Scheduled or auto-refresh for desktop version

[bdomareck]

Hello,

I have Power BI Online connected through Personal Gateway to a Power BI Desktop file that is connected to an Excel file. The data in the Excel file updates regularly and I am trying to figure out a way for my PBI DESKTOP file to automatically update so it automatically updates my Online data through scheduled refresh. Currently the only solution I can find is for me to manually click the "Refresh" button within the Desktop version (then my online file updates through Scheduled Refresh).

My ultimate goal is to have my users view reports and dashboards through the iPhone/iPad app with fresh, automatically updated data daily. I have alreay setup a personal gateway connection between my PBI Desktop file and PBI Online and my scheduled refresh works for that. It seems crazy that that connection can update automatically but my desktop file can't update automatically. Any ideas?

It is important that the data passes through the desktop version to manage roles and security.

Thanks!

Brian

[v-qiuyu-msft · Accepted solution]

Hi @bdomareck,

It seems that the .pbix exists in local drive and it connects to Excel file, after you publish the report to service, you want to ensure end users see the updated report data, right?

When we import Power BI Desktop file from a local drive, data, along with other information about the model is loaded into a dataset in the Power BI service. When we refresh the dataset, Power BI uses information in the dataset to connect directly to the data sources to query for updated data it then loads into the dataset. For more information, please see: Refresh a dataset created from a Power BI Desktop file on a local drive.

So in your scenario, you can create a File data source under on-premise data gateway which connects to Excel file (assume Excel exists in local drive). Then set the dataset use this data gateway to schedule refresh. The end user will see the updated report data based on the refresh schedule in Power BI service. Refreshed data in the dataset is not synchronized back to the file on the local drive.

Regarding to set RLS, you can define the role in desktop, after publish to service, add members use this role. Whether desktop file is refreshed will not affect the RLS in Power BI service.  See: Row-level security (RLS) with Power BI.

Best Regards,
Qiuyun Yu