Set up Power BI Pro, Premium Per User, Report Server

Power BI is a Microsoft product, and Microsoft does the activation. Power BI Pro and Premium Per User are licences that an administrator assigns to people in the Microsoft 365 admin centre. Power BI Report Server is server software that you install yourself. This guide covers both routes, so read the part that matches your order.

What you received

Your order contains your licence key. It is in your order email and in your Lizensa account under My Library. Nothing is downloaded from us for these products.

What the key unlocks depends on the product:

• Power BI Pro and Power BI Premium Per User (PPU) are per-user subscription licences. There is no installer. An administrator assigns the Pro or PPU licence to each person who needs it. Power BI Pro lets people publish and share content with other Pro users. PPU includes everything in Pro and adds most Premium features. With PPU, you share content only with other PPU users, unless the content sits in a Premium capacity workspace.
• Power BI Report Server is software for your own server. You download the installer from Microsoft and enter the key during setup.

Product pages: Power BI Pro, annual, Power BI Pro 12 months, Power BI Pro 24 months, Power BI Pro 36 months, Premium Per User, Premium Per User 12 months, Premium Per User 24 months, Premium Per User 36 months, Report Server 12 months, Report Server 24 months, Report Server 36 months.

Before you start:

• For Pro and PPU you need a Microsoft 365 organisation. To redeem a key, you must be a Global Administrator or a Billing Administrator.
• To assign licences, you need at least the License Administrator or User Administrator role.
• For Report Server you need a Windows system that Microsoft supports for Report Server, administrator rights on it and, after the setup, a SQL Server instance for the report server database.

Get the software

Power BI Pro and Premium Per User

There is nothing to download. Power BI runs in the browser. After the licence is assigned, each person signs in at app.powerbi.com.

Power BI Report Server

1. Follow the download steps in Microsoft's guide Install Power BI Report Server. On the page "On-premises reporting with Power BI Report Server", select Download free trial. You enter your key during setup, so the trial download is the right one.
2. Select your language, then Download.
3. Select PowerBIReportServer.exe, then Download.

Install

Power BI Pro and Premium Per User

Nothing needs to be installed. Continue with the activation steps.

Power BI Report Server

1. Open the downloaded PowerBIReportServer.exe.
2. Select Install Power BI Report Server.
3. On the edition page, select Enter the product key. Enter the key from your order, then select Next. Alternatively, select Evaluation or Developer. A Developer key cannot be used in production.
4. Accept the licence terms and select Next.
5. The page Install Database Engine appears. Select Next to install the report server only. The setup installs only the report server. For the configuration afterwards, you need a SQL Server instance for the report server database.
6. Check the installation folder and select Install. The default folder is C:\Program Files\Microsoft Power BI Report Server.
7. When the setup succeeds, select Configure report server. This opens the Report Server Configuration Manager.

Create the report server database

The report server needs a SQL Server database. Microsoft describes the steps in Create a native mode report server database. In short:

1. In the Report Server Configuration Manager, connect to the report server instance.
2. On the Database page, select Change Database.
3. Select Create a new report server database, then Next.
4. Enter the SQL Server instance and the credentials for a one-time connection that is allowed to create databases. Select Test Connection, then Next.
5. Name the database and choose the language. Then choose how the report server connects to the database and select Next. Check the summary and select Next again.
6. Configure the report server URL and the web portal URL on their own pages of the Configuration Manager, as Microsoft describes in Install Power BI Report Server. Then check the connection by selecting a URL on the Report Server URL page. You should see the report server folder hierarchy.

If you install on several servers in a scale-out setup, every server must use the same product key.

Activate

Power BI Pro and Premium Per User

An administrator does two things: redeem the key, then assign the licence.

Redeem the key. Microsoft describes how a prepaid product key for a business product is redeemed. The key has 25 characters. Choose one of the two routes before you enter the key.

Route A: a new subscription.

1. Go to microsoft365.com/setupbusiness.
2. Enter the product key and select Next. Follow the prompts to set up the subscription.

Route B: extend a subscription that your organisation already has for the same product.

1. Open the Microsoft 365 admin centre and go to Billing > Your products. Select the subscription.
2. In the section for subscription and payment settings, select Extend end date.
3. Choose Use a new and unused product key and enter the key.

A key that has already been redeemed cannot be used again.

Assign the licence.

1. In the Microsoft 365 admin centre, go to Billing > Licenses.
2. Select Power BI Pro or Power BI Premium Per User.
3. Select Assign licenses.
4. Start typing the name of a user or group and select it. You can add up to 20 users or groups at a time.
5. Select Assign, then close the pane.

If the assignment fails, the Errors & Issues tab shows the reason. Common reasons are no available licences, conflicting service plans and an invalid usage location. Fix the cause, select the user and then Reprocess. For conflicting service plans, ask the administrator who manages your licences to review the services assigned to the user.

Power BI Report Server

You entered the key during setup. If you installed the Evaluation edition first, start the installer again. It lets you change the edition and enter the key.

Check it worked

1. For Pro and PPU, ask the licensed person to sign in at app.powerbi.com and check the licence there. It must match the product you ordered.
2. For Pro and PPU, open Billing > Licenses in the admin centre and select the product. The assigned people appear in the list.
3. For Report Server, open the web portal you configured, by default http://<server-name>/reports. The Windows service is called PowerBIReportServer. This is a function check. It does not prove which edition runs. If you installed the Evaluation edition first, run the installer again to enter your key, as described above, or contact our support.

If something goes wrong

For Power BI Pro and PPU: the key is rejected as already used. A subscription key can be redeemed only once. Check whether a colleague already redeemed it. If nobody did, contact our support with your order number.

"You must be a global or billing admin to redeem a product key." Sign in with an account that has the Billing Administrator role, or ask your administrator to redeem the key.

The licence is not available when you assign it. The assignment fails when no free licences are left. Open Billing > Licenses, select the product and check how many licences are available. Ask the administrator who redeemed the key to confirm that the redemption went through.

The assignment shows an error about the usage location. Check and correct the usage location of the affected user. Then select the user on the failed assignment and select Reprocess.

The Report Server setup does not accept the key. Check that you picked Enter the product key and entered the key exactly as supplied. Do not use a Developer key in production. If the key is still rejected, contact our support with your order number and the exact message.

Still stuck? Contact our support and include your order number and the exact message you see.