Forum Discussion
OneDrive Refresh
- 6 years ago
you're nearly there.
Storing the .pbix on the OneDrive is good practice, but has nothing to do with your issue. .pbix files only live on the Desktop. Once the .pbix is "published" it will live on the Power BI service inside a workspace, split up into a dataset and a report (the latter is optional). The dataset is what gets refreshed, and it gets refreshed form your Excel file on the OneDrive (NOT from the .pbix unless you re-publish. But that's a whole 'nother story).
Now, Microsoft claim that OneDrive changes are automatically propagated within the hour. However we have seen no solid evidence of that in our environment. So what we advise our developers is to add scheduling to the dataset "just in case". Since it is a cloud data source no gateway is required.
Final note: There are subtle differences between these connectors: Excel, File, Web, Sharepoint Folder - they all can access your Excel file, but with varying efficiency. Note that Sharepoint Folder is basically the same thing as native OneDrive. That's why I prefer it even though it is a tad slower than the other connectors.
"Onedrive refresh" seems to be a euphemism for any refreshes initiated outside of Power BI, via API call. Can be from Power Automate or from Powershell etc.
- HamidBee4 years ago
Power Participant
I've just come across one drive refresh now. This is what I've understood so far:
The source file and the pbix file needs to be in one drive, it is then published onto the power bi service. Any changes made from that point to the source file will be detected by power bi within after an hour or so and it will be visible on the service. When I saw you mentioend API I figured I'm totally off the mark here.- lbendlin4 years ago
Super User
Not totally off, but slightly. You need to separate data refresh from meta data refresh. Meta data refresh (aka Publish, or PBIX changes in your case) are audited elsewhere, in the tenant audit logs.
- HamidBee4 years ago
Power Participant
I see. I've set it up now so I'll wait an hour to see if the file updates. I posted a question here asking for the steps but the super user here is asking me to do that and setup a scheduled refresh inorder for it to work: https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Desktop/What-are-the-steps-for-creating-a-one-drive-refresh-in-Power-BI/m-p/2580127#M910950