder Model, and Report Data Source, their content types need to be added to the SharePoint library. For more information, see Add Reporting Services content types to a SharePoint library.

Install Report Builder from the download site

  1. On the Report Builder page of the Microsoft Download Center , select Download.

  2. After Report Builder finishes downloading, open the ReportBuilder.msi file.

  3. Select Next.

  4. Accept the terms in the license agreement and select Next.

  5. On the Feature Selection page, select Next.

  6. On the Default Target Server page, you can provide the URL to the target report server if it's different from the default. Select Next.

    Note

    If you'd like to work with Report Builder when it's connected to a report server, provide the URL to the server at this time. You can also do this from the Options dialog in Reporting Services.

  7. Select Install to complete the installation.

Install Report Builder from a shared network folder

  1. Ask your administrator for the location of ReportBuilder.msi.

  2. Browse to the shared network folder and open ReportBuilder.msi.

  3. Complete the steps in the Install Report Builder from the download site section.

Install Report Builder from the command line

You can also perform a command line installation of Report Builder and provide arguments to customize the installation. In addition to the standard Microsoft Installer (msi) intrinsic parameters, you can use the custom parameters that Report Builder provides: RBINSTALLDIR and RBSERVERURL. RBINSTALLDIR specifies the root installation folder for Report Builder. RBSERVERURL specifies the default report server that Report Builder uses to save reports on the server.

If you want a silent installation, with no user interface interaction at all, specify the /quiet option. By design, the quiet option flag suppresses installation errors. Therefore, we recommended that you include the /l option to specify logging when you use the quiet option.

  1. On the Report Builder download page, select Download.

  2. On the Start menu, select Run.

  3. In the Open box, enter cmd.

  4. In the Command Prompt window, navigate to the folder where you saved ReportBuilder.msi.

  5. Enter a command with the following format:

    msiexec /i ReportBuilder.msi OPTION=OptionValue [OPTION=OptionValue]

    The two options specific to installing Report Builder are: RBINSTALLDIR and RBSERVERURL. You don't have to include these arguments in the command line. The following example is the baseline command:

    msiexec /i ReportBuilder3_x86.msi /quiet

  6. Select Enter to run the command.

Set Report Builder defaults

After you install Report Builder, you can set default options. Open Report Builder and select File > Options.

Setting the default report server or SharePoint site is the most useful. For more information, see Set default options for Report Builder.

Microsoft Report Builder in a virtualized environment

Microsoft Report Builder is fully supported on Azure Virtual Desktop (formerly Windows Virtual Desktop) and Windows 365.

Running Microsoft Report Builder as a virtualized application (for example, as a Citrix application) isn't supported.

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