Rest API for connecting workspace to Azure Data Lake Gen2 Storage

[Srujangirish]

Current Limitation

As of now, Power BI allows manual configuration of ADLS Gen2 connections at the workspace level via the Power BI Service UI. This is a powerful feature that enables organizations to "bring their own storage" for dataflows, unlocking extensibility, governance, and advanced analytics capabilities. However, this process is entirely manual, requiring users to navigate workspace settings and select storage accounts interactively.

This limitation poses challenges for:

• Enterprise-scale deployments across multiple workspaces.
• DevOps and CI/CD pipelines that require infrastructure-as-code.
• Governance and compliance where automation is essential.

Proposed Feature

Introduce a Power BI REST API endpoint that allows programmatic configuration of ADLS Gen2 connections at the workspace level. This API should support:

1. Authentication & Authorization:

   • Use of Azure AD and service principals.
   • Role-based access control (RBAC) enforcement.

2. Connection Setup:

   • Specify Azure subscription, resource group, and storage account.
   • Validate prerequisites (e.g., HNS enabled, same Entra tenant, correct roles).

3. Configuration Options:

   • Choose between tenant-level or workspace-level storage.
   • Enable or disable default Azure connection usage.

4. Extensibility & Monitoring:

   • Retrieve current connection status.
   • Audit changes and access logs.
   • Support for updating or detaching connections.

Benefits

• Automation: Enables integration into deployment pipelines and infrastructure-as-code tools.
• Scalability: Supports large organizations with hundreds of workspaces.
• Security: Reduces manual errors and enforces consistent access policies.
• Governance: Improves traceability and auditability of data storage configurations.

Use Case Example

An enterprise with multiple departments wants to automate the provisioning of Power BI workspaces, each connected to its own ADLS Gen2 container. With an API, this can be achieved programmatically, ensuring consistent configuration and reducing manual overhead.

Conclusion

This feature would significantly enhance Power BI’s enterprise readiness and align with Microsoft’s broader vision of secure, scalable, and automated cloud data platforms. I hope this request will be considered for inclusion in the Power BI REST API roadmap.