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SQL Server Reporting Services

Netwrix Auditor uses SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) engine for report generation.

If you want to generate reports and run search queries against data collected by Netwrix Auditor, you should configure SQL Server Reporting Services (2012 R2 and above required).

NOTE: Starting with SQL Server 2025, Microsoft has discontinued SSRS and replaced it with Power BI Report Server (PBIRS) as the default on-premises reporting solution. PBIRS is a superset of SSRS and supports all existing SSRS (RDL) capabilities. See the Reporting Services consolidation FAQ for details about the discontinuation and migration options.

Consider the following:

  • SQL Server and SQL Server Reporting Services (or Power BI Report Server for SQL Server 2025+) can be deployed on separate machines only in commercial edition. SQL Server Express Edition with Advanced Services doesn't support such deployment scenario.
  • Power BI Report Server is available for SQL Server 2025 Enterprise and Standard editions. For SQL Server 2022 and earlier Enterprise editions, PBIRS usage rights apply only to core licenses with active Software Assurance (SA).
  • SSRS can still be used, and its databases can be hosted on Microsoft SQL Server, including SQL Server 2025.

NOTE: Netwrix recommends using HTTPS instead of HTTP. Also configure HTTPS for the Reporting Service.

If you plan, however, not to use Netwrix Auditor built-in intelligence (search, alerts, or reports) but only to receive e-mail notifications on audit data collection results, you may not need to configure SSRS/PBIRS or audit database settings.

Configure SSRS / PBIRS Account​

An account used to upload data to the SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) or Power BI Report Server (PBIRS) must be granted the Content Manager role on the report server Home folder.

NOTE: You can't use gMSA to access SSRS/PBIRS. Use a standard account for that purpose.

To assign the Content Manager role:

Step 1 – Navigate to your Report Manager URL.

Step 2 – On the Home page, navigate to Folder Settings and click New Role Assignment (the path can slightly vary depending on your SQL Server version).

Step 3 – Specify an account in the following format: domain\user. The account must belong to the same domain where Netwrix Auditor is installed, or to a trusted domain.

Step 4 – Select Content Manager.

Grant Additional Permissions on Report Server​

To be able to generate a report, any user assigned the Global administrator, Global reviewer, or Reviewer role must have the Browser role on the Report Server. Netwrix Auditor grants this role automatically when adding a user. If for some reason the product was unable to grant the role, do it manually.

To assign the Browser role to a user:

Step 1 – Open the Report Manager URL in your web browser.

Step 2 – Depending on the user's delegated scope, select the entire Home folder or drill-down to specific data sources or event reports.

Step 3 – Navigate to Manage Folder (the path can slightly vary depending on your SQL Server version) and select Add group or user.

Step 4 – Specify an account in the following format: domain\user. The account must belong to the same domain where Netwrix Auditor Server is installed, or to a trusted domain.

Step 5 – Select Browser.

In general, Auditor can use Reporting Services with the default settings. However, to ensure that Reporting Services is properly configured, perform the following procedure:

Log in as a member of the local Administrators group on the computer where SQL Server 2016 Express is installed.

To verify Reporting Services installation:

Step 6 – Navigate to Start >All Apps > SQL Server Reporting Services Configuration Manager (for SSRS) or Power BI Report Server Configuration Manager (for PBIRS on SQL Server 2025+).

Step 7 – In the Reporting Services Configuration Connection dialog, ensure that your local report server instance (for example, SQLExpress) is selected, and click Connect.

Step 8 – In the Reporting Services Configuration Manager left pane, select Web Service URL. Ensure that:

  • Virtual Directory is set to ReportServer<YourSqlServerInstanceName>_ (e.g., _ReportServer_SQLEXPRESS_ for SQLEXPRESS instance)
  • TCP Port is set to 80

Step 9 – In the Reporting Services Configuration Manager left pane, select Database. Make sure that the SQL Server Name and Database Name fields contain correct values. If necessary, click Change Database and complete the Report Server Database Configuration wizard.

Step 10 – In the Reporting Services Configuration Manager left pane, select Report Manager URL. Ensure Virtual Directory is set correctly, and that the URL is valid.

NOTE: If you use a Group Managed Service Account (gMSA) to access the SQL Server instance that hosts the Netwrix Auditor database, Netwrix Auditor can't generate SSRS-based reports. This limitation occurs because SQL Server Reporting Services doesn't support using gMSA for the Unattended Execution Account. For more details, see the Microsoft documentation: Configure the Unattended Execution Account (Report Server Configuration Manager).