The October 2026 release of the on-premises data gateway (version 3000.338) continues our commitment to secure, reliable and accessible connectivity between on-premises data sources and Microsoft Fabric services.
This release focuses on accessibility, configuration reliability, and troubleshooting. It makes the installer and configurator more inclusive, keeps your Power Query settings intact during connection tests, and makes service-start failures easier to diagnose. It also brings compatibility updates for the October 2026 release of Power BI Desktop, so queries run the same way in Power BI Desktop and in cloud refreshes.
General improvements and fixes
The October 2026 Gateway release (3000.338) includes Power Query Engine 2.159.229 and introduces the following improvements:
Accessibility improvements in the installer and configurator Building on the accessibility work in the September release, this update improves the experience for users who rely on assistive technologies:
- Keyboard navigation: Moving through the gateway installer and configurator with the keyboard is smoother and more predictable.
- Screen-reader announcements: Screen readers now give clearer, more accurate announcements of controls, status changes and actions.
- High-contrast support: Readability and visual consistency are better when Windows high-contrast themes are on.
Power Query configuration settings preserved during connection tests Running a connection test no longer affects your Power Query configuration settings. They stay as you set them, so you can validate connectivity without reapplying your configuration afterward.
Better diagnostics for gateway service-start failures When the gateway service fails to start, it now provides more detailed diagnostics. Administrators can find the root cause faster and restore connectivity with less downtime.
Feature updates and new capabilities in OPDG: Admin APIs for connections and gateways (Preview)
Managing connections at scale is a priority for many organizations. Until now, administrators could only see the connections they had been given permission for, which made tenant-wide governance difficult. The new Admin Connections REST APIs give Fabric administrators full visibility and control over every connection in the tenant, including on-premises data gateway, virtual network gateway and cloud connections.
These APIs can be called by Fabric administrators or by service principals, so you can automate governance and audit workflows. Admin actions such as viewing or deleting a connection and changing role assignments are recorded in the audit logs for traceability. Learn more in the related documentation.
Power BI Desktop compatibility
This update brings the on-premises data gateway up to date with the October 2026 release of Power BI Desktop.
With this version of the gateway, reports you publish to the Power BI Service and refresh through the gateway use the same query execution logic and runtime as the October version of Power BI Desktop.
Best practices for upgrading your gateway
Some customers have told us they upgraded production gateways straight to a new release and then ran into unexpected issues, such as failed refreshes or connection errors. Most of these can be avoided by upgrading in stages. We strongly recommend validating every new gateway release in a lower environment before you upgrade production. Explore the following best practices:
- Start with a development or test environment: Install version 3000.338 on a non-production gateway that matches your production setup as closely as possible: the same data sources, connectors, authentication methods and network setup. This lets you catch compatibility issues before they reach business-critical workloads.
- Validate your key scenarios in the test environment: Confirm that the scenarios your organization depends on still work as expected:
- Scheduled and on-demand refreshes for your critical semantic models and dataflows
- DirectQuery and live connection reports
- Connection tests for each data source type you use
- Any custom connectors, if you use them
- Gateway service start-up and sign-in
- Monitor before you promote: Give the test gateway a representative period, such as a few refresh cycles, before you move on. Review refresh history, gateway logs and performance to spot any regressions early.
- Back up before upgrading production: Before you upgrade a production gateway, make sure the gateway recovery key is stored securely and you have a record of your gateway configuration. You'll need these if you have to restore or migrate the gateway.
- Upgrade production clusters one member at a time: If you run gateway clusters, upgrade one member at a time while the other members keep serving requests. Confirm each upgraded member is healthy before moving to the next. Keep all members of a cluster on the same version when you're done, because mixed versions can lead to inconsistent behavior.
- Schedule production upgrades during a maintenance window: Plan production upgrades for periods of low refresh activity and let stakeholders know ahead of time. That way, any unexpected issue has minimal business impact.
- Stay on a supported version: Microsoft supports only the last six releases of the on-premises data gateway. Upgrading regularly keeps you on a supported version with the latest security, reliability and accessibility improvements.
Next steps
Upgrade to version 3000.338 to get the latest accessibility, configuration reliability and diagnostics improvements.
Please share feedback and feature requests through the Power BI Ideas forum to help shape future gateway investments.
Thank you!
Microsoft Employee