SSRS Is Dead. Here's The Move to PBIRS.

A few months back I wrote SSIS Is Not Dead. Yet., opening with the line 'SSRS is gone'. Today it's time to give SSRS the send-off it deserves. SQL Server 2025 shipped without SSRS and Microsoft has named Power BI Report Server (PBIRS) as the on-premises replacement. No new SSRS version is coming. Per Microsoft's Reporting Services Consolidation FAQ, SSRS 2022 is the end of the line.

No panic. We've got time. SSRS 2022 is supported until January 11, 2033. That makes this a planning problem, not a fire drill. But understand that 'supported' in this context means security patches, and nothing more. All future investment is in PBIRS. So the first question is not how to move. It's whether you need to move at all.

Do You Even Need to Move Yet?

Honest answer: Not today. Your reporting catalog can sit on a newer database engine while SSRS 2022 keeps serving reports. Use this to place yourself:

Your Situation	Your Move
Paginated-only, SSRS 2022	Stay put. Supported to 1/11/2033.
Upgrading engine to SQL 2025	Plan the PBIRS migration as its own track.
Want .pbix reports on-prem	Migrate. Only PBIRS hosts both RDL and PBIX.
SharePoint-integrated mode	Move to Native mode first. No direct path.
SSRS on Express edition	Express loses reporting rights in 2025. Time to license up.

Important to know that 'no new SSRS' is not the same as 'SSRS stops working'. If you run pixel-perfect paginated reports and nothing else, you have seven years of runway. Use that runway wisely.

Licensing: The Part That Changed in Your Favor

For SQL Server 2022 and earlier versions, PBIRS on-prem required Enterprise edition plus Software Assurance, or a standalone Power BI Premium purchase. That wall disappeared with SQL Server 2025. Per the consolidation FAQ:

Your License	PBIRS Access
SQL 2025, any paid edition	Same 2025 key installs PBIRS. Done.
SQL 2022 and earlier	Enterprise + SA only; MSFT provides the PBIRS key.
Just kicking tires	Free Developer or Evaluation edition.

If you are Standard edition without SA, this is the first time PBIRS has been realistically on your menu. That alone changes the map for a lot of shops.

The Migration Itself

There is no in-place upgrade. You do not 'upgrade' SSRS to PBIRS. You install PBIRS and walk your report catalog over to it. Microsoft's official migration guide covers the full procedure, and SQLServerCentral published a great end-to-end walkthrough going from a SQL 2016 SSRS source to a SQL 2025 PBIRS destination.

Check your PBIRS build before you start. A SSRS 2022 catalog requires the May 2025 release of PBIRS, or newer. Anything older will not accept it, and you will find that out at Step 5, not Step 1.

The demo below uses RPTSQL01 for the old SSRS box, and RPTSQL02 for the new PBIRS box.

Step 1: Back up the encryption key. FIRST.

The key protects your stored credentials and connection strings. Lose it, and every data source on the new server greets you with a credential prompt. Use Report Server Configuration Manager (Encryption Keys > Backup), or the command line:

-- Run on RPTSQL01, adjust paths for your environment
rskeymgmt -e -f "D:\Backup\rs_key.snk" -p "YourStrongPassword"

Step 2: Back up the ReportServer databases and config files.

-- Run on RPTSQL01
BACKUP DATABASE [ReportServer]
  TO DISK = 'D:\Backup\ReportServer.bak'
  WITH INIT, COMPRESSION;

BACKUP DATABASE [ReportServerTempDB]
  TO DISK = 'D:\Backup\ReportServerTempDB.bak'
  WITH INIT, COMPRESSION;

Get copies of rsreportserver.config, rssrvpolicy.config, and web.config from the SSRS install path. You will want them for reference of any custom settings.

Step 3: Install PBIRS.

