Forum Discussion
Power BI Report Server Scale-Out Issue - Reports Visible from One Node but Empty Folder from Another
Hi Folks
I am experiencing a weird issue on newly built servers where I have migrated the report server databases from SQL 2017 to SQL 2025 and Powerb Report server (May 2026) is installed in a scale out deployment on the same SQL AG nodes.
Environment
- Power BI Report Server (Native Mode)
- 2-node scale-out deployment
- ReportServer database hosted on a SQL Server Always On Availability Group
- Access through a cluster/network name (virtual hostname)
- HTTPS configured using a new SSL certificate
- Both PBIRS nodes point to the same ReportServer database
The PBIRS web portal loads successfully on both nodes.
Authentication succeeds. However, it always displays "This folder is empty message" when webportal is accessesed from primary replica node. When requests are served by Node B, All reports and folders are displayed correctly.
The behavior appears to follow the active hosting node rather than the user account.
Has anyone come across this issue or have a clue on what is going on? Thanks in advance.
7 Replies
Hi v-abhinavmu
I am still weighing in with my team on this issue. Will definitely update here if I take that route. Thanks for the followup.
Hi sthirumala
I’ve seen this exact behavior before with PBIRS in scale-out + AG setup.
99% this is an Encryption Key mismatch between the 2 nodes.
When Node A shows "This folder is empty" but Node B shows everything, it means Node A can't decrypt the Catalog/Content from the shared ReportServer DB.
Here’s what to check
1. Sync Encryption Keys : Go to PBIRS Config Manager on Node A → `Encryption Keys` → `Restore` → Use the key file exported from Node B.
Scale-out nodes MUST have identical encryption keys.
2. Check Service Account : Both PBIRS services should run under the same domain service account with proper permissions on the AG Listener.
3. Clear Cache : After restoring keys, restart both PBIRS services and clear browser cache.
4. Verify Web Portal URL : Make sure both nodes have the same Web Portal URL and root folder permissions.
Try step 1 first. Restoring the key from Node B to Node A usually fixes it immediately.
Let us know if that works!
Thank you for the reply.
I have restored the encryption key from Node B to Node A; however, the issue still persists.
The behavior is quite unusual. Regardless of which node is hosting the primary AG replica (Node A or Node B), accessing the web portal through the cluster name over HTTPS consistently displays a "Folder Empty" message on the primary replica.
However, when accessing the web portal directly using the individual node name (HTTP on port 80), the folder contents are displayed correctly from both nodes without any issues. This suggests that the report content itself is accessible and functioning as expected.
The issue appears to be specific to accessing the web portal via HTTPS using the cluster name object.
As part of the troubleshooting process, I have already:
- Restored the encryption key from Node B to Node A
- Verified that the same service account is being used on both nodes
- Cleared the browser cache/history
- Reviewed the Report Server logs
Despite these steps, the behavior remains unchanged, and I do not see any related errors or warnings in the Report Server logs.
Additionally, we have a similar setup in our non-production environment that is working as expected without any issues, which makes this behavior even more puzzling.
Thank you for your assistance.
Hi sthirumala,
Thank you for sharing the additional troubleshooting details. and thanks to Gautam_Kumar01 for sharing valuable insights.
Based on the Microsoft documentation for Reporting Services, the following configuration requirements apply to a scale-out deployment:
• Reporting Services creates and manages the URL reservations for both the Report Server Web Service and the Web Portal through Reporting Services Configuration Manager. The tool creates the URL reservations, assigns the required permissions, checks for duplicate instances, and registers the URLs with HTTP.SYS. Microsoft also recommends not creating or modifying Reporting Services URL reservations manually using other tools.
• For a scale-out deployment that uses a network load-balanced (NLB) cluster, Microsoft states that the NLB virtual server name should be used in the configuration of the report server URLs.
• Microsoft also states that the report server instances in a scale-out deployment should share the same ReportServer database.
Could you please confirm whether your deployment is configured in accordance with these documented requirements, particularly with respect to the report server URL configuration for the cluster/NLB virtual server name?
For more details, please refer to the below official documentation:
URL reservations & registration (Report Server Configuration Manager) - SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) | Microsoft LearnI hope this helps. Please feel free to reach out if you have any further questions.
Thank you.
