This is what I am trying to do: I have various SQL server databases with data. I created views in all of them. All views will need to be imported, and I specify their relationships. I want this to be refreshed nightly. I want to build various reports of the same data source.
Do I have to use a PowerBI desktop application to import data into PowerBI Report Service? [I have done this so far, but then can create new reports in the cloud on existing data. It would make sense to connect directly from PowerBI report service to my SQL servers.]
Once I uploaded data using a desktop application (as I have done so far), how can I view the data model in the report service once it is uploaded in the cloud?
In order to get routinely refreshed data I need to setup a gateway. Is the local PowerBI desktop application still involved in this process, or could I [in theory] delete the local desktop application that pushed the data in initially?
For your questions:
You have two options, use PBI Desktop to connect to the data using import/direct query, then load it to the service. You can use dataflows to create an import based on your views, but you will then need to create reports from those. Using dataflows, you'll have to set up a refresh schedule, then for the dataset(s) built on top of those, you'll have to set another refresh schedule.
You will be limited to the dataset sizes of 1GB for the workspace if importing data. You cannot use direct query on dataflows (unless you have enhanced compute with PBI premium). Once the dataset is loaded, you can then create new reports in the service or via desktop on top of that dataset. If possible it is recommended to use direct query.
To see the data model, you can use desktop to connect to PBI Service Dataset. This will connect in 'Live Connection' mode, and will be limited to that one dataset, you can't add others to it, Excel, CSV, SQL etc. You can also use Analyse in Excel, a plugin for Excel, that can connect to the data model. You can create new reports in the service for existing data models as well.
When creating the report in PBI Desktop it does not use the Gateway, you connect to your data sources as normal, then once you load the dataset to Power BI it will match the data sources in the file to the ones set up in the Gateway Admin settings. So you will still need PBI Desktop to create reports, but the gateway is there for the refreshing. The Desktop is not used in the process for refreshing. You could delete the workbook or application, but if you have to make changes, what will you refer to? (You could download a copy of the report from the service).+ It is easier to make changes in the desktop app, then the service, as there is a feature difference between dataset creation in the desktop vs service.
Related
My scenario is:
I have 3 Dataflows:
Recent Data (from SQL Server. Refreshes 8 times a day)
Historical Data (does not refresh, just once initially)
Sharepoint Excel file Data
In my Dataset, I want to have a single Fact table that "union all" all 3 sources.
Instead of Append transformation, I want to create 3 custom Partition (well explained here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CRqdsLjHNA&t=127s).
I want to somehow tell the schedule refresh to only process the Recent Data and Excel Data partitions only.
The reasoning is - if I do Append, then the dataset will each time process the Historical Data again and again.
Now 2 questions:
How do I tell the scheduled refresh to only process two of 3 partitions? (I can do it manually via XMLA endpoint, but I need it scheduled)
What if I change something in my report (like visuals) - how do I deploy the changes without needing to recreate the partitions?
See Advanced Refresh Scenarios which includes Metadata Only Deployment, and Automate Premium workspace and dataset tasks with service principals.
The easiest way to generate the TMSL scripts for the advanced refresh scenarios is with SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) which has wizards for configuring refresh, and can generate the script for you. Then you use the script through PowerShell cmdlets or using ADOMD.NET, which in turn can be automated with Azure Automation or an Azure Function.
If you don't need full TMSL scripting capabilities, Power Automate has connectors that hit the Power BI REST APIs, but doesn't support partition-based refresh currently.
But you can call the REST Refresh API directly through any programming language, or the Power Automate HTTP Action.
Also you should take a look at the new (Preview) Hybrid Tables feature which would enable you to have the recent data in a DirectQuery partition, while the historical data is in Import mode.
I have an existing PowerBI report that imports data from an SQL Server analytics services database. This is working fine and I can schedule automatic refreshes using the Gateway provided by my organization.
I would now like to add some additional, but rarely changing data, that I only have in a local Excel file. When I do add this data, the report stops refreshing automatically and complains, that it has no gateway to refresh this Excel file.
What I would like is that Power BI is refreshing the data of the SQL Server analytics services database, but just keeps the existing Excel file without updating it. - I will upload an updated version of the PowerBI report if I need to change the data in the Excel file.
Is that possible? I couldn't find out how. I was trying to upload the Excel file to a different dataset to the Power BI service and reference this dataset in my report. Just to find out, that I cannot access a different Power BI dataset and SQL server analysis services database from the same report.
