Active Directory and Scheduled Refresh on PBI Service

[MrFahrenheit]

I have created a report using the Active Directory as the data source in PBI Desktop, and published it to the Power BI service. When I go to the "Schedule Refresh" page, the option to schedule a refresh is greyed-out. 

Does this mean we cannot refresh the Active Directory dataset? Or does it refresh automatically with no need for scheduling?

[amitchandak]

@MrFahrenheit , In Dataset setting open and check Datasource Source credential, check does it require any details

[MrFahrenheit]

When I check the settings, Data Source credentials is greyed-out (cannot access). 

[v-yiruan-msft]

Hi @MrFahrenheit ,

According to this official documentation, the gateway is required for the data source ActiveDirectory. Did you install and configure the gateway? If no, you can refer the following documentations to get it.

On-premises data gateway

The Power BI Gateway; All You Need to Know

In addition, the following blog explains in detail how to configure scheduled refreshe for ActiveDirectory data sources in Power BI Service. You can follow the steps to set up scheduled refresh.

Power BI Data Gateway with Active Directory

Add data source to the gateway

Set up Gateway Connection to The Dataset

Best Regards

[v_mark]

Does this mean that I need to be on my company's network in order for the refresh to push through? 
I'm working at home currently and using a VPN to connect to our company network, I noticed that whenever I disconnected to the VPN the on-demand or scheduled refresh fails. 

[MrFahrenheit]

When I connect to our AD it doesn't appear to be local - It appears to be in the cloud (the Domain is something like "divisionname.location.corporation.companyname.com") but I am not sure because I do not have any involvement with the AD (I don't know very much about how it works). Do you have to install a PBI Gate Way no matter what?

[v-yiruan-msft]

Hi @MrFahrenheit ,

How did you connect to AD in Power BI Desktop? Could you please provide the data source setting info just as below screenshot? If the data source located in cloud side and your report do not contain other on-premises data sources, there is no need to install the gateway and configure scheduled refresh, it will be refreshed automatically.

PS: Only if the data source is located on-premises, you need a gateway. For online or cloud-based data sources, no gateway is required.

Best Regards

[MrFahrenheit]

My connection looks like this: