Edit

Share via

Integrate with Power BI Report Server

  • Article

Applies to: Configuration Manager (current branch)

You can integrate Power BI Report Server with Configuration Manager reporting. This integration gives you modern visualization and better performance. It adds console support for Power BI reports similar to what already exists with SQL Server Reporting Services.

Save Power BI Desktop report files (.PBIX) and deploy them to the Power BI Report Server. This process is similar as with SQL Server Reporting Services report files (.RDL). You can also launch the reports in the browser directly from the Configuration Manager console.

Prerequisites

Configure the reporting services point

This process varies depending upon whether you already have this role in the site.

You have a reporting services point

Only use this process if you already have a reporting services point in the site. Do all steps of this process on the same server:

  1. In Reporting Services Configuration Manager, back up the Encryption Keys. For more information, see SSRS Encryption Keys - Back Up and Restore Encryption Keys.

    Warning

    If you skip this step, you'll lose access to any custom reports in SQL Server Reporting Services.

  2. Remove the reporting services point role from the site.

  3. Uninstall SQL Server Reporting Services, but keep the database.

  4. Install Power BI Report Server.

  5. Configure the Power BI Report Server

    1. Use the previous report server database.

    2. Use Reporting Services Configuration Manager to restore the Encryption Keys.

    • Before you add the reporting services point role in Configuration Manager, use SQL Server Reporting Services Configuration Manager to test and verify the configuration. For more information, see Verify SQL Server Reporting Services installation.

  6. Add the reporting services point role in Configuration Manager.

You don't have a reporting services point

Only use this process if you don't already have a reporting services point in the site. Do all steps of this process on the same server:

  1. Install Power BI Report Server.

  2. Add the reporting services point role in Configuration Manager. For more information, see Configure reporting.

Configure the Configuration Manager console

  1. On a computer that has the Configuration Manager console, update the Configuration Manager console to the latest version.

  2. Install Power BI Desktop. Make sure the language is the same and verify the versioning prerequisites.

  3. After it installs, launch Power BI Desktop at least once before you open the Configuration Manager console.

Create Power BI reports

  1. In the Configuration Manager console, go to the Monitoring workspace, expand Reporting, and select the new Power BI Reports node.

  2. In the ribbon, select Create Report. This action opens Power BI Desktop.

  3. Create a report in Power BI Desktop.

  4. When the report is ready to save, go to the File menu, select Save as, then choose Power BI Report Server.

  5. In the Power BI Report Server Selection window, enter the URL for the reporting services point as the New report server address. For example, https://rsp.contoso.com/Reports. Select OK.

  6. In the Save report window, double-click the ConfigMgr_<SiteCode> folder. For example, ConfigMgr_PS1, where PS1 is the ConfigMgr site code. You can optionally choose or create (from the report server) a sub folder to store it in.

    Tip

    Reports and report folders with Power BI reports must be located in the ConfigMgr_<SiteCode> folder on the report server or they won't appear in the Configuration Manager console.

  7. In File name, enter a name for the report.

In the Configuration Manager console, you see the new report in the list of Power BI Reports. If you don't see your reports, verify that you saved the reports to the ConfigMgr_<SiteCode> folder.

There are sample reports available for download. For more information, see Install Power BI sample reports.

Power BI report templates in Community hub

Using Community hub, you can share Power BI report templates you've created and download templates that others have shared.

Contributing a Power BI report template (PBIT) files to Community hub

  1. Open the Configuration Manager console and go to Community > Community hub
  2. If needed, select Sign in to sign into GitHub. You'll see the Your hub link after signing in.
  3. Select Your hub then Add an item to launch the Contribute item wizard.
  4. For the Type, choose Power BI Report Template then select Browse.
  5. Choose the .pbit file you want to contribute, then select Open.
  6. Edit the Name and Description for the report template then select Next when done.
  7. On the Organization page, select the GitHub Organization to use for organization branding if needed. Select Next to upload the template.
  8. Once the item is uploaded, you'll be given the pull request URL of the change for monitoring.
  9. Select Close when you're done to exit the wizard.

Downloading a Power BI report template (PBIT) file from Community hub

  1. Open the Configuration Manager console, go to Community > Community hub.

  2. From All objects or a search, choose a Power BI report template, then select Download.

  3. Select a file location to save the downloaded .pbit file and choose Save.

  4. If Power BI Desktop (Optimized for Power BI Report Server) is installed, you'll be prompted to open the .pbit file.

  5. Select Yes and Power BI Desktop (Optimized for Power BI Report Server) will load the .pbit file.

  6. Specify your Configuration Manager database name and database server name when prompted, then select Load.

    Note

    When loading or applying the data model, ignore any errors if you come across one. For example, if you see the following error: "Connecting to tables from more than one database isn't supported in DirectQuery mode", select Close. Then refresh the data source settings:

    1. In Power BI Desktop, in the ribbon, select Edit Queries, and then select Data source settings.
    2. Select Change Source, confirm your server and database names, and select OK.
    3. Close the data source settings window, and then select Apply changes.

  7. When the report data is loaded, select File > Save As, then select Power BI Report Server.

  8. Save the report to a folder on the root Configuration Manager reporting folder on the reporting point. You may want to create a Downloaded Reports folder for these items.

  9. Repeat the steps for any other report templates that were downloaded. When you're done, close Microsoft Power BI Desktop (Optimized for Power BI Report Server).

Known issues

There's a known issue with Power BI Report Server and email subscriptions. After you configure the email settings in the Reporting Services Configuration Manager, when you try to create a new subscription, the option to deliver a report by Email isn't available. To work around this issue, restart the Power BI Report Server service.

Next steps

After you create a report, use the following actions in the Configuration Manager console:

  • Run in Browser: Opens the Power BI report in the web browser. Share this URL with others, for example: https://rsp.contoso.com/Reports/POWERBI/ConfigMgr_ABC/Windows%2010/Windows10%20Dashboard?rs:embed=true

    Tip

    You can only view these reports in the web browser.

  • Edit: Make changes to the report in Power BI Desktop. For an existing report, use the Save option to save changes back to the report server.

  • Add to Favorites: Starting in version 2103, you can make a report a favorite. This action allows you to quickly access it from the Favorites node. For more information, see Operations and maintenance for reporting.

For more information on log files to use for reporting, see Log file reference - Reporting.