Power BI Service

What is Power BI Service?

Power BI Service is the cloud-based platform hosted at app.powerbi.com that allows you to publish, share, collaborate on, and consume Power BI reports and dashboards across your organization. While Power BI Desktop is the primary authoring tool where you build data models, write DAX, and design report pages, Power BI Service extends the platform into a full enterprise analytics environment.

Desktop vs Service — Key Differences

Power BI Desktop and Power BI Service are complementary tools, each with capabilities the other lacks.

Feature	Power BI Desktop	Power BI Service
Data modeling (relationships, calculated columns)	Yes	No
DAX measures authoring	Yes	Yes (limited editing)
Power Query (M) editing	Yes	Dataflows only
Report page design	Yes	Yes (limited web editing)
Dashboard creation	No	Yes
Pin tiles from multiple reports	No	Yes
App creation and distribution	No	Yes
Sharing and collaboration	No	Yes
Email subscriptions	No	Yes
Data alerts	No	Yes
Row-Level Security role assignment	Define roles	Assign users to roles
Scheduled refresh	No	Yes
Deployment pipelines	No	Yes
Dataflows (cloud ETL)	No	Yes
Goals / Scorecards	No	Yes
Embed reports in apps / websites	No	Yes
Usage metrics	No	Yes

Things You Can Only Do in Power BI Service

Some features are exclusive to the Service and have no Desktop equivalent:

• Dashboards — Single-page canvases with tiles pinned from multiple reports
• Apps — Bundled collections of dashboards and reports for distribution
• Subscriptions — Scheduled email delivery of report snapshots
• Data Alerts — Notifications when data on a dashboard tile exceeds a threshold
• Sharing — Granting other users access to reports and dashboards
• Publish to Web — Generating a public embed URL for anonymous access
• Dataflows — Cloud-based Power Query for reusable ETL
• Deployment Pipelines — Dev/Test/Production lifecycle management
• Goals and Metrics — Scorecard tracking for organizational KPIs
• Gateway Management — Configuring connections to on-premises data sources
• Admin Portal — Tenant-wide settings, audit logs, capacity management

Licensing Overview

Power BI Service operates under several license tiers:

License	Key Capabilities
Power BI Free	Personal use in My Workspace; cannot share content
Power BI Pro	Share content, collaborate in workspaces, consume shared content
Power BI Premium Per User (PPU)	All Pro features plus paginated reports, AI, larger model sizes
Power BI Premium Per Capacity	Dedicated capacity for the organization; free users can consume content
Microsoft Fabric	Next-generation unified analytics platform including Power BI Premium features

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Navigating the Interface

When you sign in to app.powerbi.com, you arrive at the Home page. The interface is organized around a left navigation pane and a central content area.

The Navigation Pane

The left-side navigation pane provides quick access to all major areas:

Navigation Item	Purpose
Home	Personalized landing page showing recent items, favorites, and recommended content
Favorites	Items you have starred for quick access
Recent	A chronological list of content you have recently opened
Apps	Organizational apps installed or available to you
Shared with me	Reports and dashboards others have shared directly with you
Workspaces	All workspaces you are a member of
Metrics	Goals and scorecards for tracking KPIs
Datamarts	Self-service relational databases in the cloud
Create	Quick-start options for creating reports, dataflows, and more
Learning	Guided learning resources and documentation

The Home Page

The Home page is your personalized dashboard for the Service. It includes:

• Recommended — AI-driven suggestions based on your usage patterns
• Recent — Items you have recently accessed, sorted by last-opened time
• Favorites — Items you have explicitly marked as favorites
• Quick access — Frequently used items surfaced for one-click access
• Getting started — Onboarding resources for new users (can be dismissed)

Content Areas

When you navigate into a workspace or other section, the content area displays items in a list or grid view. You can:

• Sort by name, type, owner, or date
• Filter by content type (reports, dashboards, datasets, dataflows, workbooks)
• Search using the global search bar at the top
• Switch views between list view and grid (card) view

The Header Bar

The header bar at the top of every page includes:

• Search — Global search across all content you have access to
• Notifications — Bell icon showing alerts, subscription deliveries, and system messages
• Settings — Gear icon for account settings, admin portal (if admin), and manage gateways
• Help — Question mark icon for documentation, community, and support
• Profile — Account information, sign out, and theme settings

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Workspaces

Workspaces are the fundamental organizational unit in Power BI Service. They are collaborative spaces where teams create, manage, and share content.

