Tracing queries from published reports

[iddleipo]

Hello Power BI Community.

We're trying to look at query activity against a dataset published in the Service, but when we run traces, using either "All Queries" in DAX Studio, or SQL Server Profiler, we're only seeing queries coming from users who are creating new reports against the dataset in Power BI Desktop - we're not seeing the activity from already published reports in the Service, which we thought we should be able to see. Are we right to think that, and if so any ideas what we might be doing wrong?

Thanks very much,

[Adamboer]

It's possible that you may not be able to see the query activity from already published reports in the Service using the methods you have mentioned. This is because when a report is published to the Service, the queries are executed on the backend and not on the user's machine. Therefore, the queries are not captured in DAX Studio or SQL Server Profiler.

However, you can use the Power BI audit log to track activity in the Power BI service, including query activity against datasets. This log includes events such as "View report", "Export data", and "Create report" that can help you track usage of your published reports and datasets. To access the audit log, you must have Power BI administrator privileges.

You can also use the Usage Metrics feature in the Power BI service to track usage of your published reports and datasets. This feature allows you to view metrics such as views, interactions, and time spent in your reports. To access the Usage Metrics feature, go to the report or dataset you want to track, click on the ellipsis (...) and select "Usage metrics".

I hope this helps!

[iddleipo]

Hi Adamboer. Thanks very much for your reply and suggestions - but we are connecting to the dataset in the service using the XMLA endpoint (i.e. to the "backend"), so our understanding is that we should be able to see queries from reports using that dataset. Following further work it looks like some of the queries are now coming through, but not all and we keep timing out - so there is another issue at work. Thanks again, and will look at your other suggestions.

[v-tangjie-msft]

Hi @iddleipo ,

You can theoretically see the activity in the published reports in the service.

If it is an SQL data source, enter the server directly on the profiler, and use TSQL end-point if it is another data source.

Other than that, check your permissions and some restrictions:

Please refer to the following documents for more information.

Use SQL Server Profiler to Monitor Analysis Services | Microsoft Learn

Dataset connectivity and management with the XMLA endpoint in Power BI - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

Best Regards,

Neeko Tang

If this post  helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution  to help the other members find it more quickly. 

[iddleipo]

Hi. Thanks very much for the reply. I think we have all the necessary permissions, and are using the XMLA endpoint. We do seem to be getting some results now, but not all, and we keep getting timed out, so there is another issue. Thanks again for your suggestions.