How to arrange for autorefresh from SQL with "import mode"

[alecsonline]

Hi all, I am really sure the solution is already written somewhere in this forum, but trust me I have spent a really long time looking for it with no success!

So please excuse me in case it is a repeated question but I need help about this situation:

- PowerBI desktop installed on the PC of my client (the same machine where is the SQL database)

- It gets data from SQL in "import mode" (data from different databes so the Import mode is the only one available)

- I need to have the data automatically refreshed (once a day it is ok) without any human intervention

- The data should be published online after the refresh

What do I need to accomplish this?

Thank you all,

Alessandro

[jmalone · Accepted solution]

The automated refresh is available in the Power BI service but not desktop. So you can first publish the report, then schedule your refresh from the service.

Since your data source is SQL on-prem, you will need to install the Power BI gateway on the PC where the database lives.

[v-yuezhe-msft · Accepted solution]

@alecsonline,

After you install and configure gateway properly, please add all the SQL data source within gateway following the guide in this article.

Please make sure that the connection strings(server name , database name) you use in gateway exactly match that you use in Power BI Desktop. 

Regards,
Lydia

[alecsonline]

Thank you very much.

I will not to able to test your suggestions in a short time... 

Do you think I should anyway mark your answers as "solution" or wait until I test it? 

Alessandro

[v-yuezhe-msft]

@alecsonline，

You can mark solution after you test the above methods.

Regards,
Lydia

[jmalone · Accepted solution]

The automated refresh is available in the Power BI service but not desktop. So you can first publish the report, then schedule your refresh from the service.

Since your data source is SQL on-prem, you will need to install the Power BI gateway on the PC where the database lives.