Unable to connect to web data source

[Lorenz33]

We have developed a report using Power BI Desktop for Report Server (May 2021). We have developed a report that has 5 data sources. 2 of them are web sources. The report connects to all data sources when it is open in Power BI Desktop.

We uploaded the report to Power BI Report Server (May 2021). We then set up the data sources and the 2 web sources fail. Here are the details:

Data Source 1:

Type: Web

Credentials: Anonymous

When clicking "Test Connection" it fails with this message:

Couldn't connect
The report server couldn't connect to the data source using the information you entered. Make sure you've entered the connection string and any credentials correctly.
Hide error details
Web.Contents failed to get contents from 'https://XXXXXXX.XXX.XXXXXXX.XX/XXX' (400): Bad Request

Data Source 4:

Type: Web

Credentials: Anonymous

When clicking "Test Connection" it fails with this message:

Couldn't connect
The report server couldn't connect to the data source using the information you entered. Make sure you've entered the connection string and any credentials correctly.
Hide error details
Web.Contents failed to get contents from 'https://XXXXXXX.XXX.XXXXXXX.XX/XXX/XXX/XXX/XXXXXXX/XXXXXXX-XXXXXXX/XXX' (405): Method Not Allowed

How does authentication work when the credential is set to anonymous? How would Power BI Report Server connect to the data source? What account would it use? Would we have to check if this is a firewall or network security issue?

Any help on resolving this would be appreciated.

[Icey · Accepted solution]

Hi @Lorenz33 ,

Power BI Report Server has a limitation when using web data: only data files from web can be refreshed. Data based on Page or By example aren't refreshable. This limitation is because the M expressions created with Web.BrowserContents and Web.Page can't be refreshed. Power BI Report Server can only refresh Web.Contents data sources.

Please check if your web data is based on Page or By example.

Reference: Power BI report data sources in Power BI Report Server

Best Regards,

Icey

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

[Lorenz33]

I have been trying to find information on credential types within Power BI Report Server (and Report Server itself) but this documentation is scarce on the internet and I have not been able to find it.

In a Power BI Report Server data source, when the authentication type is "Anonymous", how does Power BI Report Server connect to the data source? What account does it use?

[Lorenz33]

Update:

Data Sources 2, 3, and 5 are Sharepoint authentication type with Windows authentication. These are able to connect successfully within Power BI Report Server.

We tried setting data sources 1 and 4 (web authentication type) to Windows Authentication and used the same user name and password as in the Sharepoint data sources. When testing connection they still fail with the same error.

Again, all data sources can connect when the report is open in Power BI Desktop. I did not create this report but I did open the report in Power BI Desktop (optimized for Report Server). These data sources do work and pull in data. Looking at the data sources they use anonymous access.

I suspect that Power BI Report Server does not have access to the web sites that data sources 1 and 4 are connecting to. Within Power BI Report Server, how does anonymous authentication type work?

S.O.S.

Help.