My Workspace

Every user has a personal workspace called My Workspace. Key characteristics:

• Only you can see content in My Workspace
• Ideal for personal exploration and development
• Content here cannot be included in apps
• Content can be shared directly with others from My Workspace
• Has limited storage (10 GB for Pro users)
• Not backed by Premium capacity unless specifically configured

Shared Workspaces

Shared workspaces (sometimes called "app workspaces" or just "workspaces") are collaborative areas for teams:

• Multiple users can access and contribute to the workspace
• Content can be bundled into apps for broader distribution
• Access is controlled through workspace roles
• Can be backed by Premium or Fabric capacity
• Support deployment pipelines

Creating a Workspace

Step 1: Click Workspaces in the left navigation pane.

Step 2: Click + New workspace at the bottom of the workspace list.

Step 3: Provide a workspace name. The name must be unique across your organization.

Step 4: Optionally provide a description to help others understand the workspace purpose.

Step 5: Configure advanced settings:

• License mode — Choose Pro, Premium per user, Premium per capacity, Embedded, Fabric, or Trial
• Contact list — Specify who receives notifications about the workspace
• OneDrive — Link a Microsoft 365 group for file storage
• Image — Upload a workspace icon

Step 6: Click Save to create the workspace.

Workspace Roles

Power BI uses four roles to control permissions within a workspace. Each role inherits the permissions of the roles below it.

Permission	Admin	Member	Contributor	Viewer
Update and delete the workspace	Yes	No	No	No
Add/remove users (including other Admins)	Yes	No	No	No
Allow Contributors to update the app	Yes	No	No	No
Add members or others with lower permissions	Yes	Yes	No	No
Publish, unpublish, and change app permissions	Yes	Yes	No	No
Update an app (if allowed by Admin)	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Create, edit, and delete content in the workspace	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Publish reports to the workspace	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Create and manage dataflows	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Schedule data refreshes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Modify gateway connection settings	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
View and interact with items	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Read data stored in workspace dataflows	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Create subscriptions on reports	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes (if permitted)
Share items (with reshare permission)	Yes	Yes	No	No
Feature the workspace on colleagues' Home	Yes	Yes	No	No

Role Assignment Best Practices

• Assign the Viewer role to most consumers to prevent accidental modifications
• Use Contributor for report developers who should not manage membership
• Reserve Member for team leads who need to manage workspace membership
• Limit Admin to one or two individuals responsible for workspace governance

Workspace Settings

After creating a workspace, you can modify settings by clicking the three dots (ellipsis) next to the workspace name:

• Settings — Name, description, image, license mode, contact list, OneDrive connection
• Access — Manage role assignments for users and security groups
• Premium — View capacity assignment and storage usage (Premium workspaces only)

Premium and Fabric Capacity

Workspaces can be assigned to Premium or Fabric capacity, which provides:

• Dedicated resources (CPU, memory) isolated from other tenants
• Larger dataset size limits (up to 400 GB per dataset vs 1 GB for shared capacity)
• Advanced AI features (AutoML, cognitive services integration)
• Paginated reports
• Dataflows Gen2
• Free users can view content in Premium workspaces (consumption only)

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Publishing from Desktop

Publishing moves your report and its underlying dataset from Power BI Desktop to Power BI Service.

Step-by-Step Publishing

Step 1: Open your report in Power BI Desktop.

Step 2: Ensure your data model is complete and your report pages are finalized.

Step 3: Click Publish on the Home ribbon tab (or File > Publish > Publish to Power BI).

Step 4: Sign in with your organizational account if prompted.

Step 5: Select the destination workspace from the list. You will see all workspaces where you have at least a Contributor role.

Step 6: Click Select to begin publishing.

Step 7: Wait for the publishing process to complete. A success dialog will appear with a link to open the report in the Service.

What Gets Published

When you publish a .pbix file, two items are created in the workspace:

Item	Description
Semantic Model (Dataset)	The data model including tables, relationships, measures, and calculated columns
Report	All report pages, visuals, bookmarks, and formatting

These two items are linked: the report is connected to the semantic model. Other reports in the Service can also connect to the same semantic model (a feature called "live connection to a Power BI dataset").

