Power BI Connector for SSIS

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 SSIS without coding. We will use high-performance Power BI Connector to easily connect to Power BI and then access the data inside SSIS.

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

Download Documentation

Video Tutorial - Integrate Power BI data in SSIS

This video covers the following topics and more, so please watch carefully. After watching the video, follow the steps outlined in this article:

  • How to download and install the required PowerPack for Power BI integration in SSIS
  • How to configure the connection for Power BI
  • Features of the ZappySys API Source (Authentication / Query Language / Examples / Driver UI)
  • How to use the Power BI in SSIS

Prerequisites

Before we begin, make sure the following prerequisites are met:

  1. SSIS designer installed. Sometimes it is referred as BIDS or SSDT (download it from Microsoft).
  2. Basic knowledge of SSIS package development using Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services.
  3. SSIS PowerPack is installed (if you are new to SSIS PowerPack, then get started!).

Read data from Power BI in SSIS (Export data)

In this section we will learn how to configure and use Power BI Connector in API Source to extract data from Power BI.

  1. Begin with opening Visual Studio and Create a New Project.

  2. Select Integration Service Project and in new project window set the appropriate name and location for project. And click OK.

  3. In the new SSIS project screen you will find the following:

    1. SSIS ToolBox on left side bar
    2. Solution Explorer and Property Window on right bar
    3. Control flow, data flow, event Handlers, Package Explorer in tab windows
    4. Connection Manager Window in the bottom

    SSIS Project Screen
    Note: If you don't see ZappySys SSIS PowerPack Task or Components in SSIS Toolbox, please refer to this help link.
  4. Now, Drag and Drop SSIS Data Flow Task from SSIS Toolbox. Double click on the Data Flow Task to see Data Flow designer.

    SSIS Data Flow Task - Drag and Drop
  5. From the SSIS toolbox drag and API Source (Predefined Templates) on the data flow designer surface, and double click on it to edit it:
    SSIS API Source (Predefined Templates) - Drag and Drop

  6. Select New Connection to create a new connection:
    API Source - New Connection

  7. Use a preinstalled Power BI Connector from Popular Connector List or press Search Online radio button to download Power BI Connector. Once downloaded simply use it in the configuration:

    Power BI
    Power BI Connector Selection

  8. Proceed with selecting the desired Authentication Type. Then select API Base URL (in most cases default one is the right one). Finally, fill in all the required parameters and set optional parameters if needed. You may press a link Steps to Configure which will help set certain parameters. More info is available in 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!

    Configuring authentication parameters
    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
    ZappySys OAuth Connection

  9. Select the desired endpoint, change/pass the properties values, and click on Preview Data button to make the API call.

    API Source - Power BI
    Connect to your Power BI account and retrieve data, refresh datasets, etc.
    API Source - Select Endpoint

  10. That's it! We are done! Just in a few clicks we configured the call to Power BI using Power BI Connector.

    You can load the source data into your desired destination using the Upsert Destination, which supports SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and Amazon Redshift. We also offer other destinations such as CSV, Excel, Azure Table, Salesforce, and more. You can check out our SSIS PowerPack Tasks and components for more options. (*loaded in Trash Destination)

    Execute Package - Reading data from Power BI and load into target

Write data to Power BI using SSIS (Import data)

In this section we will learn how to configure and use Power BI Connector in the API Destination to write data to Power BI.

Video tutorial

This video covers following and more so watch carefully. After watching this video follow the steps described in this article.

  • How to download SSIS PowerPack for Power BI integration in SSIS
  • How to configure connection for Power BI
  • How to write or lookup data to Power BI
  • Features about SSIS API Destination
  • Using Power BI Connector in SSIS

Step-by-step instructions

In upper section we learned how to read data, now in this section we will learn how to configure Power BI in the API Source to POST data to the Power BI.

  1. Read the data from the source, being any desired source component. In example we will use ZappySys Dummy Data Source component.

  2. From the SSIS Toolbox drag and drop API Destination (Predefined Templates) on the Data Flow Designer surface and connect source component with it, and double click to edit it.
    SSIS API Destination (Predefined Templates) - Drag and Drop

  3. Select New Connection to create a new connection:

    API Destination - Power BI
    Connect to your Power BI account and retrieve data, refresh datasets, etc.
    API Destination - New Connection

  4. Use a preinstalled Power BI Connector from Popular Connector List or press Search Online radio button to download Power BI Connector. Once downloaded simply use it in the configuration:

    Power BI
    Power BI Connector Selection

  5. Proceed with selecting the desired Authentication Type. Then select API Base URL (in most cases default one is the right one). Finally, fill in all the required parameters and set optional parameters if needed. You may press a link Steps to Configure which will help set certain parameters. More info is available in 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!

