PBIRS Licensing & Power BI Pro Requirement

[Flos10250]

As per the link: PBIRS Licensing & Power BI Pro Requirement it looks like we need Power Bi Pro License for developers who publish Power BI reports (.PBIX) to PBIRS.

Do we need the power Bi Pro License to publish .PBIX to on prem PBIRS ?  However some documentation says its not necessary to publish .PBIX reports to the Power Bi Report Server under SQL Enterprise + SA license.

can you please clarify?

[GeraldGEmerick · Accepted solution]

@Flos10250 To publish reports using Power BI Report Server with SQL Server Enterprise Edition with Software Assurance, a Power BI Pro license is required. This license is necessary for publishing both paginated and Power BI reports in PBIRS. However, it is not required for viewing and interacting with paginated and Power BI reports on Power BI Report Server. Perhaps that is where the confusion lies?

[v-sgandrathi]

Hi @Flos10250,

You are right about the documentation. A Power BI Pro license is not needed for publishing paginated (.RDL) reports to Power BI Report Server if your organization has SQL Server Enterprise Edition with Software Assurance (SA). The Pro license is only required for publishing PBIX reports, as creating and publishing Power BI reports requires Pro usage rights. Paginated reports are covered by the SQL EE + SA entitlement, allowing you to create and deploy RDL reports to PBIRS without an extra Pro license. In summary, Pro is needed for PBIX publishing, but not for RDL publishing with PBIRS under SQL EE + SA.

Thank you.

[Flos10250]

Hi,

As per the below: What Is Power BI Report Server? - Power BI | Microsoft Learn we don't need pro license to publish paginted(.rdl) reports to PBIRS. could you please confirm

[Flos10250]

Thank you all for your input. Could you please confirm whether a Power BI Pro licence is required only for publishing PBIX reports to PBIRS, or if the same licence is also necessary for publishing paginated reports even with SQL EE+SA license.

[v-sgandrathi]

Hi @Flos10250,

Just looping back one last time to check if everything's good on your end. Let me know if you need any final support happy to assist if anything’s still open.

Thank you.

[v-sgandrathi]

Hi @Flos10250,

Just wanted to follow up and confirm that everything has been going well on this. Please let me know if there’s anything from our end.
Please feel free to reach out Microsoft fabric community forum.

Thank you.

[v-sgandrathi · Accepted solution]

Hi @Flos10250,

Thank you @GeraldGEmerick for your response to the query.

In addition to what’s already explained, the key point to note is that the Power BI Pro requirement applies only to authors who create and publish PBIX files, not to organizations that are licensed with SQL Server Enterprise + Software Assurance (SA) for the server itself. The server entitlement (PBIRS) comes from SQL Enterprise + SA, but authoring rights do not, those still require a Pro license.

Another important clarification:
Even though some older documentation states that a Pro license is not needed, Microsoft has updated licensing guidance, and the current rule is that any developer publishing PBIX reports to PBIRS must have a Power BI Pro license, regardless of the SQL + SA entitlement.

No additional licenses are needed for viewers, and this applies only to PBIX publishing, not for accessing or consuming reports.

Thank you.

[GeraldGEmerick · Accepted solution]

@Flos10250 To publish reports using Power BI Report Server with SQL Server Enterprise Edition with Software Assurance, a Power BI Pro license is required. This license is necessary for publishing both paginated and Power BI reports in PBIRS. However, it is not required for viewing and interacting with paginated and Power BI reports on Power BI Report Server. Perhaps that is where the confusion lies?

[KornAlexander]

@GeraldGEmerick @v-sgandrathi You are sure about this? Where is it written that Power BI Pro is needed?

I can only find the following documentation that Pro is not needed: Compare Power BI Report Server and the Power BI Service - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

In my opinion Power BI Pro is for Power BI Service and not needed for Power BI Report Server.  How does the on-premises server check for the Pro license? In some cases there is even no Entra ID to assign the Pro license, right?

[GeraldGEmerick]

@KornAlexander Quite sure. From here: What Is Power BI Report Server? - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

"If a customer purchases Fabric F64+ reserved instances, a Power BI Pro license is required to publish both paginated and Power BI reports in PBIRS. However, for SQL Server editions, a Power BI Pro license is only required for publishing Power BI reports in PBIRS. A Power BI Pro license is not required to view and interact with paginated and Power BI reports on Power BI Report Server."

[KornAlexander]

@GeraldGEmerick you were correct. I found it in the EULA and the docu has mentioned the need for PBI Pro since 2020.

"The following license terms describe additional use terms for this software.

• Power BI Report Server – Sharing Content

A Power BI Pro User SL is required to publish shared Power BI reports using the Power BI Report Server."