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Considerations for Upgrading Reporting Services

Upgrade is performed by SQL Server Setup. SQL Server Setup can be used to upgrade any or all SQL Server components, including Reporting Services. To upgrade an earlier version of SQL Server:

  1. Run the SQL Server 2008 R2 Setup program on a computer that has an earlier version of SQL Server installed.

  2. Click Installation in the left pane.

  3. Click Upgrade in the right pane.

This topic highlights important considerations that you should be aware of before you upgrade Reporting Services.

Important

To learn which Reporting Services features have been discontinued, deprecated, or changed see Reporting Services Backward Compatibility.

Upgrading Editions and Versions

SQL Server 2008 R2 Setup provides upgrade support for the following earlier editions of Reporting Services:

  • SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services installation with Service Pack 2 (SP2).

  • SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services.

  • SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services.

Upgrading or downgrading from one SQL Server 2008 R2 edition to another is supported.

Known Upgrade Issues

Before upgrading to SQL Server 2008 R2 Reporting Services, review the Upgrade Advisor documentation and the Online Release Notes for the latest information about upgrade issues. To obtain the Upgrade Advisor documentation, install Upgrade Advisor. For more information, see Using Upgrade Advisor to Prepare for Upgrades.

Known upgrade issues currently include the following:

  • No upgrade support for a report server that uses a remote SQL Server 2000 Database Engine instance to host the report server database.

  • No support for the SQL Server 2000 Report Server Web service in SQL Server 2008 R2. This endpoint is discontinued. If you created or installed custom features that point to the ReportServer2000 endpoint, that custom functionality will no longer run. For more information about new endpoints, see Report Server Web Service Endpoints.

  • No support for earlier versions of the Reporting Services WMI provider. The Reporting Services WMI provider is not backwards compatible with previous versions. After upgrade, you cannot use the SQL Server 2008 R2 Reporting Services WMI provider with earlier versions of Reporting Services.

For more information about supported upgrade scenarios, see Version and Edition Upgrades. If you cannot run Setup to perform an in-place upgrade of your existing installation, you can install a new instance of SQL Server 2008 R2 Reporting Services and then migrate your report server database and configuration files to the new instance. For more information about migrating Reporting Services, see How to: Migrate a Reporting Services Installation.

Pre-Upgrade Checklist

Before upgrading to SQL Server 2008 R2 Reporting Services, review the following requirements:

  • Review requirements to determine whether your hardware and software can support SQL Server 2008 R2 Reporting Services. For more information, see Hardware and Software Requirements for Installing SQL Server 2008 R2.

  • Use System Configuration Checker (SCC) to scan the report server computer for any conditions that might prevent a successful installation of SQL Server 2008 R2. For more information, see Check Parameters for the System Configuration Checker.

  • Review security best practices and guidance for SQL Server. For more information, see Security Considerations for a SQL Server Installation.

  • Run the Upgrade Advisor tool on the report server computer to determine any issues that might prevent you from successfully upgrading. For more information, see Using Upgrade Advisor to Prepare for Upgrades.

  • Back up your symmetric key. For more information, see Backing Up and Restoring Encryption Keys.

  • Back up your report server databases. For more information, see Moving the Report Server Databases to Another Computer.

  • Back up the following report server configuration files: Rsreportserver.config, Rswebapplication.config, Rssvrpolicy.config, Rsmgrpolicy.config, Reportingservicesservice.exe.config, Web.config (for both the report server and Report Manager ASP.NET applications), and Machine.config (for ASP.NET if you modified it for report server operations).

  • Back up any customizations to existing Reporting Services virtual directories in IIS.

  • Remove invalid SSL certificates.  This includes certificates that are expired and you do not plan to update prior to upgrading Reporting Services.  Invalid certificates will cause upgrade to fail and an error message similar to the following will be written to the Reporting Services Log file:

    • Microsoft.ReportingServices.WmiProvider.WMIProviderException: A Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate is not configured on the Web site.

    For more information on deleting SSL certificates, see Configuring Certificate for Use by SSL.

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

How to Upgrade an Earlier Version of Reporting Services

Setup provides upgrade options that you can specify as a command-line argument or in the Setup wizard. Choose from the following topics for instructions on how to upgrade your installation.

Removing Files and Applications from the Previous Installation

Upgrade will not delete old log files, the obsolete RSWebApplication.config file, or virtual directory settings in IIS. Upgrade will not remove SQL Server Report Designer, Management Studio, or other client tools. If you no longer require them, be sure to remove these files and tools after upgrade is finished.

Upgrade Workflow

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

  1. On the Reporting Services Authentication page of the upgrade workflow, 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 2008 R2 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 2008 R2 program files. The program folders for a Reporting Services installation include MSRS10._50<instance name>.

  5. Setup adds the SQL Server 2008 R2 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 Reporting Services Configuration Manager, command line utilities, and Report Builder.

    3. Other client tools such as Business Intelligence Development Studio, SQL Server Management Studio, and Books Online are not upgraded. To obtain new versions of the tools, you can add them when you run Setup. Earlier versions will co-exist alongside SQL Server 2008 R2. If you installed samples, the earlier version will remain. Setup does not support upgrade for the SQL Server samples.

  6. Setup reuses the service entry in Service Control Manager for the SQL Server 2008 R2 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 manually after upgrade is finished.

  8. Setup upgrades the report server databases to the new schema and modifies the RSExecRole by adding Database Owner permissions to the role. This step only occurs when you are upgrading from SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services or SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services prior to SP1.

  9. Setup merges settings in the configuration files. Using the configuration files from the current installation as the basis, new entries are added. Obsolete entries are not removed, but they will no longer be read by the report server after upgrade is finished.

Upgrading Reports

For information on report upgrade behavior and scenarios, see Upgrading Reports.

Change History

Updated content

Added SQL Server 2008 to the list of versions that can be upgraded.