Power BI Connector for Azure Data Factory (Pipeline)

Connect to your Power BI account and retrieve data, refresh datasets, etc.

In this article you will learn how to quickly and efficiently integrate Power BI data in Azure Data Factory (Pipeline) without coding. We will use high-performance Power BI Connector to easily connect to Power BI and then access the data inside Azure Data Factory (Pipeline).

Let's follow the steps below to see how we can accomplish that!

Download Documentation

Create ODBC Data Source (DSN) based on ZappySys API Driver

Step-by-step instructions

To get data from Power BI using Azure Data Factory (Pipeline) we first need to create a DSN (Data Source) which will access data from Power BI. We will later be able to read data using Azure Data Factory (Pipeline). Perform these steps:

  1. Download and install ODBC PowerPack.

  2. Open ODBC Data Sources (x64):

    Open ODBC Data Source
  3. Create a User data source (User DSN) based on ZappySys API Driver

    ZappySys API Driver
    Create new User DSN for ZappySys API Driver
    • Create and use User DSN if the client application is run under a User Account. This is an ideal option in design-time, when developing a solution, e.g. in Visual Studio 2019. Use it for both type of applications - 64-bit and 32-bit.
    • Create and use System DSN if the client application is launched under a System Account, e.g. as a Windows Service. Usually, this is an ideal option to use in a production environment. Use ODBC Data Source Administrator (32-bit), instead of 64-bit version, if Windows Service is a 32-bit application.
    Azure Data Factory (Pipeline) uses a Service Account, when a solution is deployed to production environment, therefore for production environment you have to create and use a System DSN.
  4. When the Configuration window appears give your data source a name if you haven't done that already, then select "Power BI" from the list of Popular Connectors. If "Power BI" is not present in the list, then click "Search Online" and download it. Then set the path to the location where you downloaded it. Finally, click Continue >> to proceed with configuring the DSN:

    PowerBiDSN
    Power BI
    ODBC DSN Template Selection
  5. Now it's time to configure the Connection Manager. Select Authentication Type, e.g. Token Authentication. Then select API Base URL (in most cases, the default one is the right one). More info is available in the Authentication section.

    Use delegated access (User Credentials) whenever you want to let a signed-in user work with their own resources or resources they can access. Whether it's an admin setting up policies for their entire organization or a user deleting an email in their inbox, all scenarios involving user actions should use delegated access. [API reference]

    Steps how to get and use Power BI credentials : User Credentials [OAuth]

    Follow these simple steps below to create Microsoft Entra ID application with delegated access:

    WARNING: If you are planning to automate processes, we recommend that you use a Application Credentials authentication method. In case, you still need to use User Credentials, then make sure you use a system/generic account (e.g. automation@my-company.com). When you use a personal account which is tied to a specific employee profile and that employee leaves the company, the token may become invalid and any automated processes using that token will start to fail.
    1. Navigate to the Azure Portal and log in using your credentials.
    2. Access Microsoft Entra ID.
    3. Register a new application by going to App registrations and clicking on New registration button:

      Start new app registration in Microsoft Entra ID
      INFO: Find more information on how to register an application in Graph API reference.
    4. When configuration window opens, configure these fields:

      • Supported account type
        • Use Accounts in this organizational directory only, if you need access to data in your organization only.
      • Redirect URI:
        • Set the type to Public client/native (mobile & desktop).
        • Use https://zappysys.com/oauth as the URL.
      Register app in Microsoft Entra ID
    5. After registering the app, copy the Application (client) ID for later:

      Copy client ID of Microsoft Entra ID app
    6. Copy OAuth authorization endpoint (v2) & OAuth token endpoint (v2) URLs to use later in the configuration:

      Copy Auth and Token URLs in Microsoft Entra ID app
    7. Now go to SSIS package or ODBC data source and use the copied values in User Credentials authentication configuration:

      • In the Authorization URL field paste the OAuth authorization endpoint (v2) URL value you copied in the previous step.
      • In the Token URL field paste the OAuth token endpoint (v2) URL value you copied in the previous step.
      • In the Client ID field paste the Application (client) ID value you copied in the previous step.
      • In the Scope field use the default value or select individual scopes, e.g.:
        • offline_access
        • https://analysis.windows.net/powerbi/api/Workspace.Read.All
        • https://analysis.windows.net/powerbi/api/Dataset.Read.All
        • https://analysis.windows.net/powerbi/api/Dataset.ReadWrite.All
    8. Press Generate Token button to generate Access and Refresh Tokens.
    9. Click Test Connection to confirm the connection is working.
    10. Optional step. Choose Default Workspace from the drop down menu.
    11. Choose Default Dataset from the drop down menu.
    12. Done! Now you are ready to use the API Connector!