Overwriting vs Creating New

• If a dataset and report with the same name already exist in the workspace, publishing will overwrite both items
• If the names are different, new items are created
• You cannot publish to a workspace where you do not have at least a Contributor role
• Overwriting preserves dashboard tile pins, subscriptions, and alerts that reference the report

Post-Publishing Steps

After publishing, you typically need to:

1. Configure scheduled refresh — Set up a refresh schedule so data stays current
2. Set credentials — Enter data source credentials in the dataset settings
3. Configure a gateway — If your data source is on-premises, ensure a gateway is configured
4. Pin tiles to a dashboard — Create a dashboard and pin important visuals
5. Share or create an app — Distribute the content to your audience

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Dashboards

Dashboards are a feature unique to Power BI Service. A dashboard is a single-page canvas of tiles that provide at-a-glance views of key metrics. Unlike report pages, a dashboard can contain tiles pinned from multiple reports and datasets.

Creating a Dashboard

Step 1: Navigate to a workspace.

Step 2: Click + New and select Dashboard.

Step 3: Enter a name for the dashboard and click Create.

Step 4: The dashboard opens in edit mode, ready for you to add tiles.

Pinning Tiles from Reports

The most common way to populate a dashboard is by pinning visuals from reports:

Step 1: Open a report in the Service.

Step 2: Hover over a visual you want to pin. A pin icon appears in the top-right corner of the visual.

Step 3: Click the pin icon.

Step 4: Choose whether to pin to an existing dashboard or a new dashboard.

Step 5: Click Pin. The visual now appears as a tile on the dashboard.

Types of Dashboard Tiles

Tile Type	Description	How to Add
Report visual tile	A pinned visual from a report; clicking it navigates to the report	Pin from a report
Live tile	A pinned entire report page that auto-updates	Pin from a report page (Pin live page)
Image tile	A static image (logo, background)	Add tile > Image
Text box tile	Rich text with optional links	Add tile > Text box
Video tile	An embedded video (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.)	Add tile > Video
Web content tile	An embedded iframe showing external web content	Add tile > Web content
Streaming dataset tile	Real-time data from a streaming dataset	Add tile > Custom Streaming Data
Q&A tile	A natural language question answered visually	Add tile > Q&A

Dashboard Themes

You can apply a theme to change the look and feel of a dashboard:

Step 1: Open the dashboard.

Step 2: Click the Edit dropdown and select Dashboard theme.

Step 3: Choose from built-in themes (Light, Dark, Color-blind friendly, Custom).

Step 4: For custom themes, you can set the background color, tile background, tile border, and title color.

Step 5: Click Save.

Dashboard vs Report — When to Use Each

Aspect	Dashboard	Report
Pages	Single page only	Multiple pages
Data sources	Multiple reports and datasets	Single dataset (usually)
Filtering	No filter pane	Full filter pane
Slicers	Not available	Available
Alerts	Yes (on tiles)	No
Subscriptions	Yes	Yes
Natural language Q&A	Yes	Yes
Drill-down	Limited (navigates to report)	Full drill-down
Interactivity	Click to navigate	Full cross-filtering

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Apps

Apps are curated collections of dashboards and reports that you package and distribute to your organization. They provide a polished, read-only experience for consumers.

What Apps Are

• An app is a bundle of dashboards, reports, and optionally workbooks from a workspace
• Apps provide a read-only experience for consumers
• Consumers install the app and see it in their Apps section
• Changes to workspace content must be explicitly updated in the app
• Apps have their own navigation structure that you define
• One workspace produces one app (the relationship is one-to-one)

Creating an App

Step 1: Navigate to the workspace containing the content you want to publish as an app.

Step 2: Click Create app in the top menu bar.

Step 3: Configure the Setup tab:

• App name (defaults to workspace name)
• Description
• App logo (image upload)
• Support site URL
• Theme color

Step 4: Configure the Navigation tab:

• Select which dashboards and reports to include
• Arrange them in the desired order
• Create sections (folders) for organization
• Link to external URLs if needed
• Set a landing page

Step 5: Configure the Permissions tab:

• Choose who can access the app: Entire organization, Specific individuals or groups, or a combination
• Optionally grant users permission to share the app with others
• Optionally allow users to connect to the underlying datasets to build their own reports
• Optionally allow users to make copies of reports in the app

Step 6: Click Publish app.

Updating an App

When you modify content in the workspace, the app does not update automatically. You must explicitly update it:

Step 1: Make your changes to reports and dashboards in the workspace.

