Scheduled refresh problems + questions (Dynamics 365)

[Anonymous]

Hi, everyone I have some questions regarding configuring a scheduled refresh. I am working on a CRM-project with Dynamics 365 and Power BI. As they are both microsoft I expected it to connect and automate quite easiliy. However after building the dashboards I had some trouble with setting up the scheduled refresh because I need a gateway. I have read some articles about this but it was very unclear to me. So I have a few questions:

1. Can I configure a scheduled refresh with Dynamics 365 whitout having to install a gateway?
    + If I don't want a gateway should I push the data to another source (SQL Server or Azure blob storage)
2. If I have to install a gateway, where should I install it? Are there limitations / costs / etc?
3. What are the downsides of ahving to use a gateway?

I have read these articles, but because my technical knowledge isn't super good, I am still confused:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/refresh-datahttps://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/power-bi-data-sourceshttps://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/service-gateway-enterprise-manage-scheduled-refreshhttps://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/service-gateway-enterprise-manage-scheduled-refreshhttps://docs.microsoft.com/pt-br/data-integration/gateway/service-gateway-installhttps://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/data-integration/gateway/service-gateway-installhttps://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/service-gateway-onprem

thanks in advance

[v-yiruan-msft · Accepted solution]

Hi @Anonymous ,

First, when you need to install gateway? It depends on where your data source located... If the data source is located on-premises, you need a gateway. For online or cloud-based data sources, no gateway is required. You can get more details about gateway in this documentation.

For online service providers( like Dynamics 365), refresh usually occurs once-a-day. This is an Automatic refresh. If you configure a scheduled refresh for data source, it will refresh on the specific time points. Power BI limits datasets on shared capacity to eight daily refreshes. You can refer this documentation for configure schedule refresh.

Best Regards

Rena

[Anonymous]

So I would say I don't need to install a gateway to schedule a refresh with dynamics 365. But because I am using Power BI desktop I need to install one?

[v-yiruan-msft]

Hi @Anonymous ,

Yes, it is not necessary. Actually, Power BI Desktop is only used as a tool to create reports, it also no need to install gateway. As refer in my previous post, install gateway or not, it depends on where the data source located. Only if the data source is located on-premises, you need to install a gateway. The gateway acts as a bridge between on-premises data (data that isn't in the cloud) and several Microsoft cloud services( include Power BI, PowerApps, Power Automate, Azure Analysis Services, and Azure Logic Apps). 

I would suggest to review the following documentations, it will be very helpful for you to understand the gateway.

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

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/connect-data/service-gateway-onprem#how-the-gateway-works

Best Regards

Rena

[Anonymous]

Hmm yeah I understand that a gateway is only needed with an on-prem source now. However if I want to set up a scheduled refresh for this dataset the option is grayed out because no gateway is installed. So did I do something wrong when connecting to the data source or is the Dynamics 365 (online) an on-prem data source?

[v-yiruan-msft]

Hi @Anonymous ,

Besides the data source Dynamic 365(online), is there other data sources be used in your dataset? Could you please provide the screen shot of schedule refresh configuration page in your Power BI Service?

In addition, please check if the solution in this thread can help you.

Best Regards

Rena

[Anonymous]

Hi @v-yiruan-msft this indeed was the problem, I had an on-prem excel mapping table source... I moved that to a cloud database as well and the scheduled refresh is working now!