Three things I can think of
Upload the file to onedrive/sharepoint so that it's accessible online (per Dev's answer)
If the data is simple enough, you can add the data directly into PowerBI itself and skip the Excel file entirely.
You can disable the Excel file refresh so that PBI does not try and refresh(and thus access) the local Excel file. (Not sure if this will work)
I had a similar issue I came across. Yes, you can just use Enter Data to add a table, but you can only build something with less than 3000 cells, so you'd have to merge several tables if something was larger than that.
Turning off the report refresh in the suggestion above (#3) still requires a gateway, unfortunately.
I just created a dataflow and plopped the data from my csv there. You'll have to create a connection and refresh it, but you don't need to schedule a refresh there, so no need to create a gateway.
Then just link the dataflow as a source to your .pbix file and setup your gateway to point at the dataflow.
I have uploaded a report to PBI Cloud with several bookmarks and different data models like tables and different charts. Now I made some changes to this report and published it by replacing the existing one. Some charts were deleted and some new were newly added. When navigating directly to the report in PBI cloud I can see the changes. But the changes are not applied for the App which is connected with that report.
Is there any further step needed to perform so that the models in the PBI Cloud "App" get also updated?
In the workspace there is an Update app button, that you need to click,
This will take you through the process of republishing the app
As far as I know, deploying a Power BI report from Power BI Desktop results in two items, the report itself and the dataset. When deploying a new report using the same dataset, will deploy the new report and a second copy of the same dataset in Power BI Service. That is not what I wanted. To not confuse end users and other, I want only an unique dataset deployed.
I want to make use of Azure Devops deploying to Power BI Service in a Dev, Test and Prod way. The dataset will be an azure analysis services data model, but the principle should be the same. I need to reduce the dataset to be exactly one and all reports must relate to that data model. I have heard of a Rest API or powershell scripting that can come to a rescue here.
So if any of you have done this or know of a good article that describes how to do this, I would be grateful.
Regards Geir
The best option is to separate the Power BI report in the frontend and the backend. You create a file purely for the dataset if you are importing, no reports created on it. You can then create the reports, using the service connection to the dataset, or with Power BI desktop, in the connection to Power BI Dataset option. Both will use 'Live Connection' mode, so you cannot add any other data sources to the model, for example bring in a CSV file or SQL database.
If you are connecting to an Azure Analysis Service data model, you can use this approach, however as it is only a connection only, not a full fat dataset, it should not be an issue to have copies of the dataset, as it is just the connection. Having copies of the dataset is only an issue if you are importing data, then it is best to move things to data flows, and use the same front/back end method, and the planning around the scheduling of the dataflows then datasets
You can use the REST API to move reports and the datasets that they connect to, and move items to new workspaces. If you have Power BI Premium that has a life cycle tool to move items between dev/test/live workspaces
If you create a report in desktop and choose 'Power BI Dataset' as live connection to work over it - when you upload the report to the same workspace, it will only upload the report and connect to the same dataset
https://radacad.com/power-bi-shared-datasets-what-is-it-how-does-it-work-and-why-should-you-care#:~:text=A%20shared%20dataset%20is%20a%20dataset%20that%20shared%20between%20multiple,tenant%20in%20Power%20BI%20environment.
So, I created dataset that can be used to generate multiple reports and dashboards.
I would like to publish to the web portal and allow report designers to create their own reports and dashboards. Which works great until I need to update the model. If I update the model and push the data set via Publish function it deletes the reports.
So is the only option for everyone to use PowerBI Desktop? What is the web-based report designer for? Is this only for datasets that will never change?
If your Power BI file has reports in it, it will over write them. What I think is happening is that your users are updating the report in your dataset, for example adding a new tab, so when you load changes it overwrites them.
You need to decouple the Dataset from the reports. You can load your dataset with out any reports. You can then build reports using two methods.
1) Connect to the dataset using Power BI Desktop, using the connect to Power BI Dataset connection. That links to the dataset in a Live Connection, so you can build your reports from that. You can then publish your report. Any changes to the dataset will not overwrite it.
2) For the Web builder you can do the same, create a new report in the portal and select a dataset from that workspace to build your report. What the user needs to do then is 'Save as' and give that report as a new name.
Both methods just link to your dataset, not build a report directly in the file