Step 2: Click Update app in the top menu bar.

Step 3: Review the Setup, Navigation, and Permissions tabs for any changes.

Step 4: Click Update app to push changes to consumers.

App Audiences

With Premium or PPU capacity, you can create multiple audiences for a single app:

• Different audiences see different subsets of content
• For example, the "Sales" audience sees sales dashboards while the "Finance" audience sees financial reports
• Each audience can have different permissions
• This eliminates the need to create multiple workspaces and apps for different user groups

App Navigation

You can define a custom navigation structure for your app:

• Sections — Group related items into collapsible sections
• Pages — Individual reports or dashboards
• Links — External URLs or links to other Power BI content
• Landing page — The first page users see when they open the app
• Hidden items — Items in the workspace that are not included in the app navigation

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Sharing Options

Power BI Service offers multiple ways to share content with others. Choosing the right method depends on your audience, governance requirements, and licensing.

Direct Sharing (Share Button)

The simplest way to share a report or dashboard:

Step 1: Open the report or dashboard.

Step 2: Click the Share button in the top menu.

Step 3: Enter email addresses or security group names.

Step 4: Configure share options:

• Allow recipients to reshare the item
• Allow recipients to build content using the underlying dataset
• Send an email notification to recipients

Step 5: Add an optional message and click Send.

Requirements: Both sender and recipients need Power BI Pro or PPU licenses, unless the content is in a Premium capacity workspace.

Workspace Access

Instead of sharing individual items, you can grant users access to the entire workspace:

• Provides access to all content in the workspace
• Users see the workspace in their Workspaces list
• Appropriate for team members who need ongoing access
• Controlled through workspace roles (Admin, Member, Contributor, Viewer)

Apps

As described in the previous section, apps provide a curated, read-only experience:

• Best for broad distribution to many users
• Consumers install the app and see a polished experience
• Content creators control exactly what is included and how it is organized
• Updates are pushed explicitly

Publish to Web (Public Embed)

Publish to Web generates a public URL or embed code that anyone on the internet can access:

Step 1: Open the report in the Service.

Step 2: Click File > Embed report > Publish to web (public).

Step 3: Review the warning that this makes data publicly accessible.

Step 4: Click Create embed code.

Step 5: Copy the URL or iframe embed code.

Warning: Publish to Web makes your data publicly accessible with no authentication. Never use it for sensitive, confidential, or internal data. This feature must be enabled by the tenant admin.

Embed in SharePoint and Teams

• SharePoint: Use the Power BI web part in SharePoint Online pages to embed reports
• Teams: Add a Power BI tab in a Teams channel, or share report links in chat
• Both methods respect the user's Power BI permissions and RLS

Sharing Comparison Table

Method	Audience Size	Licensing Required	Granularity	Best For
Direct sharing	Small (individual)	Pro/PPU for all	Single item	One-off sharing with specific people
Workspace access	Small-Medium (team)	Pro/PPU for all	Entire workspace	Development teams and close collaborators
Apps	Medium-Large (department/org)	Pro/PPU or Premium	Curated bundle	Broad distribution of polished content
Publish to Web	Unlimited (public)	None for consumers	Single report	Public data, blogs, websites
Embed in SharePoint	Medium-Large	Pro/PPU or Premium	Single report	Intranet portals
Embed in Teams	Small-Medium	Pro/PPU or Premium	Single report	Team collaboration channels
Embed in custom app	Variable	Embed or Premium	Single report	Custom applications and portals

Link Sharing vs Direct Access

Power BI supports two sharing models:

• People in your organization with the link — Anyone in your org with the link can access the item (broad)
• People with existing access — Only people who already have access can use the link (restrictive)
• Specific people — Only named individuals or groups can access via the link (targeted)

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Subscriptions and Alerts

Email Subscriptions

Email subscriptions deliver scheduled snapshots of report pages or dashboard tiles directly to users' inboxes.

Creating a Subscription:

Step 1: Open a report or dashboard.

Step 2: Click Subscribe in the top menu (envelope icon).

Step 3: Configure the subscription:

Setting	Description
Subject	Custom email subject line
Message	Optional message body
Attachment	Include a full report attachment (PDF or PowerPoint) — Premium only
Frequency	Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or After data refresh
Scheduled time	Specific time of day for delivery
Start date / End date	When the subscription begins and optionally expires
Report page	Which page to capture (for reports)
Recipients	Yourself or others (Pro/PPU license required for others)

Step 4: Click Save and close.

