Can't upload 1.2GB PBIX file to Power BI Report Server

[Anonymous]

I have a 1.2 GB pbix file and I want to upload it in the Power BI reporting server and I get an error massege "The file too large and cannot be uploaded"
what is the max pbix size can be uploaded currently? how is possible to modify it?

[Anonymous]

So this is quite a complex question to answer. (most of this is my opinion rather than being anything I'd bet the ranch on)

There is a limit to the size of files you can upload to the on Prem Server. Its controlled via a config setting and seems to be set to 1000Mb. I assume it responds if you change it, we haven't had to change this so I can't comment. The last set of release notes suggested this had been raised to 2Gb. (Remember this is the vertipaq compressed size so the uncompressed data can be several times larger than this)

Be aware that PowerBI-SSRS is not just a web app. In the background it spins up a captive SSAS TAB instances for PBIX files that have imported data. This captive instance can consume quite large quantities of memory if you get a number of data sets loaded into it concurrently so you may need to give your SSRS-PBI Server some more memory so it can breath if you have moderate to high concurrency. So there will be a delay when you try and spin up big files as the SSAS TAB Instance in the back sorts itself out.

A slightly longer explanation of what I understand happens is included here https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Report-Server/Needed-instances-for-PowerBI-report-server/m-p/445068...

If you want to amend the file size limit you need to connect to the Report Server via SSMS using a connection string that looks something like this

http://YourServerName/YourServerURL

Note If you use the very latest fersion of SSMS this won't work. I find I have to use SSMS from SQL2014 otherwise the connection just stalls and never does anything useful.

Once connected get the properties pane up and you can amend the size. there

[Anonymous]

I am not sure what the max size is, but as a possible work around have you tried saving your file as a "Power BI Template File (*.pbit)"? Basically this just removes the cached data from inside the .pbix file and will force a refresh of the data the next time it is opened.