The Database Engine instance you selected is not valid for this edition of Reporting Services

I was installing Reporting Services SharePoint Mode for SharePoint 2013 the other day when a came across the following error:

ERROR: Throwing Microsoft.ReportingServices.Diagnostics.Utilities.OperationNotSupportedException: , Microsoft.ReportingServices.Diagnostics.Utilities.OperationNotSupportedException: The feature: “The Database Engine instance you selected is not valid for this edition of Reporting Services. The Database Engine does not meet edition requirements for report data sources or the report server database. ” is not supported in this edition of Reporting Services.;

This error can be caused by not patching the servers to the same level so I triple checked my installation.

Reporting Services SharePoint Mode for SharePoint 2013 and SQL Server 2012 Check List

Database Server

1. Install SQL Server 2012
   • Select the following on the Feature Selection page:
     • Database Engine Services
     • Reporting Services – SharePoint
     • Reporting Services Add-in for SharePoint Products
     • Management Tools – Basic
     • Management Tools – Complete
     • On the Reporting Services Configuration page, the Install only option should be selected.
2. Install SQL Server 2012 SP1
3. Install SQL Server 2012 SP1 Communicative Updates

Application Server

1. Install SharePoint Server 2013 Prerequisites
2. Install SharePoint Server 2013
3. Install SharePoint Server 2013 Language Packs
4. Install SharePoint Server 2013 Cumulative Updates
5. SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard
6. Install SQL Server 2012
   • Select the following on the Feature Selection page:
     • Reporting Services – SharePoint
7. Install SQL Server 2012 SP1
8. Install SQL Server 2012 SP1 Communicative Updates

Web Front End Server

1. Install SharePoint Server 2013 Prerequisites
2. Install SharePoint Server 2013
3. Install SharePoint Server 2013 Language Packs
4. Install SharePoint Server 2013 Cumulative Updates
5. SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard
6. Install SQL Server 2012
   • Select the following on the Feature Selection page:
     • Reporting Services Add-in for SharePoint Products
7. Install SQL Server 2012 SP1
8. Install SQL Server 2012 SP1 Communicative Updates

Reporting Services Farm Setup

1. Right-click SharePoint 2013 Management Shell and click Run as administrator.
2. Type the following commands in the SharePoint 2013 Management Shell prompt:

Install-SPRSService
Install-SPRSServiceProxy
get-spserviceinstance -all |where {$_.TypeName -like "SQL Server Reporting*"} | Start-SPServiceInstance

Now that I had ensured that I had installed the Reporting Services components to the same level with SharePoint 2013 I visited my SharePoint site to add additional configuration settings. I found that I still received “The Database Engine instance you selected is not valid for this edition of Reporting Services.” error.

Checking Versions and Editions for SQL Server and Reporting Services 2012

Another possible cause of this error is that the SQL Server edition doesn’t match the Reporting Service edition that was installed. I did not install the SQL Server instance so I decided to check to make sure that the software I was provided matched the edition installed.

How to determine which version and edition of SQL Server Database Engine is running

Connect to the instance of SQL Server using SQL Server Management Studio, and then run the following query:

SELECT SERVERPROPERTY('productversion'), SERVERPROPERTY ('productlevel'), SERVERPROPERTY ('edition')

The following results are an example of what should be returned:

• The product version (for example, 11.1.3000.0)
• The product level (for example, RTM)
• The edition (for example, Enterprise)

How to determine which version and edition of Reporting Services is running

The easiest way to find out the version and edition of Reporting Services is to look in the Reporting Services Configuration Manager.

1. If you are using Windows Server 2008 R2, click Start, then go to All Programs, Microsoft SQL Server 2012, Configuration Tools and then click on Reporting Services Configuration Manager. If you are using Windows Server 2012, go to the Start screen by moving your mouse to the bottom left side of the screen and click on the Start screen image. One the Start screen start typing “Reporting Services Configuration Manager” and then select Reporting Services Configuration Manager under Apps.
2. Next, connect to a Report Server Instance that you want to review the version and edition.
3. In Server Name, specify the name of the computer on which the report server instance is installed. If you specify a remote computer, click Find to establish a connection.
4. In Report Server Instance, select the SQL Server Reporting Services instance that you want to configure.
5. Click Connect.

After I compared the SQL Server Database Engine instance to the Reporting Services version I noticed that it wasn’t the same edition I was told was installed. The SQL Server Database Engine instance and Reporting Services were SQL Server 2012 SP1 Enterprise Evaluation edition and I was told that the full version SQL Server 2012 SP1 Standard edition had been installed. The person installing SQL Server downloaded the evaluation software from the Microsoft site and then used the Standard edition product key to install, but the SQL Server software still thought it was an Enterprise Evaluation edition.

How to Upgrade SQL Server 2012 from Evaluation to Standard or Enterprise

Once I discovered that SQL Server 2012 software didn’t match the product key that it was installed with, I tried upgrading the software to get the editions to match. The following are steps on how to upgrade SQL Server edition based on a product key:

1. Start the SQL Server 2012 setup executable.
2. On the SQL Server Installation Center screen, select Maintenance in the left menu and then Edition Upgrade to the right.
3. On the Upgrade the Edition for SQL Server screen, press next until you can enter a product key. Enter the product key for the edition you wish to install.
4. Select a SQL Server instance and press next until the installation wizard starts updating the environment.
5. If you have multiple SQL instances you will have to repeat the previous steps for each instance.

Once I upgraded the edition of SQL Server 2012, I went back to my SharePoint 2013 and found that I no longer received reporting services errors.