Important Notes:

• Subscriptions send a static image of the report page at the scheduled time
• If the data has not changed since the last delivery, some subscriptions can be configured to skip
• Subscriptions respect RLS — each recipient sees only the data they are authorized to view
• A maximum of 24 subscriptions per report or dashboard is allowed
• Subscriptions to others require that recipients have Pro or PPU licenses (or the content is in Premium capacity)

Data Alerts

Data alerts notify you when data on a dashboard tile crosses a threshold you define.

Setting Up an Alert:

Step 1: Open a dashboard.

Step 2: Click the ellipsis (...) on a tile that displays a single numeric value (card, gauge, or KPI visual).

Step 3: Click Manage alerts.

Step 4: Click + Add alert rule.

Step 5: Configure the alert:

Setting	Description
Title	A name for the alert
Condition	Above or Below a threshold value
Threshold	The numeric value that triggers the alert
Notification frequency	At most once an hour, or at most once a day
Email notification	Optionally send an email in addition to the in-app notification
Power Automate	Optionally trigger a Power Automate flow when the alert fires

Step 6: Click Save and close.

Alert Limitations:

• Alerts work only on dashboard tiles with single numeric values (card, gauge, KPI)
• Alerts do not work on report visuals — only on pinned dashboard tiles
• Alerts check data at refresh intervals, not in real-time (unless using streaming datasets)
• A maximum of 250 alerts per user is allowed

Managing Subscriptions and Alerts

To view and manage all your subscriptions and alerts:

• Navigate to Settings (gear icon) > Manage alerts or Manage subscriptions
• Alternatively, the notification center (bell icon) shows recent alerts and subscription deliveries
• You can edit, disable, or delete subscriptions and alerts at any time

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Dataflows

Dataflows bring cloud-based Power Query capabilities to Power BI Service, enabling reusable and centralized data preparation.

What Dataflows Are

A dataflow is essentially Power Query in the cloud. It connects to data sources, applies transformations, and stores the resulting tables in Azure Data Lake Storage. Multiple datasets can then connect to the same dataflow, ensuring consistent data preparation across reports.

Why Use Dataflows

Benefit	Description
Reusability	Define transformations once, use them in multiple datasets
Centralization	Single source of truth for data preparation logic
Reduced refresh load	Datasets pull from pre-transformed data, reducing processing time
Self-service ETL	Business users can prepare data without IT involvement
Separation of concerns	Data engineers manage dataflows; report authors consume them
Incremental refresh	Dataflows support incremental refresh for large data volumes

Creating a Dataflow

Step 1: Navigate to a workspace.

Step 2: Click + New and select Dataflow (or Dataflow Gen2 if available).

Step 3: Choose how to define the dataflow:

• Define new tables — Open Power Query Online to connect to sources and build transformations
• Import model — Import a previously exported dataflow definition (JSON)
• Link tables from other dataflows — Reference tables from existing dataflows (Premium only)

Step 4: In Power Query Online, connect to your data sources and apply transformations just as you would in Power BI Desktop.

Step 5: Name each table (entity) and click Save and close.

Step 6: Configure a refresh schedule for the dataflow.

Standard vs Analytical Dataflows

Feature	Standard Dataflow	Analytical Dataflow (Premium)
Storage	Internal Power BI storage	Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2
Linked entities	No	Yes
Computed entities	No	Yes
DirectQuery support	No	Yes
Enhanced compute engine	No	Yes
Capacity required	Pro/PPU	Premium/Fabric

Linked and Computed Entities

Linked Entities (Premium only):

• Reference tables from one dataflow in another dataflow
• The linked entity does not duplicate the data — it references the source
• Useful for building a layered ETL architecture (Bronze > Silver > Gold)

Computed Entities (Premium only):

• Create new tables by performing operations (join, merge, aggregate) on linked or local entities
• The compute happens in the enhanced compute engine for better performance
• Enable complex transformations across multiple dataflows

Consuming Dataflows in Datasets

To use a dataflow in Power BI Desktop:

Step 1: Open Power BI Desktop.

Step 2: Click Get Data > Power Platform > Power BI Dataflows.

Step 3: Sign in and browse to the workspace and dataflow.

