Proper way to create report that hooks up to Azure SQL Server DB

[dwtaggart]

So, this whole thing is confusing to me, and the forums appear to have conflicting answers based on when the post appears. My company has a SQL Server Database in Azure. I have downloaded Power BI Desktop and can create reports by using a "SQL Server" connection or an "Azure SQL Server" connection. So, from the Desktop, I can get what I need. I'm using Direct Query, BTW.

What I really want to do is have my report out in the PowerBI workspace area AND have it connected to LIVE or FREQUENTLY REFRESHED data. Sounds like a VERY common use case. So, how do I do it? Is there a recipe or architectural diagram?

I actually have some reports out in the web workspace that I created before I upgraded to "pro". They work fine, but don't refresh to live data. Since I upgraded, I can publish reports but it tells me "the published report can't connect to a datasource because we were unable to find a gateway.  Please install and configure an enterprise gateway."

Do I need a gateway? Which? Why?

I can get more detailed, but figured I'd start with that main idea.

[synergised]

Cliff notes:

1.  Install the Enterprise Gateway - it is the plumbing for everything.. you then configure the credentials for the report to use in the gateway.

2. Open Power BI.. click on the "Settings" gear.. select settings, Select the dataset tab - this is where you associate the dataset to the gateway and schedule the refresh.

3. Click on the dataset name.. you will see "Gateway connection" and "Schedule Refresh".    Note direct query can only be scheduled hourly.

We have an Azure virtual running SQL.  The Enterprise Gateway is installed on this machine.  We created a common user to use to upload the reports to the service.

[dwtaggart]

Thanks much. So....I did get this working when I installed the gateway on my local machine. Our SQL Server DB is actually in an Azure VM as opposed to being and Azure SQL Server DB. (I just figured that out) So anyway, I installed the Enterprise Gateway on the VM (since my local dev machine isn't always on or whatever) and I can see it and manage it, etc. However...since the DB is on the same Azure VM as the Enterprise Gatewayit won't hook up to the "dbserver.companyname.com", only "dbserver". Unfortunately since I'm developing on a machine outside the Azure VM, in Power BI Desktop, I must use the fully qualified server name.

This is a problem because for some bizarre reason the report only hooks up to the gateway by textually matching the db server name and db name from the report file AND the gateway. There's no way to select a preconfigured datasource or gateway from the Power BI Desktop as far as I can tell.

So anyone have any workarounds?

[Sean]

You can read about this here

https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/powerbi-gateway-onprem/

and download it from here

https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/gateway/

[Greg_Deckler]

Which? Yes, I believe that you do in fact need the Enterprise Gateway, not the personal gateway

Why? Because it doesn't work without the Enterprise Gateway?