    Configuring authentication parameters
    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
    ZappySys OAuth Connection

  6. Select the desired endpoint, change/pass the properties values, and go to the Mappings tab to map the columns.

    API Destination - Power BI
    Connect to your Power BI account and retrieve data, refresh datasets, etc.
    API Destination - Select Endpoint

  7. Finally, map the desired columns:

    API Destination - Power BI
    Connect to your Power BI account and retrieve data, refresh datasets, etc.
    API Destination - Columns Mapping

  8. That's it; we successfully configured the POST API Call. In a few clicks we configured the Power BI API call using ZappySys Power BI Connector

    Execute Package - Reading data from API Source and load into target

Load Power BI data into SQL Server using Upsert Destination (Insert or Update)

Once you configured the data source, you can load Power BI data into SQL Server using Upsert Destination.

Upsert Destination can merge or synchronize source data with the target table. It supports Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and Redshift databases as targets. Upsert Destination also supports very fast bulk upsert operation along with bulk delete.

Upsert operation - a database operation which performs INSERT or UPDATE SQL commands based on record's existence condition in the target table. It inserts records that don't have matching records in the target table or updates them, if they do, by matching them by key columns.

Upsert Destination supports INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE operations, so it is similar to SQL Server's MERGE command, except it can be used directly in SSIS package.

  1. From the SSIS Toolbox drag-and-drop Upsert Destination component onto the Data Flow designer background.

  2. Connect your SSIS source component to Upsert Destination.

  3. Double-click on Upsert Destination component to open configuration window.

  4. Start by selecting the Action from the list.

  5. Next, select the desired target connection or create one by clicking <New [provider] Connection> menu item from the Target Connection dropdown.

  6. Then select a table from the Target Table list or click New button to create a new table based on the source columns.

  7. Continue by checking Insert and Update options according to your scenario (e.g. if Update option is unchecked, no updates will be made).

  8. Finally, click Map All button to map all columns and then select the Key columns to match the columns on:

    Configure SSIS Upsert Destination component to merge data with SQL Server, PostgreSQL, or Redshift table
  9. Click OK to save the configuration.

  10. Run the package and Power BI data will be merged with the target table in SQL Server, PostgreSQL, or Redshift:

    Execute Package - Reading data from API Source and load into target
  11. Done!

Deploy and schedule SSIS package

After you are done creating SSIS package, most likely, you want to deploy it to SQL Server Catalog and run it periodically. Just follow the instructions in this article:

Running SSIS package in Azure Data Factory (ADF)

To use SSIS PowerPack in ADF, you must first prepare Azure-SSIS Integration Runtime. Follow this link for detailed instructions:

Actions supported by Power BI Connector

Power BI Connector supports following actions for REST API integration:

Create a Push Dataset

Description

Creates a Push Dataset with Tables.

Parameters

You can provide the following parameters to this action:

  • Definition
  • WorkspaceId

Input Fields

You can provide the following fields to this action:

  • N/A

Output Fields

The following fields are returned after calling this action:

  • Id
  • Name
  • Status
  • HttpStatusCode

Visit documentation for more information.

Delete a Dataset

Description

Delete a Dataset by ID.

Parameters

You can provide the following parameters to this action:

  • Id
  • WorkspaceId

Input Fields

You can provide the following fields to this action:

  • Id

Output Fields

The following fields are returned after calling this action:

  • Id
  • Status
  • HttpStatusCode

Visit documentation for more information.

Execute a DAX query

Description

Executes a DAX query on a Dataset in a default or specified Workspace.

Parameters

You can provide the following parameters to this action:

  • DAX query
  • DatasetId
  • WorkspaceId

Input Fields

You can provide the following fields to this action:

  • N/A

Output Fields

The following fields are returned after calling this action:

  • N/A

Visit documentation for more information.

Get a Dataset

Description

Get a Dataset by ID.

Parameters

You can provide the following parameters to this action:

  • Id
  • WorkspaceId

Input Fields

You can provide the following fields to this action:

  • N/A

Output Fields

The following fields are returned after calling this action:

  • Id
  • Name
  • WebUrl
  • AddRowsAPIEnabled
  • ConfiguredBy
  • IsRefreshable
  • IsEffectiveIdentityRequired
  • IsEffectiveIdentityRolesRequired
  • IsOnPremGatewayRequired
  • TargetStorageMode
  • CreatedDate
  • CreateReportEmbedURL
  • QnaEmbedURL
  • UpstreamDatasets
  • Users

Visit documentation for more information.

Get a Workspace

Description

Get a Workspace by ID.