Step 4: Select the tables you want to import.

Step 5: Click Load or Transform Data (to apply additional transformations).

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Deployment Pipelines

Deployment pipelines provide a structured way to manage the lifecycle of Power BI content, from development through testing to production.

The Dev > Test > Production Workflow

Deployment pipelines model the standard ALM (Application Lifecycle Management) pattern:

Stage	Purpose	Typical Users
Development	Build and iterate on content	Report developers
Test	Validate with stakeholders, perform QA	Testers, business analysts
Production	Deliver final content to consumers	End users, executives

Setting Up a Deployment Pipeline

Step 1: Navigate to Deployment pipelines from the left navigation (or create one from a workspace).

Step 2: Click Create pipeline and give it a name.

Step 3: Assign a workspace to the Development stage. This is usually an existing workspace with your content.

Step 4: The Test and Production stages will have workspaces created automatically (or you can assign existing workspaces).

Deploying Content Between Stages

Step 1: Open the deployment pipeline.

Step 2: Review the content in the source stage (e.g., Development).

Step 3: Click Deploy to next stage (e.g., Deploy to Test).

Step 4: Review which items will be deployed. Items are matched by name:

• New items are created in the target stage
• Changed items are overwritten in the target stage
• Unchanged items are skipped

Step 5: Confirm the deployment.

Comparing Stages

The pipeline interface shows a comparison between adjacent stages:

• Green checkmark — Item is identical in both stages
• Orange indicator — Item has changed in the source stage (needs deployment)
• Yellow "new" badge — Item exists in one stage but not the other

Deployment Rules

Deployment rules allow you to change parameters when deploying between stages. Common use cases:

Rule Type	Example
Data source rules	Development connects to a dev database; Production connects to a production database
Parameter rules	Change a query parameter value (e.g., server name, file path) between stages

To configure deployment rules:

Step 1: Click the deployment rules icon on the dataset in the target stage.

Step 2: Define rules for data source connections or parameters.

Step 3: Save the rules.

Selective Deployment

You do not have to deploy everything at once:

• Select specific items using checkboxes before deploying
• Deploy only reports, only datasets, or a mix
• Backward deployment (e.g., Production to Development) is also supported

ALM Best Practices

• Always develop in the Development stage, never directly in Production
• Use deployment rules to separate dev and production data sources
• Test thoroughly in the Test stage before promoting to Production
• Use version history (if available) to track changes over time
• Establish a change management process — who approves deployments and when
• Document changes in a changelog or commit messages if using source control integration
• Consider Git integration (available with Fabric) for full version control

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Goals and Metrics (Scorecards)

Goals and Metrics (also called Scorecards) allow you to track organizational KPIs directly in Power BI Service.

Creating a Scorecard

Step 1: Navigate to a workspace.

Step 2: Click + New and select Scorecard.

Step 3: Enter a name for the scorecard and click Create.

Adding Goals

Step 1: In the scorecard, click New goal (or + Add goal).

Step 2: Configure the goal:

Setting	Description
Name	Descriptive name (e.g., "Monthly Revenue Target")
Owner	The person responsible for the goal
Current value	The current metric value (manual or connected)
Target value	The goal target (manual or connected)
Start date	When tracking begins
Due date	When the goal should be achieved
Status	On track, Behind, At risk, or custom status

Step 3: Optionally create sub-goals to break down a high-level goal into components.

Connecting Goals to Data

Instead of manually entering values, you can connect a goal to live data:

Step 1: Click the goal to open its detail pane.

Step 2: Click Connect to data for the current value or target value.

Step 3: Select a report visual and the measure to track.

Step 4: The goal value now updates automatically when the underlying data refreshes.

Status Rules

Define automatic status rules so the goal's status updates based on data:

• On track — Current value is within a defined percentage of the target
• Behind — Current value is below the threshold
• At risk — Current value is at or near the risk boundary

Check-in Process

Team members can perform periodic check-ins on goals:

Step 1: Open the goal.

Step 2: Click New check-in.

Step 3: Enter the current value, update the status, and add notes explaining progress or blockers.

Step 4: Click Save.

Check-in history provides a timeline view of goal progress.

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Power BI Gateway

The Power BI Gateway is a bridge that enables Power BI Service to access on-premises data sources (databases, files, etc.) that are behind a firewall.

