Power BI desktop and RDP

[enkster1]

Good Morning Community,

We are using an RDP farm to allow remote developers to access PowerBI Desktop instances and the Power BI Service.

• They use an elevated account to access the RDP Server.
• They login to Power BI Desktop with their standard account.
• When the click on Power BI Service within the power BI desktop, it gives a message stating "You've select Microsoft Fabric Free"

Could this have something to do with Power BI vs. Fabric licensing? Might it be something on the RDP Server end of things (configuration/port availability)? 

We can validate that they can use their standard access to see the data via the web side. We are looking for a solution to this issue as soon as feasible. 

Thank you in adevance for your response,

Steve

[Anonymous]

Hi, @enkster1 

The “You've selected Microsoft Fabric Free” message you see in Power BI Desktop may be related to licensing differences between Power BI and Microsoft Fabric. Power BI Free allows users to create reports and dashboards for personal use but does not support sharing or collaboration features. In contrast, Power BI Pro supports sharing, collaboration and publishing of reports and dashboards, while Power BI Premium Per User (PPU) offers advanced features and capabilities, including greater storage and more frequent data refreshes. Microsoft Fabric Free provides basic access to Power BI and Fabric functionality but has fewer features than the Pro or Premium licenses. Microsoft Fabric Free Edition provides basic access to Power BI and Fabric features, but has limited functionality compared to Pro or Premium licenses. Verify that the standard account used to log in to Power BI Desktop is assigned the appropriate license. If they are using a free license, they may experience limitations in accessing certain features of the Power BI service.

You can learn more about from the following link:

Power BI service features by license type - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

Get licenses for users in your organization. - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

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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.

[123abc · Accepted solution]

It seems like the issue you're facing is related to licensing or configuration between Power BI and Microsoft Fabric on the RDP server environment. Here are some key points and potential solutions:

1. Power BI and Microsoft Fabric Licensing

• Power BI and Microsoft Fabric share certain infrastructure components, and the message “You’ve selected Microsoft Fabric Free” could indicate a licensing conflict or misconfiguration between the desktop version and the service.
• Verify that the users' Power BI licenses (such as Power BI Pro, Premium, or Fabric) are assigned correctly. If they are licensed for Power BI Pro, they should not see this message.
• Microsoft Fabric features are part of the overall Power BI ecosystem, but if the users are only licensed for Power BI and not for Fabric features, this message may appear when they attempt to access certain functionality.

2. RDP Server Configuration

• Ensure that the RDP server environment is properly configured to support the licensing requirements. Licensing in an RDP environment may differ from individual installations, so verify that the Power BI Desktop instance has access to the correct license and tenant.
• Check that the elevated accounts used to access the RDP server do not interfere with the login credentials for Power BI Desktop.
• Sometimes, elevated privileges can result in a license conflict. It may be worth testing whether the developers can log in to Power BI Desktop with their standard account directly (without using elevated credentials).

3. Session Profile Conflicts

• When users log in with elevated accounts on the RDP server, Power BI Desktop might retain session data from the elevated account, which could cause conflicts when logging into Power BI Service with a standard account.
• Make sure that the user profile associated with the standard account is the one being used during Power BI Desktop sign-in.
• Try clearing the credentials cache in Power BI Desktop:
  • Go to File > Options and Settings > Data Source Settings.
  • Clear all stored credentials.
  • Sign in again with the standard Power BI account.

4. Network/Port Availability

• Verify if there are any network or port restrictions on the RDP farm that could block communication between Power BI Desktop and Power BI Service, especially related to Microsoft Fabric.
• Ensure that relevant ports are open, including those used for Power BI Service (such as ports 443 for HTTPS and 5671 for AMQP).

5. Test on Local Machines

• Have the users try logging into Power BI Desktop from their local machines (instead of through RDP) to see if the issue persists.
• If it works fine on their local machines, the problem likely lies in the RDP server configuration.

6. Power BI Desktop Version

• Ensure that the Power BI Desktop version installed on the RDP server is up-to-date. Outdated versions may not fully support the latest licensing or Microsoft Fabric features.

7. License Assignment in Admin Portal

• Check the Power BI Admin Portal to ensure that the users are assigned the correct licenses (Power BI Pro, Premium, Fabric) and that there are no discrepancies in their assignments.

Next Steps:

1. Verify if there's any conflict between elevated account access on the RDP server and the standard account login to Power BI Desktop.
2. Ensure that Power BI licenses are assigned correctly.
3. Check network and port configurations to ensure seamless connectivity between Power BI Desktop and the Power BI Service.
4. Test with local machines to rule out RDP-specific issues.

Let me know how it goes, and I can help further based on the findings!

(Answar Generated by AI model)