Automated Email of PowerBI PDF

[miguelsus2000]

HI everyone,

I'm looking to automate sending of powerbi reports in PDF format to some recipients.  I have tried the following:

1. Powerbi subscription requires Premium Service which I dont have (too expensive at $5K).  I only have PPU.
2. PowerAutomate also requires Premium Service with capacity which I don't have
3. I looked at Power BI robots, but also expensive.

Does anyone know of any other alternative? 

I'm also looking for a command line powerbi to PDF converter, does anyone know?  I can probably automate running this command, then email the .pdf file.

Thank you for your help.
M

[KiranHosakote]

Hi @miguelsus2000,

You can automate the PDF generation and emailing (with user- specific slicers and filters applied) using BI Helper https://bihelper.tech. You only need one Power BI Pro license and there is no restriction on your users being outside your domain (vendors, clients).

See this tutorial for more details. https://medium.com/bi-helper/automated-distribution-of-power-bi-reports-and-dashboards-25fde6c68af0

[Burningsuit · Accepted solution]

Hi @miguelsus2000 

You should be able to do this with a PPU licence.

A PPU user can create a subscription email that contains a PDF of the Report.

That email can be sent to a Pro user and they can see the PDF.

However that email cannot be sent to an email address that has a Free licence or does not have a licence, you'll get the error message "Free users or groups can only be subscribed to reports or dashboards backed by Premium capacity: " when you try and create the subscription, unless the organisation has a Premium Capacity licence and the report is on a Premium Capacity workspace.

I have known some sites set up a subscription to a Pro or PPU user and then have that user set Outlook rules to forward that email on to the other non-licenced users who want to see the Report and that seems to work.

Hope this helps

Stuart