Why You Need a Gateway

Power BI Service runs in the cloud. If your data sources are on-premises (e.g., a SQL Server in your data center, an Excel file on a network share), the Service cannot reach them directly. The gateway acts as a secure relay:

1. Power BI Service sends a query request to the gateway
2. The gateway connects to the on-premises data source
3. The gateway retrieves the data and sends it back to the Service

Personal vs Enterprise Gateway

Feature	Personal Gateway	Enterprise (On-premises) Gateway
Users	Single user only	Multiple users across the organization
Installation	User's personal machine	Dedicated server
Data sources	Limited	Full range
Scheduling	Only for the installing user	Shared across datasets and users
Management	No centralized management	Centralized management in gateway settings
High availability	No	Yes (gateway clusters)
Use case	Personal development and testing	Enterprise production environments

Installing the Enterprise Gateway

Step 1: Download the on-premises data gateway from powerbi.microsoft.com/gateway or from Settings > Manage gateways in the Service.

Step 2: Run the installer on a server that has reliable uptime and network access to your data sources.

Step 3: Sign in with your organizational account.

Step 4: Register the gateway — give it a name and set a recovery key (store this securely).

Step 5: The gateway appears in Power BI Service under Settings > Manage gateways.

Configuring Data Sources on the Gateway

Step 1: Navigate to Settings > Manage gateways in Power BI Service.

Step 2: Select the gateway.

Step 3: Click + Add data source.

Step 4: Configure:

• Data source name
• Data source type (SQL Server, Oracle, File, etc.)
• Server and database details
• Authentication method and credentials

Step 5: Click Add. The data source is now available for datasets to use.

Gateway Clusters

For high availability and load balancing:

• Install multiple gateway instances and register them under the same gateway name
• Requests are distributed across cluster members
• If one gateway goes down, others continue serving requests
• Recommended for production environments with many datasets

Troubleshooting the Gateway

Issue	Possible Cause	Resolution
Gateway offline	Gateway service not running	Check Windows Services on the gateway machine
Connection failed	Firewall blocking outbound traffic	Ensure the gateway can reach *.servicebus.windows.net on port 443
Credentials error	Stored credentials expired	Re-enter credentials in the data source configuration
Slow refresh	Large data volume or slow network	Optimize queries, increase bandwidth, or use incremental refresh
Gateway not listed	User not added as admin	Gateway admin must add the user to the gateway

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Admin Portal Basics

The Power BI Admin Portal provides tenant-level settings and management capabilities. Access requires the Power BI Service Administrator, Global Administrator, or Fabric Administrator role.

Accessing the Admin Portal

Step 1: Click the gear icon in the header.

Step 2: Select Admin portal.

Key Sections

Section	Purpose
Tenant settings	Enable/disable features for the entire organization or specific security groups
Usage metrics	View adoption and usage statistics across the tenant
Users	View and manage Power BI users (links to Microsoft 365 admin)
Audit logs	Track user activities (links to Microsoft Purview/Compliance)
Capacity settings	Manage Premium capacities (scaling, assignment, workloads)
Embed codes	View and manage Publish to Web embed codes
Organizational visuals	Manage custom visuals available to the organization
Azure connections	Configure Azure resource connections
Featured content	Manage content featured on users' Home page

Tenant Settings Overview

Tenant settings control which features are available and to whom. They are organized into groups:

• Help and support settings — Custom help links, training URLs
• Workspace settings — Who can create workspaces, classic vs new workspace experience
• Information protection — Sensitivity labels, data loss prevention
• Export and sharing — Print, export to Excel/CSV/PDF, share to Teams, Publish to Web
• Content pack and app settings — App publishing permissions
• Integration settings — Cortana, XMLA endpoint, Azure services
• R and Python visuals — Enable/disable R and Python visuals
• Audit and usage settings — Usage metrics, audit logging
• Dashboard settings — Web content tiles, certification
• Developer settings — Embedding, API access
• Dataflow settings — Dataflow creation permissions
• Template app settings — Template app installation permissions
• Q&A settings — Q&A synonyms, linguistic schema sharing

Usage Metrics

Usage metrics provide insights into how Power BI is being used across the organization:

• Dashboard and report usage — Views, viewers, and shares
• Per-user activity — Most active users and content
• Adoption trends — Usage over time
• Dataset refresh history — Success and failure rates

Audit Logs

Audit logs record all user actions in Power BI:

• Who viewed a report and when
• Who shared content and with whom
• Who exported data
• Admin configuration changes
• Gateway operations

Audit logs are accessed through Microsoft Purview (formerly the Compliance Center) and can be exported for analysis.

