Report refresh without schedule refresh

[Arismus]

Hello, 

We are on on premise report server.

Our reports use import mode, and connects to SQL Server.

I understand, that opening such published report on the Web UI shows, what was inside the report at the time of publishing,

and hitting the 'Refresh' button only refresh the on screen report, and will not actually refresh the data source (by getting the latest data from SQL server).

If i create a scheduled refresh, the data properly refreshed on each run,

but i don't want my users to create scheduled refresh objects for their reports,

but still i'd like them to be able to initiate a complete data refresh if they want.

How can a user initiate a data refresh from Web UI, without creating scheduled refresh?

(also without DirectQuery mode)

[v-henryk-mstf · Accepted solution]

Hi @Arismus ,

It is not possible for a user to initiate a data refresh from the web UI without creating a scheduled refresh. Scheduled refresh is the only way to refresh the data in a report on the web UI.

However, you can provide users with the option to refresh the report manually by using the "Refresh" button on the web UI. This will refresh the report on the screen, but it will not refresh the data source.

You can also consider using a report subscription to automatically deliver the refreshed report to users on a regular basis. This can be set up by an administrator and does not require users to create their own scheduled refresh objects.

Alternatively, you can consider using a custom solution to refresh the data in the report. For example, you can create a button on the web UI that, when clicked, runs a custom script to refresh the data in the report. This would require some development work and may not be suitable for all environments.

If the problem is still not resolved, please provide detailed error information and let me know immediately. Looking forward to your reply.

Best Regards,
Henry

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[Arismus]

Hello,

I have an on-premise Power BI Report Server.

Several reports are published here by users, and they use "import" mode, hence they need scheduled refresh in order to keep their data up to date.

Here is the problem:

In order to create scheduled refresh, our users are forced to enter explicitly a shared service account to the data source settings.

(they should not put their own user name and password for the sake of regular refresh)

What is the best practise here?

Is it okay if our user use a shared service account for their data sources?

Is there a better way?

[Shahfaisal · Accepted solution]

I think you have a duplicate post as I already answered the question here - https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Report-Server/Report-refresh-without-schedule-refresh/m-p/2973792#M...

[v-henryk-mstf · Accepted solution]

Hi @Arismus ,

It is not possible for a user to initiate a data refresh from the web UI without creating a scheduled refresh. Scheduled refresh is the only way to refresh the data in a report on the web UI.

However, you can provide users with the option to refresh the report manually by using the "Refresh" button on the web UI. This will refresh the report on the screen, but it will not refresh the data source.

You can also consider using a report subscription to automatically deliver the refreshed report to users on a regular basis. This can be set up by an administrator and does not require users to create their own scheduled refresh objects.

Alternatively, you can consider using a custom solution to refresh the data in the report. For example, you can create a button on the web UI that, when clicked, runs a custom script to refresh the data in the report. This would require some development work and may not be suitable for all environments.

If the problem is still not resolved, please provide detailed error information and let me know immediately. Looking forward to your reply.

Best Regards,
Henry

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[Shahfaisal]

Out of the box, I don't think there is a way to refresh data using the UI other than clicking on the "Run Now" button. Please note that users will need security/permisisons to manage scheduled refreshes to be able to refresh data using "Run Now" option.