PowerBI Gateway and home computer

[Markzolotoy]

For the sake of learning I want to implement a PBI report that would use data from my home computer. I understand that I need to use PBI Gateway. do I need to open any specific port? Anything else I would need to do?

Thanks

[Markzolotoy]

@timg Yes, that is the one I have. Are you saying that PBI service uses a user account used in the Gateway to identify gateway availability for the service? I am not sure how the service knows that there is a gateway out there.

[timg · Accepted solution]

Hi Markzolotoy,

Yes you use your office 365 user to match the gateway to the power bi service user. Whenever you want to refresh your report a request is sent towards the gateway. When the gateway picks up that there is a refresh request in the queue it will start refreshing the on-premises datasource. The "gateway architecture" paragraph of this article explains it much better than I'm able to 😛

https://radacad.com/the-power-bi-gateway-all-you-need-to-know 

[Markzolotoy]

@timg Here:

[timg]

Ahh I see, if I'm correct you currently have a standard gateway installed (more useful for organizational use). If you download the "personal" gateway like mentioned in the link in my previous message you will be able to refresh reports from your personal computer without needing to fill in any details on the page you sent a screenshot of.

Regards,

Tim

[Markzolotoy]

@timg What confusing me is that when I add a new data source I need to specify an URL to a box that has Gateway installed. So, it is going to be sufficient to just specify a public IP of that box? Also, I will be running DirectQueries, won't need scheduled refresh.

[timg]

Hi Markzolotoy,

Could you perhaps share an (anonymized) screenshot of the screen where you need to specify a URL? In my experience installing a personal gateway only required me to input an install location and an e-mail adress connected to Power BI in order for it to work.

Regards,

Tim

[Markzolotoy]

@timg I was talking of creating a new data source on the service. That takes a few peices of information including URL.

[timg]

Hi Markzolotoy,

Here you can find some details about how to install the gateway and the requirements for doing so: Install an on-premises data gateway | Microsoft Docs

Once the gateway is installed you only need to add that gateway to the dataset you want to refresh in Power BI service, more details here: Configure scheduled refresh - Power BI | Microsoft Docs

Lastly, keep in mind that your home computer needs to be turned on to be able to resfresh data. when it is turned off your reports will not be able to refresh.

Hope that helps!

Regards,

Tim