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Upgrade and migrate Reporting Services

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

This article is an overview of the upgrade and migration options for SQL Server Reporting Services. Here are the general approaches to upgrading a SQL Server Reporting Services deployment:

  • Upgrade to Reporting Services 2016 and older from Reporting Services 2016 and older: You upgrade the Reporting Services components on the servers and instances where they're currently installed. This process is commonly called an "in place" upgrade. In-place upgrade isn't supported from one mode of Reporting Services server to another. For example, you can't upgrade a Native Mode report server to a SharePoint mode report server. You can migrate your report items from one mode to another. For more information, see the SharePoint mode upgrade and migration scenarios section later in this document.

  • Upgrade to Reporting Services 2017 and later from Reporting Services 2016 and older: This upgrade scenario isn't the same as previous versions. When upgrading to Reporting Services 2016 and older versions, you could follow an in-place upgrade process using SQL Server installation media. When upgrading to Reporting Services 2017 and later from Reporting Services 2016 and older, you can't follow the same steps because the new Reporting Services installation is a standalone product. It's no longer part of the SQL Server installation media.

    To upgrade from Reporting Services 2016 and older versions to Reporting Services 2017 and later, follow the Migrate a Reporting Services Installation (Native Mode) article, with Reporting Services 2017 or later as your destination instance.

  • Upgrade from Reporting Services 2017 to future versions is again an in-place upgrade scenario, because the product installation GUIDs are the same. Run the SQLServerReportingServices.exe installation file to begin the in-place upgrade on the server where Reporting Services is currently installed.

  • Migrate: You install and configure a new SharePoint environment, copy your report items and resources to the new environment, and configure the new environment to use existing content. A lower level form of migration is to copy the Reporting Services databases, configuration files, and if you're using SharePoint mode, the SharePoint content databases.

Note

Reporting Services integration with SharePoint isn't available after SQL Server 2016.

Known upgrade issues and best practices

For a detailed list of the supported editions and versions you can upgrade, see Supported version and edition upgrades.

Tip

For the latest information regarding issues with SQL Server, see SQL Server 2016 release notes.

Side by side installations

SQL Server Reporting Services Native mode can be installed side-by-side with a SQL Server 2012 (11.x) or SQL Server 2014 (12.x) Native mode deployment.

There's no support for side-by-side deployments of SQL Server Reporting Services in SharePoint mode and any previous versions of Reporting Services SharePoint mode components.

In-place upgrades

SQL Server Setup completes the upgrade. SQL Server Setup can be used to upgrade any or all SQL Server components, including Reporting Services. Setup detects the existing instances and prompts you to upgrade. SQL Server Setup provides upgrade options that you can specify as a command-line argument or in the Setup wizard.

When you run SQL Server Setup, you can select the option to upgrade from one of the following versions or you can install a new instance of SQL Server Reporting Services that runs side-by-side existing installations:

  • SQL Server 2014 (12.x)

  • SQL Server 2012 (11.x)

  • SQL Server 2008 R2 (10.50.x)

  • SQL Server 2008 (10.0.x)

For more information on SQL Server, see:

Pre-upgrade checklist

Before upgrading to SQL Server Reporting Services:

Before you upgrade a production environment, always run a test upgrade in a preproduction environment that has the same configuration as your production environment.

Important

These steps must be completed in full for a later rollback to be possible. Microsoft Support cannot recover backups, encryption keys, or configuration files that were not backed up.

Overview of migration scenarios

If you're upgrading from a supported version of Reporting Services to SQL Server, you can usually run the SQL Server Setup Wizard to upgrade the report server program files, database, and all application data.

However, migrating a report server installation manually is required if you encounter any of the following conditions:

  • You want to change the type of report server used in your deployment. For example, you can't upgrade or convert a native mode report server to SharePoint mode. For more information, see Native to SharePoint Migration (SSRS).

  • You want to minimize the amount of time the report server is taken offline during the upgrade process. Your current installation remains online while you copy content data to a new report server instance and test the installation without changing the state of your existing report server installation.

  • You want to migrate a SharePoint 2010 deployment of Reporting Services to SharePoint 2013/2016. SharePoint 2013/2016 doesn't support in-place upgrade from SharePoint 2010. For more information, see Migrate a Reporting Services Installation (SharePoint Mode).

Native mode upgrade and migration scenarios

Upgrade: In-place upgrade for Native mode is the same process for each of the supported versions that are listed earlier in this article. Run the SQL Server installation wizard or a command line installation. Following installation, the report server database automatically upgrades to the new report server database schema. For more information, see In-place Upgrade in this article.

The upgrade process begins when you select an existing report server instance to upgrade.