Parameters

You can provide the following parameters to this action:

  • Id

Input Fields

You can provide the following fields to this action:

  • N/A

Output Fields

The following fields are returned after calling this action:

  • Id
  • Name
  • Type
  • IsReadOnly
  • IsOnDedicatedCapacity

Visit documentation for more information.

Get Datasets

Description

Get Datasets from default or specified Workspace. If WorkspaceId parameter is not supplied, default Workspace will be used.

Parameters

You can provide the following parameters to this action:

  • WorkspaceId

Input Fields

You can provide the following fields to this action:

  • N/A

Output Fields

The following fields are returned after calling this action:

  • Id
  • Name
  • WebUrl
  • AddRowsAPIEnabled
  • ConfiguredBy
  • IsRefreshable
  • IsEffectiveIdentityRequired
  • IsEffectiveIdentityRolesRequired
  • IsOnPremGatewayRequired
  • TargetStorageMode
  • CreatedDate
  • CreateReportEmbedURL
  • QnaEmbedURL
  • UpstreamDatasets
  • Users

Visit documentation for more information.

Get Table Columns

Description

Gets Columns of a Table.

Parameters

You can provide the following parameters to this action:

  • TableName
  • DatasetId
  • WorkspaceId

Input Fields

You can provide the following fields to this action:

  • N/A

Output Fields

The following fields are returned after calling this action:

  • Name
  • MinValue
  • MaxValue
  • Cardinality
  • MaxLength

Visit documentation for more information.

Get Table Rows

Description

Reads a Table of a Dataset.

Parameters

You can provide the following parameters to this action:

  • TableName
  • DatasetId
  • WorkspaceId
  • DaxFilter

Input Fields

You can provide the following fields to this action:

  • N/A

Output Fields

The following fields are returned after calling this action:

  • [Dynamic Column]

Visit documentation for more information.

Get Tables

Description

Gets a list of Tables of a Dataset.

Parameters

You can provide the following parameters to this action:

  • DatasetId
  • WorkspaceId

Input Fields

You can provide the following fields to this action:

  • N/A

Output Fields

The following fields are returned after calling this action:

  • Name

Visit documentation for more information.

Get Workspaces

Description

Get all user's Workspaces.

Parameters

You can provide the following parameters to this action:

  • N/A

Input Fields

You can provide the following fields to this action:

  • N/A

Output Fields

The following fields are returned after calling this action:

  • Id
  • Name
  • Type
  • IsReadOnly
  • IsOnDedicatedCapacity

Visit documentation for more information.

Insert Rows into Push Dataset Table

Description

Inserts rows into a Push Dataset Table.

Parameters

You can provide the following parameters to this action:

  • TableName
  • DatasetId
  • WorkspaceId

Input Fields

You can provide the following fields to this action:

  • -Dynamic-

Output Fields

The following fields are returned after calling this action:

  • Status

Visit documentation for more information.

Refresh a Dataset

Description

Refreshes a Dataset by ID.

Parameters

You can provide the following parameters to this action:

  • Id
  • WorkspaceId

Input Fields

You can provide the following fields to this action:

  • N/A

Output Fields

The following fields are returned after calling this action:

  • Id
  • Status
  • HttpStatusCode

Visit documentation for more information.

Truncate a Push Dataset Table

Description

Reads a Table of a Dataset.

Parameters

You can provide the following parameters to this action:

  • TableName
  • DatasetId
  • WorkspaceId

Input Fields

You can provide the following fields to this action:

  • N/A

Output Fields

The following fields are returned after calling this action:

  • DatasetId
  • TableName
  • Status
  • HttpStatusCode

Visit documentation for more information.

Make Generic API Request

Description

This is generic endpoint. Use this endpoint when some actions are not implemented by connector. Just enter partial URL (Required), Body, Method, Header etc. Most parameters are optional except URL.

Parameters

You can provide the following parameters to this action:

  • Url
  • Body
  • IsMultiPart
  • Filter
  • Headers

Input Fields

You can provide the following fields to this action:

  • N/A

Output Fields

The following fields are returned after calling this action:

  • N/A

Visit documentation for more information.

Make Generic API Request (Bulk Write)

Description

This is a generic endpoint for bulk write purpose. Use this endpoint when some actions are not implemented by connector. Just enter partial URL (Required), Body, Method, Header etc. Most parameters are optional except URL.

Parameters

You can provide the following parameters to this action:

  • Url
  • IsMultiPart
  • Filter
  • Headers

Input Fields

You can provide the following fields to this action:

  • N/A

Output Fields

The following fields are returned after calling this action:

  • N/A

Visit documentation for more information.

Conclusion

In this article we showed you how to connect to Power BI in SSIS and integrate data without any coding, saving you time and effort.

We encourage you to download Power BI Connector for SSIS 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 SSIS Documentation

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