Sample Reporting Services rs.exe script to copy content between report servers

Applies to: ✅ SQL Server Reporting Services (2008 R2 and later) ✅ SharePoint ✅ Power BI Report Server

This article includes and describes a sample Reporting Services RSS script that copies content items and settings from one SQL Server Reporting Services report server to another report server by using the RS.exe utility. RS.exe is installed with Reporting Services, both native and SharePoint mode. The script copies Reporting Services items, for example reports and subscriptions, from server to another server. The script supports both SharePoint mode and Native mode report servers.

Download the ssrs_migration.rss script

Download the script from the GitHub site Reporting Services RS.exe migration script to a local folder. For more information, see the section How to use the script in this article.

Supported scenarios

The script supports both SharePoint mode and Native mode report servers. The script supports the report server versions SQL Server 2008 R2 (10.50.x) and later, and Power BI Report Server.

The script can be used to copy content between report servers of the same mode or different modes. For example, you can run the script to copy content from a SQL Server 2008 R2 (10.50.x) native mode report server to a SQL Server 2012 SP1 (11.0.3x) SharePoint mode report server. You can run the script from any server where RS.exe is installed. For example, in the following deployment, you can:

• Run RS.exe and the script ON Server A.

• To copy content FROM Server B

• TO Server C

For more information on the RS.exe utility, see RS.exe Utility (SSRS).

Items and resources the script migrates

The script doesn't write over existing content items of the same name. If the script detects items with the same name on the destination server that are on the source server, the individual items results in a "failure" message and the script continues. The following table lists the types of content and resources the script can migrate to target report server modes.

Required permissions

The permissions required to read or write items and resources isn't the same for all of the methods used in the script. The following table summarizes the methods used for each item or resource and links to related content. Navigate to the individual article to see the required permissions. For example, the ListChildren method article notes the required permissions of:

• Native Mode Required Permissions: ReadProperties on Item

• SharePoint Mode Required Permissions: ViewListItems

For more information, see Compare roles and tasks in Reporting Services to SharePoint groups and permissions.

How to use the script

1. Download the script file to a local folder, for example c:\rss\ssrs_migration.rss.

2. Open a command prompt with administrative privileges.

3. Navigate to the folder containing the ssrs_migration.rss file.

4. Run the command with the parameters appropriate for your scenario.

Basic Example, native mode report server to native mode report server:

The following example migrates content from the native mode Sourceserver to the native mode Targetserver.

rs.exe -i ssrs_migration.rss -e Mgmt2010 -s https://SourceServer/ReportServer -u Domain\User -p password -v ts="https://TargetServer/reportserver" -v tu="Domain\Userser" -v tp="password"

Usage notes:

• The script runs in two steps.

  The first step is an audit, to return a list of items that is migrated and the second step is the migration process.

  You can cancel the script after step 1 if you only want to see the possible migration list or you want to modify the parameters. Dependent settings aren't listed in step 1. For example, the cache options of a report aren't listed but the report itself is.

  Tip

  If you want to just audit a single server, use the same server for source and destination and cancel after step 1.

  A good use of the step 1 audit information is to review existing roles on both the source and target Native mode server. The following example shows the step 1 audit list. Notice the list includes a "roles" section because the switch-v security="True" was used:

  • Retrieve and report the list of items that will be migrated. You can cancel the script after step 1 if you do not want to start the actual migration.

    Retrieving roles:

    Role: Browser

    Role: Content Manager

    Role: Model Item Browser

    Retrieve and report the list of items that will be migrated. You can cancel the script after step 1 if you do not want to start the actual migration.

    Retrieving roles:

    Role: Browser

    Role: Content Manager

    Role: CustomRole

    Role: Model Item Browser

    Role: My Reports

    Role: Publisher

    Role: Report Builder

    Role: System Administrator

    Role: System User

    Retrieving system policies:

    Retrieving system policies:

    System policy: BUILTIN\Administrators

    System policy: domain\user1

    System policy: domain\ueser2

    Retrieving schedules:

    Schedule: theMondaySchedule

    Retrieving catalog items. This may take a while.

    Folder: /Data Sources

    DataSource: /Data Sources/Aworks2012_oltp

    Folder: /images

    Resource: /images/Boba Fett.png

    Resource: /images/R2-D2.png

    Folder: /Reports

    Report: /Reports/products

    Report: /Reports/test

    Report: /Reports/TitleOnly

• The SOURCE_URL and TARGET_URL must be valid report server URLs that point to the source and target Reporting Services report server. In native mode, a report server URL looks like this URL:

  • https://servername/reportserver

  In SharePoint mode, the URL looks like this URL:

  • https://servername/_vti_bin/reportserver

• The virtual folder structure presented to the user in SharePoint might be different than the underlying one. Open https://servername/_vti_bin/reportserver or https://servername/sites/site_name/_vti_bin/reportserver in a browser to see the nonvirtual folder structure. This structure is helpful for setting source folder and target folder to something other than /, for a server in SharePoint mode.

• Passwords aren't migrated, and must be reentered, for example data sources with stored credentials.