  1. If the report server database is on a remote computer and you don't have permission to update that database, Setup prompts you to provide credentials to update to a remote report server database. Be sure to provide credentials that have sysadmin or database update permissions.

  2. Setup checks for conditions or settings that prevent upgrade and reads configuration settings. Examples include custom extensions deployed on the report server. If upgrade is blocked, you must either modify your installation so that upgrade is no longer blocked, or migrate to a new SQL Server Reporting Services instance. For more information, see the Upgrade Advisor documentation.

  3. If upgrade can proceed, Setup prompts you to continue with the upgrade process.

  4. Setup creates new folders for SQL Server Reporting Services program files. The program folders for a Reporting Services installation include MSRS13.<instance name>.

  5. Setup adds the SQL Server Reporting Services report server program files, configuration tools, and command line utilities that are part of the report server feature.

    1. Program files from the previous version are removed.

    2. Report server configuration tools and utilities that are upgraded to the new version include the Native Mode Reporting Services Configuration tool, command line utilities such as RS.exe, and Report Builder.

    3. Other client tools such as SQL Server Management Studio are a separate download and need to be upgraded separately. For more information, see Download SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).

    4. SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) is a separate download. For more information, see SQL Server Data Tools in Visual Studio 2015.

  6. Setup reuses the service entry in Service Control Manager for the SQL Server Reporting Services Report Server service. This service entry includes the Report Server Windows service account.

  7. Setup reserves new URLs based on existing virtual directory settings in IIS. Setup might not remove virtual directories in IIS, so be sure to remove those directories manually after upgrade is finished.

  8. Setup merges settings in the configuration files. Setup uses the configuration files from the current installation as the basis to add new entries. Obsolete entries aren't removed, but they're no longer be read by the report server after the upgrade is finished. An upgrade doesn't delete old log files, the obsolete RSWebApplication.config file, or virtual directory settings in IIS. An upgrade doesn't remove older versions of Report Designer, Management Studio, or other client tools. If you no longer require them, remove these files and tools after the upgrade is finished.

Migration: Migrating a previous version of a native mode installation to SQL Server Reporting Services is the same steps for all of the supported versions that are listed earlier in this article. For more information, see Migrate a Reporting Services Installation (Native Mode)

Upgrade a Reporting Services Native mode scale-out deployment

The following summary explains how to upgrade a Reporting Services Native mode deployment that is scaled-out to more than one report server. This process requires downtime of the Reporting Services deployment:

  1. Back up the report server databases and encryption keys. For more information, see Backup and Restore Operations for Reporting Services and Add and Remove Encryption Keys for Scale-Out Deployment (Report Server Configuration Manager).

  2. Use the Reporting Services Configuration Manager and remove all of the report servers from the scaled-out deployment. For more information, see Configure a Native Mode Report Server Scale-Out Deployment (Report Server Configuration Manager).

  3. Upgrade one of the report servers to SQL Server Reporting Services.

  4. Use the Reporting Services Configuration Manager to add the report servers back to the scale-out deployment. For more information, see Configure a Native Mode Report Server Scale-Out Deployment (Report Server Configuration Manager).

    For each server, repeat the upgrade and Scale-out steps.

Roll back a Reporting Services cumulative update

Cumulative Updates in Reporting Services versions 2017 and later support in-place upgrade but can't be selectively uninstalled. To roll back an upgrade, you must uninstall the entire service and reinstall the prior version:

Important

These steps require that the pre-upgrade checklist has been followed completely. Step 2 will render existing configuration files, service configurations, and encryption keys irrecoverable. Microsoft Support cannot recover these configuration files or decrypt these encryption keys to assist in rollback.

  1. Take note of any custom configurations including service credentials, email or file share settings, or report server URLs.

  2. Uninstall SQL Server Reporting Services. In a scale-out deployment, repeat for all nodes in the scale-out. For more information, see Uninstall Native Mode.

  3. Restore backups of ReportServer database. For more information, see Backup and Restore Operations for Reporting Services.

  4. Reinstall the prior update of SQL Server Reporting Services.

  5. Restore preupgrade configuration files.

  6. Restore the encryption key backup. For more information, see Back Up and Restore Encryption Keys.

  7. Recreate all of the custom configurations noted in step 1.

  8. In a scale-out deployment, repeat steps 4 through 7 for all other nodes in the scale-out deployment.

SharePoint mode upgrade and migration scenarios

The following sections describe the issues and basic steps needed to upgrade or migrate from specified versions of Reporting Services SharePoint mode to SQL Server Reporting Services Reporting Services SharePoint mode.

There are two installation components to upgrade a Reporting Services SharePoint Mode deployment.

  • Reporting Services SharePoint Shared Service.

    Tip

    Use the Reporting Services SharePoint cmdlet Get-SPRSServiceApplicationServers to determine servers in the SharePoint farm that are currently running the Reporting Services SharePoint Shared Service and therefore require an upgrade.