Managing Embed Codes

The Admin Portal allows administrators to view and revoke Publish to Web embed codes:

• See all active embed codes across the tenant
• Identify which reports are publicly accessible
• Revoke embed codes that should no longer be active
• Monitor for potential data exposure

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Practice Exercises

Exercise 1 — Publishing and Workspace Setup

1. Create a new workspace called "Sales Analytics - [Your Name]" in Power BI Service
2. Set the description to "Sales performance dashboards and reports"
3. If you have a report in Power BI Desktop, publish it to this workspace
4. Add a colleague as a Viewer to the workspace
5. Verify that the colleague can see the workspace content but cannot edit it

Exercise 2 — Dashboard Creation

1. Open a published report in Power BI Service
2. Pin three different visuals to a new dashboard called "Sales Overview"
3. Add a text box tile with a title and date
4. Add an image tile with your company logo (or a placeholder)
5. Apply a custom dashboard theme with your preferred colors
6. Resize and rearrange tiles for an effective layout

Exercise 3 — App Creation and Distribution

1. Using the workspace from Exercise 1, create an app
2. Configure the app name, description, and logo
3. In the Navigation tab, arrange the content and create at least one section
4. Set the permissions to share with specific individuals (add a colleague)
5. Publish the app and verify that your colleague can install and view it
6. Make a change to a report in the workspace, then update the app

Exercise 4 — Subscriptions and Alerts

1. Create an email subscription for a report page that sends a daily snapshot at 8:00 AM
2. On a dashboard, find a card tile and create a data alert with a threshold
3. Verify that you receive the subscription email (check the next day)
4. Manually trigger the alert condition if possible and check notifications

Exercise 5 — Dataflow Creation

1. In a workspace, create a new dataflow
2. Connect to a public data source (e.g., a web URL with CSV data or an OData feed)
3. Apply at least three transformations (rename columns, filter rows, change data types)
4. Save the dataflow and configure a refresh schedule
5. In Power BI Desktop, connect to the dataflow and build a simple report

Exercise 6 — Deployment Pipeline

1. Create a deployment pipeline with three stages
2. Assign the workspace from Exercise 1 to the Development stage
3. Deploy content to the Test stage
4. Review the comparison between Development and Test
5. If possible, configure a deployment rule to change a data source parameter between stages
6. Deploy to Production

Exercise 7 — Gateway Exploration

1. Navigate to Settings > Manage gateways in Power BI Service
2. Review any existing gateways (or read about the installation process if no gateway is available)
3. Document the steps you would take to configure a SQL Server data source on a gateway
4. Identify what troubleshooting steps you would follow if a scheduled refresh failed due to a gateway error

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Summary

Power BI Service is the cloud foundation that transforms Power BI from a personal analytics tool into an enterprise-wide platform. In this chapter, you learned:

• Power BI Service is the cloud platform at app.powerbi.com that complements Power BI Desktop with sharing, collaboration, and administration features
• Workspaces organize content and control access through four roles: Admin, Member, Contributor, and Viewer
• Publishing from Desktop creates a linked dataset and report in the Service, which you can then configure for scheduled refresh and sharing
• Dashboards are single-page canvases with tiles pinned from multiple reports, supporting alerts and subscriptions
• Apps bundle workspace content into a polished, read-only experience for broad distribution
• Sharing options range from direct sharing (individual) to apps (organization-wide) to Publish to Web (public), each suited to different audiences and governance needs
• Subscriptions deliver scheduled report snapshots via email, while data alerts notify you when dashboard tile values cross defined thresholds
• Dataflows bring cloud-based Power Query to the Service, enabling reusable and centralized data preparation
• Deployment pipelines provide a structured Dev > Test > Production workflow for managing content lifecycle
• Goals and Metrics enable tracking of organizational KPIs with automatic status updates and check-ins
• The Power BI Gateway bridges on-premises data sources with the cloud Service, with enterprise gateways supporting multiple users and high availability through clusters
• The Admin Portal provides tenant-level governance including tenant settings, usage metrics, audit logs, and capacity management

With a solid understanding of Power BI Service, you are ready to explore advanced security topics such as Row-Level Security in the next chapter.