Just like with SSRS, you can install PBIRS on its own dedicated host with the ReportServer databases on a separate SQL Server instance, OR they can be combined on a single host. Straightforward install. See Install Power BI Report Server. One difference from SSRS is that the installer does not let you name the PBIRS instance. It is always PBIRS. Any scripts, monitoring, firewall rules, or documentation that reference the old ReportServer instance should be reviewed before cutover. Also good to know that migrating SSRS-to-PBIRS on the same hardware is supported.

Step 4: Restore the catalog. Same database name.

-- Run on the database instance for RPTSQL02
RESTORE DATABASE [ReportServer]
  FROM DISK = 'D:\Backup\ReportServer.bak'
  WITH MOVE 'ReportServer'     TO 'E:\Data\ReportServer.mdf',
       MOVE 'ReportServer_log' TO 'F:\Logs\ReportServer.ldf',
       RECOVERY;

The name must stay ReportServer. Do not get clever here.

Whatever your catalog database was named on the source -- ReportServer for most of us -- it needs to use that exact name on the destination. This is not the moment to standardize naming conventions. Rename it during the restore and PBIRS will not recognize its own catalog.

Step 5: Connect and restore the key.

Open your new Report Server Configuration Manager, connect the PBIRS instance to the restored catalog, then restore the encryption key from Step 1. Your reports, folders, security assignments, and subscriptions come along with the catalog.

Step 6: Validate, then clean up the old SSRS instance.

I recommend running the old and new in parallel until the new server has survived at least one complete business cycle, or until you've validated every subscription frequency used in your environment. Then you can decom the old SSRS box, RPTSQL01.

The Gotchas Nobody Mentions Until Go-Live

Subscriptions are SQL Agent jobs

The ReportServer database restore brings subscription definitions, not the Agent jobs that fire them. You need to verify that the corresponding SQL Agent jobs have been recreated and are executing successfully. There is a known pattern on the Fabric community forums: migration completes, all jobs show green, and no report emails ever arrive. Check ReportServerService_* logs under the PBIRS LogFiles directory, and always test one net-new subscription against your migrated ones.

The Migration Wizard has blind spots

The SSRS Reports Migration Wizard is a handy alternative to the catalog-restore method, and it does support PBIRS as both source and target. But you must know what it leaves behind. It moves your RDLs, shared datasets, data sources, and standard subscriptions. It does not move data-driven subscriptions, execution log history, or .pbix files, and it only speaks Native mode. If any of those matter to you, the catalog restore remains your best option.

SQL 2025 encryption defaults can silently break data sources

SQL Server 2025 enforces TDS 8.0 and stricter encryption out of the box. Report data sources and linked servers riding on older drivers can fail after the engine upgrade, and it will not show up in your database-level testing. Validate every shared data source against the new engine, not just the reports.

Restore custom assemblies/extensions

Custom assemblies and extensions are not stored in the ReportServer catalog. If you've customized SSRS beyond stock installations, inventory those components before shutting the old server down.

SharePoint-integrated mode is a dead end.

MSFT deprecated it, and no migration path targets it. If you are one of the few still running it, your first project is SharePoint-to-Native, and PBIRS is your second.

The Bottom Line

If your engine upgrade to SQL 2025 includes reporting, you've got two projects ahead of you, not one. The engine track and the reporting track have separate acceptance criteria — subscription schedules, encryption keys, stored credentials, custom extensions and URL reservations. Teams that treat them as one project may very well find their reporting tier is broken post-go-live, in ways their testing never could have surfaced.

SSRS has served us since 2004 and has earned a graceful exit. Let's give it one. Back up that encryption key, run parallel until a full subscription cycle passes clean, and do not let January 2033 arrive with this still on the to-do list. You've got plenty of time. For now.

More to Read

MSFT — Reporting Services Consolidation FAQ
MSFT — Migrate a report server installation
SQLServerCentral — Migrate SSRS Reports to PBIRS in SQL Server 2025
sqlfingers — SSIS Is Not Dead. Yet.