Parameter description

More examples

Native mode report server to native mode report server

The following example migrates content from the native mode Sourceserver to the native mode Targetserver.

rs.exe -i ssrs_migration.rss -e Mgmt2010 -s https://SourceServer/ReportServer -u Domain\User -p password -v ts="https://TargetServer/reportserver" -v tu="Domain\Userser" -v tp="password"  

The following example adds the security switch:

rs.exe -i ssrs_migration.rss -e Mgmt2010 -s https://SourceServer/ReportServer -u Domain\User -p password -v ts="https://TargetServer/reportserver" -v tu="Domain\Userser" -v tp="password" -v security="True"  

Native mode to SharePoint mode - root site

The following example migrates content from a native mode SourceServer to the "root site " on a SharePoint mode server TargetServer. The "Reports" and "Data Sources" folders on the native mode server are migrated as new libraries on the SharePoint deployment.

rs.exe -i ssrs_migration.rss -e Mgmt2010 -s https://SourceServer/ReportServer -u Domain\User -p Password -v ts="https://TargetServer/_vti_bin/ReportServer" -v tu="Domain\User" -v tp="Password"  

Native mode to SharePoint mode -'bi' site collection

The following example migrates content from a native mode server to a SharePoint server that contains a site collection of "sites/bi" and a shared documents library. The script creates folders in document the destination library. For example, the script creates a "Reports" folder and a "Data Sources" folder in the target document library.

rs.exe -i ssrs_migration.rss -e Mgmt2010 -s https://SourceServer/ReportServer -u Domain\User -p Password -v ts="https://TargetServer/sites/bi/_vti_bin/reportserver" -v tst="sites/bi" -v tf="Shared Documents" -v tu="Domain\User" -v tp="Password"  

SharePoint mode to SharePoint Mode -'bi' site collection

The following example migrates content:

• From a SharePoint server SourceServer that contains a site collection of "sites/bi" and a shared documents library.

• To a TargetServer SharePoint server that contains a site collection of "sites/bi" and a shared documents library.

rs.exe -i ssrs_migration.rss -e Mgmt2010 -s https://SourceServer/_vti_bin/reportserver -v st="sites/bi" -v f="Shared Documents" -u Domain\User1 -p Password -v ts="https://TargetServer/sites/bi/_vti_bin/reportserver" -v tst="sites/bi" -v tf="Shared Documents" -v tu="Domain\User" -v tp="Password"  

Native mode to native mode - Azure virtual machine

The following example migrates content from a Native mode report server SourceServer to a TargetServer Native mode report server running on an Azure virtual machine. The TargetServer isn't joined to the domain of the SourceServer and the User2 is an administrator on the Azure virtual machine TargetServer.

rs.exe -i ssrs_migration.rss -e Mgmt2010 -s https://SourceServer/ReportServer -u Domain\user1 -p Password -v ts="https://ssrsnativeazure.cloudapp.net/ReportServer" -v tu="user2" -v tp="Password2"  

SharePoint mode -'bi' site collection to a native mode server on an Azure virtual machine.

The following example migrates content from a SharePoint mode report server SourceServer that contains a site collection of "sites/bi" and a shared documents library to a TargetServer Native mode report server running on an Azure virtual machine. The TargetServer isn't joined to the domain of the SourceServer and the User2 is an administrator on the Azure virtual machine TargetServer.

rs.exe -i ssrs_migration.rss -e Mgmt2010 -s https://uetesta02/_vti_bin/reportserver -u user1 -p Password -v ts="https://ssrsnativeazure.cloudapp.net/ReportServer" -v tu="user2" -v tp="Passowrd2"  

Verification

The section summarizes some of the steps to take on the destination server to verify content and policies were successfully migrated.

Schedules

To verify schedules on the target server:

Native Mode

1. Open the web portal on the destination server.

2. Select Site Settings on the top menu.

3. Select Schedules in the left pane.

SharePoint mode:

1. Browse to Site settings.

2. In the Reporting Services group, select Manage Shared Schedules.

Roles and groups

Native Mode

1. Open SQL Server Management Studio and connect to your native mode report server.

2. In Object Explorer select Security.

3. Select Roles.

Troubleshooting

Use the trace flag -t to receive more information. For example, if you run the script and see a message similar to the following

• Couldn't connect to server: https://\<servername>/ReportServer/ReportService2010.asmx

Run the script again with the -t flag, to see a message similar to this one:

• System.Exception: Couldn't connect to server: https://\<servername>/ReportServer/ReportService2010.asmx ---> System.Net.WebException: **The request failed with HTTP status 401: Unauthorized**. at System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtocol.ReadResponse(SoapClientMessage message, WebResponse response, Stream responseStream, Boolean asyncCall) at System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtocol.Invoke(String methodName, Object[] parameters) at Microsoft.SqlServer.ReportingServices2010.ReportingService2010.IsSSLRequired() at Microsoft.ReportingServices.ScriptHost.Management2010Endpoint.PingService(String url, String userName, String password, String domain, Int32 timeout) at Microsoft.ReportingServices.ScriptHost.ScriptHost.DetermineServerUrlSecurity() --- End of inner exception stack trace ---

Related content

RS.exe utility (SSRS)
Compare roles and tasks in Reporting Services to SharePoint groups and permissions