Power BI Service - Workaround for Subscription Limitation (Output to file directory)

[MichaelP2020]

Hi all

We're currently looking at the feasibility of moving away from Reporting Services to Power BI, but we believe we have a limitation in terms of a like for like replacement where the subscription function of the Power BI Service is concerned. We have some subscriptions at the moment in Reporting Services which are pushing report data out to a fileshare, but it doesn't seem that this particular operation can be achieved in Power BI. 

Unless I'm mistaken(?), then we will need to find alternative means to replicate this functionality, so I wondered if anyone has encountered the same problem and how they've gotten around it?

Thanks in advance for any responses.

Michael

[MichaelP2020]

Hi @v-janeyg-msft

I noticed you gave kudos to Collin on this thread, I've still not had time to properly investigate his suggestions, but I did wonder, do MS have any plans to introduce such a feature (subscription to file) for Power BI in their Product Roadmap?

Thanks

Michael

[v-janeyg-msft]

Hi, @MichaelP2020 

I'm sorry that there seems currently no direct way to subscription to file.

Best Regards

Janey Guo

[MichaelP2020]

Thanks for the details Collin, certainly gives me a few avenues to look into.

[collinq]

Hi @MichaelP2020 ,

I believe that the way to do it is to use the API and Flow to save the report to a location.

You can use the API to export the file

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/rest/api/power-bi/reports/exporttofile

Here is an example of svaing a report to OneDrive:

https://flow.microsoft.com/en-us/galleries/public/templates/f4fc8bed6e384f5f89bb3b980d152f47/save-a-...

And, a similar example by Erik Svensen here:

https://eriksvensen.wordpress.com/2020/09/29/setup-data-driven-report-subscriptions-for-powerbi-pagi...

ANd, Chris Webb has some blogs about using the API's:

https://blog.crossjoin.co.uk/category/power-bi-api/

So, I know none of these are the exact precise answer but combined I think they will guide you down the path.

I would appreciate Kudos if my response was helpful. I would also appreciate it if you would Mark this As a Solution if it solved the problem. Thanks!