Join us at FabCon Atlanta from March 16 - 20, 2026, for the ultimate Fabric, Power BI, AI and SQL community-led event. Save $200 with code FABCOMM.
Register now!Vote for your favorite vizzies from the Power BI Dataviz World Championship submissions. Vote now!
Hello all,
I have a Windows Server with an SQL Server 2017 I want to use as the source for Power BI.
I've chosen 'Import' as data source type, since I don't need data to be in real time.
I would like to set a scheduled nightly refresh so that my users (currently testing the Pro licence) get data of the last day when they open the service in browser.
Is this feasible? Do I need Power BI desktop on the server? Do user get automatic updates of the data when they login online?
Thank you very much!
Fabio
Solved! Go to Solution.
Hi @FabioN ,
Since you are using a on-premises sql server you need to use a powerbi onpremises gateway to schedule a refresh in powerbi service (app.powerbi.com)
Powerbi desktop is just a client tool to develop powerbi reports. If you install powerbi desktop in the server and open your report(pbix file), yes you will get the updated record in the server alone(on-premises) . In order to use the schedule refresh in powerbi service (cloud) you need a gateway.
Hi @FabioN ,
Since you are using a on-premises sql server you need to use a powerbi onpremises gateway to schedule a refresh in powerbi service (app.powerbi.com)
Powerbi desktop is just a client tool to develop powerbi reports. If you install powerbi desktop in the server and open your report(pbix file), yes you will get the updated record in the server alone(on-premises) . In order to use the schedule refresh in powerbi service (cloud) you need a gateway.
Vote for your favorite vizzies from the Power BI World Championship submissions!
If you love stickers, then you will definitely want to check out our Community Sticker Challenge!
Check out the January 2026 Power BI update to learn about new features.