Your scheduled refresh has been paused due to inactivity - Report Usage Metrics Model

[amthog]

Hi,
Hoping someone can advise on this one or whether we should just bounce it to MS support.

An end-user received the email notification paraphrased in the subject line above.
They were puzzled by it, as they were using the reports in their workspace quite frequently and they also did not recognize the name of the report/dataset.

This dataset turns out to be the backing dataset for the built-in usage metrics report.
This dataset is typically not visible (deliberately hidden by MS ?) but the notification has a link that takes you directly to the dataset settings, and it becomes visible in _some_ parts of the UI. You can view refresh settings but not the refresh schedule. The page also shows a credentials error on the single data source; UsageMetricsDataConnector

Troubleshooting has been odd, as we seem to get contradictory information depending on where we look.

Some things indicate a problem:

• The email notification itself
• The credential error on the Data source, but that is odd as would have expected a refresh failure notification not a paused notification. (??)
• Viewing an old look usage metric report has a banner indicating that report _was_ disabled but that it is being started again. Note this banner is _not_ visible on the new look report.

While some things indicate no problem:

• Refresh history shows scheduled refreshs are still occuring daily (despite the paused notification ??) and completing without error (despite the data source credentials error ??)
• New Look and old look usage reports show recent data after the paused notification

A search on issues does not seem to show any candidates:
https://community.powerbi.com/t5/forums/searchpage/tab/message?filter=location&q=Report%20Usage%20Me...

The following UserVoice item seems to be the same issue, and is quite recent, but no resolution and a suggestion to contact Support:
https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Service/quot-We-ve-paused-scheduled-refresh-for-Report-Usage-Metric...

And a much older one with similar response:
https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Service/How-to-find-which-quot-scheduled-refresh-has-been-paused-qu...

UsageMetricsDataConnector Connection Error
https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Report-Server/UsageMetricsDataConnector-Connection-Error/m-p/920622
Also recent but no responses and one of very few results using those search terms.

So I guess my basic question is:

• What does all this mean and what action (if any) should be we take ? Or just go to Support ?

There would be a number of related questions e.g.

• Is it expected behaviour for refresh on the hidden (?) metrics dataset to be paused e.g. if users do not view usage reports regularly ?
• If so, when refresh is resumed will it pick up usage data from the period it was paused ?
• What does it mean to hide a dataset (internal detail) but then pause it and notify end-users ? What action are the end-users expected to take if they were unaware of the dataset ?
• What does the credentials error imply ? How should it be rectified, what credentials ?

Thanks in advance if anyone has any info.

[v-shex-msft]

Hi @amthog,

Usage metrics are built-in analysis features that used to trace the usage of your report contents. It was available if the admin turn on it and you have enough permission.

Monitor usage metrics for Power BI dashboards and reports 

For the inactivity notice, you can take a look at the below document that mentioned data refresh cancel by inactivity:

Data refresh in Power BI#getting-refresh-failure-notifications 

#1, The activity status is based on contents usage, but they may blocked by adblocker or other reasons that caused the inactivity.

Monitor usage metrics for Power BI dashboards and reports#considerations-and-limitations 

Usage metrics may sometimes undercount activities due to inconsistent network connections, ad blockers, or other issues that can disrupt sending the events from the client.

#2, As document said, usage metrics are stored in a push dataset name as 'Report Usage Metrics Model' and mange by power bi itself. So if they are inactive, it means power bi will stop record the usage activities.

Monitor usage metrics for Power BI dashboards and reports#about-the-usage-metrics-report 

#3, This feature is an activity trace feature but it does not mean these features useful for each user. So it existed but not directly list in the general active panels, you need to find out it in the detail level menu panels. (it also required to correspond contents permissions) If this feature was inactivated, it means power bi will stop log user activity which will effect the accurate of usage metrix feature and not able to restore these missed records. 

For this scenario, it will send the notification emails to users who has enough permission about the inactivity statue and reactivate it if in need. In addition, you can submit an idea about only send email to specific users to prevent send to common users.

#4, I'm not so sure which credentials you mentioned, can you please explain more clear about this?

How to Get Your Question Answered Quickly 

Regards,

Xiaoxin Sheng

[Anonymous]

Hi, 

I am having the same issue that the scheduled refresh of the Usage Metrics Report has been paused due to inactivity, but this report is visited regularly. 

So my primary question is: Why is the refresh paused when the report is used regularly? 

I can't manually refresh this report because there is no dataset associated with it (that I can see) and there is no scheduled refresh option where I can schedule it.

Thanks in advance for any info.