SSRS Gotcha: Recreating a Deleted Data Source Does Not Automatically Fix Broken Reports

I recently ran into a frustrating SSRS error that looked like a simple data source problem — but turned out to be a subtle reference issue that’s easy to miss.

If you’ve ever deleted and recreated a shared data source with the same name, this one’s for you.

The Error Message

The report failed with:

“The report server cannot process the report or shared dataset.
The shared data source ‘CDIS’ for the report server or SharePoint site is not valid.
(rsInvalidDataSourceReference)”

At first glance, this suggests:

the data source doesn’t exist, or
the connection string is broken.

But here’s the catch…

The Confusing Part

✔️ The shared data source existed
✔️ It had the same name as before
✔️ Test Connection succeeded

Yet the report still failed.

What Actually Happened

Even though I recreated the shared data source with the same name (CDIS), SSRS does not re-link reports automatically.

Behind the scenes, SSRS doesn’t bind reports to data sources by name — it binds them by an internal reference (ID + path).

So when the original data source was deleted:

every report and shared dataset that referenced it was left pointing to a dead object
recreating a new data source with the same name created a new object, not a replacement

To SSRS, these are not the same thing.

The Fix (That Isn’t Obvious)

To restore the link, I had to explicitly re-select the shared data source for the report.

Steps:

Open Report Server / SSRS Web Portal
Navigate to the report
Click Manage
Go to Data Sources
Select Use a shared data source
Browse and re-select the newly created CDIS data source
Save

Once I did this, the report immediately started working again.

Important Note: Shared Datasets

If your report uses a Shared Dataset, you must repeat this process on the dataset itself:

Manage → Data Sources
Re-bind the shared data source there too

Otherwise, the error will persist even if the report looks correctly configured.

Why “Test Connection” Can Be Misleading

This is the part that wastes the most time.

Test Connection only verifies:
- connection string
- credentials
It does not verify:
- report-to-data-source binding
- internal SSRS object references

So a green “Test Connection succeeded” does not mean your report is actually wired correctly.

Key Takeaway

Deleting and recreating a shared data source — even with the same name — breaks report links.

SSRS will not auto-heal those references.

You must:

explicitly re-select the shared data source
for every affected report and shared dataset

Quick Rule of Thumb

❌ Same name ≠ same data source
✅ Always rebind after recreating
🔍 Don’t trust Test Connection alone