    Fill in all required parameters and set optional parameters if needed:

    PowerBiDSN
    Power BI
    User Credentials [OAuth]
    https://api.powerbi.com/v1.0/myorg
    Required Parameters
    Authorization URL Fill-in the parameter...
    Token URL Fill-in the parameter...
    Client ID Fill-in the parameter...
    Scope Fill-in the parameter...
    Default Dataset (select after generating tokens) Fill-in the parameter...
    Optional Parameters
    Client Secret
    Redirect URI (must match App Redirect URI)
    Default Workspace (Keep Empty for My Workspace - select after generating tokens)
    RetryMode RetryWhenStatusCodeMatch
    RetryStatusCodeList 429|503
    RetryCountMax 20
    RetryWaitTimeMs 1000
    RetryMultiplyWaitTime True
    Login options
    ODBC DSN Oauth Connection Configuration

  6. Once the data source connection has been configured, it's time to configure the SQL query. Select the Preview tab and then click Query Builder button to configure the SQL query:

    ZappySys API Driver - Power BI
    Connect to your Power BI account and retrieve data, refresh datasets, etc.
    PowerBiDSN
    Open Query Builder in API ODBC Driver to read and write data to REST API
  7. Start by selecting the Table or Endpoint you are interested in and then configure the parameters. This will generate a query that we will use in Azure Data Factory (Pipeline) to retrieve data from Power BI. Hit OK button to use this query in the next step.

    SELECT * 
    FROM Workspaces
    WHERE Id='aaaaaaaa-bbbb-cccc-dddd-eeeeeeeeeeee'
    Configure table/endpoint parameters in ODBC data source based on API Driver
    Some parameters configured in this window will be passed to the Power BI API, e.g. filtering parameters. It means that filtering will be done on the server side (instead of the client side), enabling you to get only the meaningful data much faster.
  8. Now hit Preview Data button to preview the data using the generated SQL query. If you are satisfied with the result, use this query in Azure Data Factory (Pipeline):

    ZappySys API Driver - Power BI
    Connect to your Power BI account and retrieve data, refresh datasets, etc.
    PowerBiDSN
    SELECT * 
    FROM Workspaces
    WHERE Id='aaaaaaaa-bbbb-cccc-dddd-eeeeeeeeeeee'
    API ODBC Driver-based data source data preview
    You can also access data quickly from the tables dropdown by selecting <Select table>.
    A WHERE clause, LIMIT keyword will be performed on the client side, meaning that the whole result set will be retrieved from the Power BI API first, and only then the filtering will be applied to the data. If possible, it is recommended to use parameters in Query Builder to filter the data on the server side (in Power BI servers).
  9. Click OK to finish creating the data source.

Video Tutorial

Read data in Azure Data Factory (ADF) from ODBC datasource (Power BI)

  1. To start press New button:

    Create new Self-Hosted integration runtime
  2. Select "Azure, Self-Hosted" option:

    Create new Self-Hosted integration runtime
  3. Select "Self-Hosted" option:

    Create new Self-Hosted integration runtime
  4. Set a name, we will use "OnPremisesRuntime":

    Set a name for IR
  5. Download and install Microsoft Integration Runtime.

  6. Launch Integration Runtime and copy/paste Authentication Key from Integration Runtime configuration in Azure Portal:

    Copy/paste Authentication Key
  7. After finishing registering the Integration Runtime node, you should see a similar view:

    Check Integration Runtime node status
  8. Go back to Azure Portal and finish adding new Integration Runtime. You should see it was successfully added:

    Integration Runtime status
  9. Go to Linked services section and create a new Linked service based on ODBC:

    Add new Linked service
  10. Select "ODBC" service:

    Add new ODBC service
  11. Configure new ODBC service. Use the same DSN name we used in the previous step and copy it to Connection string box:

    PowerBiDSN
    DSN=PowerBiDSN
    Configure new ODBC service
  12. For created ODBC service create ODBC-based dataset:

    Add new ODBC dataset
  13. Go to your pipeline and add Copy data connector into the flow. In Source section use OdbcDataset we created as a source dataset:

    Set source in Copy data
  14. Then go to Sink section and select a destination/sink dataset. In this example we use precreated AzureBlobStorageDataset which saves data into an Azure Blob:

    Set sink in Copy data
  15. Finally, run the pipeline and see data being transferred from OdbcDataset to your destination dataset:

    Run the flow

Actions supported by Power BI Connector

Learn how to perform common Power BI actions directly in Azure Data Factory (Pipeline) with these how-to guides:

Conclusion

In this article we showed you how to connect to Power BI in Azure Data Factory (Pipeline) and integrate data without any coding, saving you time and effort. It's worth noting that ZappySys API Driver allows you to connect not only to Power BI, but to any Java application that supports JDBC (just use a different JDBC driver and configure it appropriately).

We encourage you to download Power BI Connector for Azure Data Factory (Pipeline) and see how easy it is to use it for yourself or your team.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact ZappySys support team. You can also open a live chat immediately by clicking on the chat icon below.

Download Power BI Connector for Azure Data Factory (Pipeline) Documentation

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