Power BI Report Builder unable to connect to existing Power BI semantic model

[jay-rad]

Hi there,

I have the data I need in an existing semantic model which I am able to select in Power BI Report Builder when adding a Data Source. When I then try to access the 'Query Designer' after creating a new dataset I get the following error:

Unable to connect to data source 'semantic_model_1'. Please verify the connection properties, credentials, and all needed 64-bit versions of data providers are correctly installed.

Response status code does not indicate success: 403 (Forbidden).
----------------------------
The connection either timed out or was lost.

I have all of the appropriate permissions in Power BI to work on this semantic model as I'm and admin and creator of the model/ associated report. When I then try to enter either database credentials or my Office365 credentials I am still shown the same error.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

My config:

- The PowerBI Report Builder is running through Parallels and VMWare on a virutal machine, I've been able to build the report using a VMWare Virtual machine and have tried troubleshooting this issue by trying Parallels instead but still no success. 

- My databases sit behind an On-Premise Data Gateway

[Anonymous]

Hi, @jay-rad 

This may have something to do with the gateway. This can be problematic if you are using a semantic model that retrieves data through a gateway.

Power BI Report Builder does not yet support the use of gateways to fetch data sources (if you are using Get data, i.e. fetching a local data source through the Power Query Onine engine in the cloud, this is not currently supported in Report Builder). You can learn more from the following link:

Get data with Power Query available in Power BI Report Builder (Preview) | Microsoft Power BI Blog |...

You can connect to a Data Source using the Add Data Source method

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Best Regards

Yongkang Hua

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[jay-rad]

Thank you for your response.

I've just tried with a colleague who created an existing report that I'm trying to modify and it works successfully even with the data sitting behind a gateway. He has a Windows machine and it seems to work perfectly... Any ideas?

Cheers

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Hi, @jay-rad 

Your error message already contains the causes, which may be that you don't have the necessary permissions to access the data source, that the credentials provided may be incorrect or expired, that the connection properties may be incorrectly configured, and that the required 64-bit data provider may not be installed correctly.
I tested that when you get the semantic model and then switch accounts (without permissions) or use an account with no permissions to get the semantic model, the following login screen appears when you click on the query

Then no matter what credentials are entered, it will report an error

You can only modify the user in the top right corner of you

You can try creating a new report in your own workspace instead of using the shared workspace and report, and then check in Report builder to see if there is an error message for connecting the semantic model. If it still appears, then you may want to check if your VM system is 32-bit, or if the installed data source such as a database stores programs that are 32-bit

How to Get Your Question Answered Quickly

Best Regards

Yongkang Hua

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[Anonymous]

Hi, @jay-rad 

Can you explain the steps you took to connect the semantic model? Is it through Get data, which gets the semantic model of the gateway on the cloud service, or is it through Add data source, who gets the local database data?

Best Regards

Yongkang Hua

[jay-rad]

Here are the steps I'm taking

1. I'm using the "Add Data Source" option and selecting "Add Power BI semantic model connection..." as seen in the screenshot below

2. I am then selecting an existing Semantic Model, see screenshot

3. I then right click the Datasets and select "Add Dataset..."

4. I then select the Data Source I've created and click "Query Designer..."

5. I then get this error. If I click "OK" it asks for some credentials. I've tried to enter all of the various database/ Microsoft and other credentials but with no success. It just loops through asking for these details and then fails.

Thanks again for your help on this one!