SSRS reports, exporting to EXCEL gives rrRenderingError error - The type initializer for 'MS.Utility.EventTrace' threw an exception

Question

I'm running SQL Server 2016 and have local reporting services running. I can run my SSRS reports up fine and display them to screen. I can also export them to PDF or to CSV but if I try to export to Word, PP or EXCEL I get:

Reporting Services Error
An error occurred during rendering of the report. (rrRenderingError)
An error occurred during rendering of the report.
The type initializer for 'MS.Utility.EventTrace' threw an exception.
Requested registry access is not allowed.

the same report works fine on other peoples machines in the office so I know it's not to do with the report itself. I've tried Has anyone else had this issue or know how I can shift it?

Answer 1

I just spent hours troubleshooting this in a fresh install of SSRS 2019 using an updated database from a prior version.

I'm using an execution account with low permissions and did not want to make it a full Local Admin permanently but I tried adding it, unsuccessfully.

I removed the account from unattended execution in Report Services Configuration Manager and suddenly was able to export to XLSX. I was not sure what the fallout would be for existing reports, so I was not satisfied with this solution either.

Elsewhere I saw a recommendation to use Process Monitor (procmon) to watch for registry key access denials, you can download it here procmon. It was difficult to search all of the output but you can filter by registry key access, then look for the RS executables or the result ACCESS DENIED.

In my case, it was HKU\%service account sid%\Software\Microsoft\Avalon.Graphics, and granting the execution account (not the account that runs the service) Read access to this key resolved the issue.