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Anonymous
Not applicable

Sharing Power BI Reports to Free Users

Here's the situation.

 

I have a small company with 50 users (excluding me). We have a O365 license.

 

I need to share the PBI report to 50 people (I have a Pro License). But I want them to only view their data (Would require RLS).

 

The consumers are free user's. The report sharing needs to be dynamic (as in just one click OR using Power Automate)

 

Options I can think of:

 

- It is OK even if a link is generated (Publish to Web) and that can be shared with the Users. However, this must be automated and the report must be dynamic for them to view. Does the link change as the report changes or can they use the same link once they have it?

 

- I believe embedding the report to anything would require them to have a Pro License. So this option is out of the equation.

 

- My last option would be to opt for PPU license so I can share the reports with the users. But then again I am not sure if the report is shared (via PDF ot PPT) that the visuals would expand dynamically to fit in the data (so instead of the scroll bar in the visuals in PBI I would want the report to dynamically expand vertically say for a Bar Chart). Let me know if thats possible while sharing paginated reports.

 

** If you have any better options please do let me know**

 

@Watsky @HotChilli @edhans @parry2k @amitchandak @Samarth_18 @TheoC @VahidDM @DataInsights @Greg_Deckler 

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION
edhans
Super User
Super User

You are trying to circumvent the licensing. Sharing requires a license. Period. You cannot do report bursting using a PPU license as the license prevents API calls from Power Automate. Only full Premium allows it.

 

If you share to the world via Publish to web, if anyone ever accidentally includes that URL on an email and that gets forwarded to someone not intended to get it, it is out there. There is NO SECURITY with publish to web. Honestly I'm not sure if RLS works given no one logs in. I don't see how it would.

 

Also, in my experience with publish to the web, when you change and republish the report, you have to unshare it, then reshare with a new URL. 

 

Either buy the Pro licenses, or just email PBIX files around the org. That is perfectly legal and within the Power BI license structure.



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6 REPLIES 6
natasjamekes
Helper II
Helper II

Hi @Anonymous  

 

It's a long time ago you posted this topic but still, I want to recommend Webdahsboard. With Webdashboard you can easily share your Power BI reports and dashboards. All you need is an e-mail address.

 

You can try Webdashboard for 30 days and if you need any help, they will quickly react. It's available at the Microsoft App Source and for more information, you can visit the website: www.webdashboard.com 

parry2k
Super User
Super User

@Anonymous no there will be NO RLS when you share PBIX with your users, the user will be able to see everything that is in the PBIX file. 

 

 

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edhans
Super User
Super User

You are trying to circumvent the licensing. Sharing requires a license. Period. You cannot do report bursting using a PPU license as the license prevents API calls from Power Automate. Only full Premium allows it.

 

If you share to the world via Publish to web, if anyone ever accidentally includes that URL on an email and that gets forwarded to someone not intended to get it, it is out there. There is NO SECURITY with publish to web. Honestly I'm not sure if RLS works given no one logs in. I don't see how it would.

 

Also, in my experience with publish to the web, when you change and republish the report, you have to unshare it, then reshare with a new URL. 

 

Either buy the Pro licenses, or just email PBIX files around the org. That is perfectly legal and within the Power BI license structure.



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Anonymous
Not applicable

Yes, that makes sense.

 

To add on to the last point you made about sharing the PBIX files to free users; can that process be automated using flow and also have the RLS in place?

@Anonymous - there is no security with a PBIX file. Users that have a PBIX file may not be able to see the source data in Power Query - it would depend on their system access - but once data is loaded to the model, they can see everything.

RLS is a two step process - creating RLS Roles in the desktop, and then assigning the roles (applying the security) in the service. You cannot do both in the desktop.



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MCSA: BI Reporting

@Anonymous RLS doesn't work in PBIX files as @parry2k has already raised. You can establish Roles that allow you to view the PBIX as a specific role would view it, but there's no security as such because anyone can switch roles in a PBIX.

 

Rather than sending out PBIX files, why nor make them accessible via a Sharepoint Link or One Drive?  Also, if you decide that licenses are the way to go, you need to be aware that if you have a Pro License, they will need the Pro license too - not a PPU license.

 

Cheers. 

Theo

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