What are the consequences of upgrading from PBIRS May 2022 to PBIRS Jan 2024

[DBailey]

Hello,

I am a bit concern that our customers have decided to finally upgrade from PBIRS version 1.14.81.79.37378 (May 2022) to PowerBi Report Server Lates version 1.19.8779.19175 (Jan 2024) due to long gap between the versions. My questions are:

Question #1
Can I perform the upgrade, regardless of the long gap between both versions? Or I need to gradually upgrade the server with let say September 2022, January 2023, May 2023 and so on…

Question #2
If yes, then what will happen to the reports and dashboard already published in the server? I know PBIRS is backward compatible since I read two great articles that helped me understand a bit more. Solved: Re: Question on Backward Compatibility for Report ... - Microsoft Fabric Community and Solved: Re: Impact of updating the report server - Microsoft Fabric Community but it worrisome when you are going to upgrade an application that has not been updated for more than a year. 

Power Bi Desktop related question
We will also upgrade Power BI Desktop (optimized for Power BI Report server) 2.1205.1143.0.64 (May 2022) to Power BI Desktop (optimized for Power BI Report Server)  2.124.1960.0 (Jan 2024) right after the server is upgraded and tested. 

Question #1
After upgrading to the newer version of Power BI Desktop (optimized for Power BI Report Server)… Will the customer be able to open old . pbix files created on that antique may 2022 Power BI Desktop (optimized for Power BI Report Server)?

I thank you in advance for your guidance.

[DBailey]

@Anonymous thank you so much for the quick response. Your explanation definately clears my doubts. 

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Hi @DBailey ,

Question #1: Upgrading the Report Server You can perform the upgrade directly from PBIRS version 1.14.81.79.37378 (May 2022) to the latest version 1.19.8779.19175 (Jan 2024). There is no strict requirement to perform intermediate upgrades for each version in between. The upgrade process is straightforward, and you can proceed directly to the latest version.

Before upgrading, make sure to follow these steps:

Back up your report server: Back up the encryption keys, report server databases, and configuration files. This ensures that you can restore your settings if needed.
Download the latest Power BI Report Server: Obtain the installation files for the new version.
Run the installer: Locate the and launch the installer. Choose the “Upgrade Power BI Report Server” option, agree to the license terms, and proceed with the upgrade.PowerBIReportServer.exe
After a successful upgrade, you can configure the report server using the Reporting Services Configuration Manager

Question #2: Impact on Existing Reports and Dashboards When you upgrade the report server, existing reports and dashboards should continue to work seamlessly. Power BI Report Server is backward compatible with older versions of reports. As long as you use a supported version of Power BI Desktop optimized for Report Server (either the same release or older), your existing .pbix files should open without issues. The reverse is also true: reports created in the newer version can be opened in older versions of Power BI Desktop optimized for Report Server

Best Regards,

Xianda Tang

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