  • Reporting Services Add-in for SharePoint products. For more information, see Install or Uninstall the Reporting Services Add-in for SharePoint.

For detailed steps on Migrating a SharePoint mode installation, see Migrate a Reporting Services Installation (SharePoint Mode).

Important

Some of the following scenarios require down time of the SharePoint environment due to the different technologies that need to be upgraded. If your situation does not allow for down time, you will need to complete a migration instead of an in-place upgrade.

SQL Server 2014 (12.x) to SQL Server Reporting Services

Starting environment: SQL Server 2014 (12.x) or SQL Server 2014 (12.x) SP1, SharePoint 2010, or SharePoint 2013.

Ending environment: SQL Server Reporting Services, SharePoint 2013, or SharePoint 2016.

  • SharePoint 2013/2016: SharePoint 2013/2016 doesn't support in-place upgrade from SharePoint 2010. However the procedure of database-attach upgrade is supported.

    If you have a Reporting Services installation integrated with SharePoint 2010, you can't upgrade in-place the SharePoint server. However you can migrate content databases and service application databases from the SharePoint 2010 farm to a SharePoint 2013/2016 farm.

SQL Server 2012 (11.x) to SQL Server Reporting Services

Starting environment: SQL Server 2012 (11.x) or SQL Server 2012 SP1 (11.0.3x), SharePoint 2010.

Ending environment: SQL Server Reporting Services, SharePoint 2013, or SharePoint 2016.

  • SharePoint 2013/2016: SharePoint 2013/2016 doesn't support in-place upgrade from SharePoint 2010. However the procedure of database-attach upgrade is supported.

    If you have a Reporting Services installation integrated with SharePoint 2010, you can't upgrade in-place the SharePoint server. However you can migrate content databases and service application databases from the SharePoint 2010 farm to a SharePoint 2013/2016 farm.

SQL Server 2008 R2 (10.50.x) to SQL Server Reporting Services

Starting environment: SQL Server 2008 R2 (10.50.x), SharePoint 2010.

Ending environment: SQL Server Reporting Services, SharePoint 2013, or SharePoint 2016.

  • SharePoint 2013/2016: SharePoint 2013/2016 doesn't support in-place upgrade from SharePoint 2010. However the procedure of database-attach upgrade is supported.

    SharePoint must be migrated first before you can upgrade Reporting Services.

  • Install the SQL Server Reporting Services version of the Reporting Services add-in for SharePoint on each web front-end in the farm. You can install the add-in by using the SQL Server Reporting Services installation wizard or by downloading the add-in.

  • Run SQL Server Reporting Services installation to upgrade SharePoint mode for each 'report server'. The SQL Server installation wizard installs the Reporting Services Service and creates a new Service application.

Considerations for a migration

When moving application data, you should be aware of the following concerns and restrictions:

  • Protection of encryption key includes a hash that incorporates machine identity.

  • Report server database names are fixed and can't be renamed on new computer.

Encryption key considerations

Always back up the encryption keys before moving a report server database to a new computer.

Moving a report server installation to another computer invalidates the hash that protects the encryption keys used to help secure sensitive data stored in the report server database. Each report server instance that uses the database has its copy of the encryption key, which is encrypted with the identity of the service account as it is defined on the current computer. If you change computers, the service no longer has access to its key, even if you use the same account name on the new computer.

To re-establish reversible encryption on the new report server computer, you must restore the key that you previously backed up. The complete key set that is stored in the report server database consists of a symmetric key value, plus service identity information used to restrict access to the key so only the report server instance that stored it can use it. During key restoration, the report server replaces existing copies of the key with new versions. The new version includes machine and service identity values as defined on the current computer. For more information, see:

Fixed database name

You can't rename the report server database. The identity of the database is recorded in report server stored procedures when the database is created. Renaming either the report server primary or temporary databases cause errors when the procedures run, invalidating your report server installation.

If the database name from the existing installation isn't suited for the new installation, consider creating a new database that has the name that you prefer. Then load existing application data using the techniques in the following list:

  • Write a Visual Basic script that calls Report Server Web service SOAP methods to copy data between databases. You can use the RS.exe utility to run the script. For more information about this approach, see Scripting and PowerShell with Reporting Services.

  • Write code that calls the WMI provider to copy data between databases. For more information about this approach, see Access the Reporting Services WMI Provider.

  • If you have just a few items, you can republish reports, and shared data sources from Report Designer, Model Designer, and Report Builder to the new report server. You must re-create role assignments, subscriptions, shared schedules, report snapshot schedules, custom properties that you set on reports or other items, model item security, and properties that you set on the report server. You lose report history and report execution log data.

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