Getting data from AAD as a data source

[ejaya2]

I'm struggling with getting user data from AAD linked into my dashboards.

Here's the basic run down, we have data in Google Analytics that tracks page hit data. That data alos includes our users email address. I am trying to build some reports based off of this analytics data with merged AAD information.

Initially I tried using a SharePoint User Information list, however this is incomplete.

So I started pulling all our AAD information, pushing it to a CSV, and store it in the Office Group where the PBI Desktop reports get published to. This works in PBID, but once published, the scheduled and manual refreshes no longer work (Unable to refresh the model (id=3755170) because it references an unsupported data source.), so the analytics data isn't up to date.

So then I htought I'd try pulling data from AAD directly to merge in the demographic data we require but this fails to import. 

This seems like something so trivial, to merge data from your tenant into your reports, but I can't seem to make it work without some sort of headache. What is the process for using AAD as a data source in Power BI Desktop that will also allow the reports to continue to refresh on schedule.

[v-caliao-msft]

Hi @ejaya2,

Based on your description, you publish your AAD information to a CSV file. CSV files are simple text files, so connections to external data sources and reports are not supported. You cannot schedule refresh on a dataset created from a comma delimited file.

However, when the file is on OneDrive, or SharePoint Online, Power BI will synchronize any changes to the file with the dataset automatically about every hour.

So in your scenario, you and upload you CSV file to OneDrive or SharePointe online, then data is up to date.

Regards,

Charlie Liao

[ejaya2 · Accepted solution]

I've worked around this by just writing the AAD data to a list in the group site and have used SharePoint List as a data source. This still feels awkward, in that i have to replicate data I should have access to by virtue of the reports being stored in Power BI on Office 365.

[ejaya2]

Yes, the CSV data is up to date in that case, as it is stored in the same Office group the reports are published to, but the other data source from Google Analytics no longer updates. 

Is there a user voice suggestion for making AAD a data source?