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Anonymous
Not applicable

Scheduled daily refresh for free users

Hi

 

I have created a report in Power BI Desktop using the import option to get data (not direct query) from an Azure SQL server. I have a free license only as I want my users to only use free licenses, so I have been careful to use non pro features.

 

I am now realising however that purely pulling from a Azure server means I need a pro license to be able to schedule a daily refresh. Is this correct? I had thought as long as it only refreshed once daily I wouldn't need a pro license and neither would those users I share the report with, but it seems to also depend on the type of datasource.

 

I have read through some of the questions already asked on this but I am really confused on what needs free / pro, whether I can have pro license but other users don't need to, and whether I need a gateway or not. Can anyone clarify for me please?

 

Many thanks!

 

 

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION
v-qiuyu-msft
Community Support
Community Support

Hi @Anonymous,

 

Based on my test, if we only retrieve data from the Azure SQL database in Import mode and enable daily refresh, it doesn't require Pro license.

 

To understand the difference between Power BI pro and free better, you need to know what's the pro content firstly. You can see not all data sources and refresh can be available to free users. If you share the dashboard with other users only have free Power BI features, your recipients just need a free Power BI license to view the content. See: Licensing requirements for sharing.

 

Best Regards,
Qiuyun Yu

Community Support Team _ Qiuyun Yu
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

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5 REPLIES 5
JozeM
Frequent Visitor

Just reading/citing the documentation is not helpful. The fact is that many reports become Pro when Daily refresh is turned on despite what documentation says. It is happening with my pure CSV/OneDrive setup, it is obviously happening with hmblloyd's Azure SQL setup...

Anonymous
Not applicable

@JozeM

 

It turns out I misunderstood our set up and I am actually pulling from an on premises SQL database, so it was working correctly and I have had to use a Pro license after all.

 

I did test with a basic excel workbook on my one drive however (before I got a pro license), and it allowed the daily refresh so not sure why it isn't working for you. Are you sure there isn't something else in your report that is requiring a pro license?

No, definitely not. What I have is a .CMD file that uses SQLCMD to dump files to a .CSV file. It also puts a current time into another .CSV file. (I have also tried, using VBScript to convert these CSVs into a single .XLSX file, same result). Then I use = Csv.Document(Web.Contents("https://*******.sharepoint.com/personal/*******/Documents/*******.csv"),[Delimiter="#(tab)", Columns=16, Encoding=1250, QuoteStyle=QuoteStyle.None]) to import data. I publish PBIX file and resulted data source has no OneDrive Refresh option. And if i switch (regular) Data Refresh on, report becomes Pro. If I switch it off, it becomes Free.
v-qiuyu-msft
Community Support
Community Support

Hi @Anonymous,

 

Based on my test, if we only retrieve data from the Azure SQL database in Import mode and enable daily refresh, it doesn't require Pro license.

 

To understand the difference between Power BI pro and free better, you need to know what's the pro content firstly. You can see not all data sources and refresh can be available to free users. If you share the dashboard with other users only have free Power BI features, your recipients just need a free Power BI license to view the content. See: Licensing requirements for sharing.

 

Best Regards,
Qiuyun Yu

Community Support Team _ Qiuyun Yu
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.
Anonymous
Not applicable

Thank you for your reply. In that case I do not understand why this is not working for me!

 

I have published a report that imports data from Azure SQL Server (no where else), it has no pro features, but if I try to go to schedule refresh it says:

 

"This dataset contains on-premises data sources. To schedule data refresh, try Power BI Pro for 60.00 days, or contact your Office 365 tenant administrator to purchase Power BI Pro. "

 

How can I set it to refresh daily without being blocked by this message?

 

Thanks in advance!

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