Connect new installation PBI server 2021 to older PBI report server database 2019

[JoostOp1]

We have PBI report server 2019 on server A  (report server database on database server X)

A new installation of report server 2021 on server B

Can we simply connect from the report server configuration to the report server database on database server X?

Power BI Report Server 2019 (A) --> database server X (Report server database 2019)

becomes

Power BI Report Server 2021 (B) --> database server X (Report server database 2019)

will the Report Server database (on X) be upgraded or not to the newer version?

[d_gosbell · Accepted solution]

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@JoostOp1 wrote:

Can we simply connect from the report server configuration to the report server database on database server X?

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You can, but there is a good chance the database schema will be upgraded so you might not be able to go back to the old version by just reconnecting server A. If you want to make sure you can roll back to the old version easily you should back up the ReportServer databases and the encryption keys before pointing the new version at the databases. And before you connect server B you should stop the Report Server services on Server A using the configuration manager to prevent the 2 different versions from attempting to write to the same database as this could cause issues. If you copy the encryption keys from server A to Server B this should retain access to encrypted information in the Report Server database (eg. usernames and passwords)

Then if you need to go back to server A you would need to stop the services on server B then restore the old copies of the Report Server databases (and the encryption keys if they are different to the ones from server B) then re-start the services on server A.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

@JoostOp1 

You can just upgrade the to newest report server version. The report server database basically is a SQL database. If you just update the report server, the database should be set automatically, if not you may manual configure the database select " Choosing existing database".

Paul Zheng _ Community Support Team
If this post helps, please Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[d_gosbell · Accepted solution]

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@JoostOp1 wrote:

Can we simply connect from the report server configuration to the report server database on database server X?

---

You can, but there is a good chance the database schema will be upgraded so you might not be able to go back to the old version by just reconnecting server A. If you want to make sure you can roll back to the old version easily you should back up the ReportServer databases and the encryption keys before pointing the new version at the databases. And before you connect server B you should stop the Report Server services on Server A using the configuration manager to prevent the 2 different versions from attempting to write to the same database as this could cause issues. If you copy the encryption keys from server A to Server B this should retain access to encrypted information in the Report Server database (eg. usernames and passwords)

Then if you need to go back to server A you would need to stop the services on server B then restore the old copies of the Report Server databases (and the encryption keys if they are different to the ones from server B) then re-start the services on server A.

[JoostOp1]

Thanks for your help

In the end we first upgraded Power BI Report Server 2019 (A) to PBI Report Server 2021 and after that we stopped the connection to the repository and connected Power BI Report Server 2021 (B)  to the upgraded repository (database server X). However in the tables of the report server there is a reference to the 'old' webserver (server A) and also a reference to the 'new' webserver (Server B)