Can't use Lakehouse free trial without capacity?

[rde303]

I wanted to add some Power Bi Dashboard to my portfolio. Ideally, I wanted to use the Contoso Sales Lakehouse but I got an error trying to create the lakehouse. Apparently, I need to create a workspace with Capacity enabled.

That option is not available on my workspaces and I when go to Capacity on the admin portal, I don't see an option to create one.

Is there a way to add free capacity and use a lakehouse in my Power Bi report?

[pallavi_r]

Hi @rde303 ,

Please follow this below link from microsoft on steps to create fabric trial capacity.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric/fundamentals/fabric-trial

And if you are unable to start fabric trial or do not see options, then probably this needs to be enabled by administrator at tenant level settings (enable users to create fabric items). Other reasons are provided in detail in the below link.  Please check.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric/fundamentals/fabric-trial#why-cant-i-start-a-trial

If this post helps, please accept this as a solution. Appreciate your kudos.

Thanks,

Pallavi

[rde303]

I am trying to create a Lakehouse in my free Trial of Fabric. The free trial of Fabric is started.

When I try to create a Lakehouse in a new Workspace, I get this error:

Upgrade to a free Microsoft Fabric trial

To create Lakehouse and other Fabric items, this workspace, Sample Power Bi, needs to be assigned to a Fabric capacity. To try Microsoft Fabric features, select Upgrade to assign this workspace to your free Fabric trial capacity. Learn more

Opens in new window

Failed to prepare a free trial capacity for this workspace

When I try to log a help ticket, it tells me I need to have a premium contract. 

I don't have any options to start a Free Trial Capacity when I go to the Admin Portal of Power Bi or Fabric

[andrewsommer]

If you already have a free trial you need to assign the workspace to that trial

[rde303]

That's not going to work because I don't have a Capacity.

Its supposed to create a free trial capacity when I start Lakehouse and it won’t let me

How to assign a workspace to the trial capacity

1. Go to the Power BI or Microsoft Fabric Admin Portal (click the gear icon in the top right).

2. Under Capacity Settings → Trials tab, confirm your trial capacity is active.

3. Under the Workspaces tab, locate the workspace you want to assign.

4. Use the «Reassign Workspace» function from the ribbon and select Trial as the license mode — this assigns it to the trial capacity 

[v-veshwara-msft]

Hi @rde303 ,
Thanks for engaging with Microsoft Fabric Community.
If you are using personal account to create trial capacity, Microsoft has recently stopped giving trial capacities to newly created tenants (<90 days aging).

This is the note from Microsoft:
"We have stopped supporting Fabric trial capacities on newly created Entra and M365 tenants which many users have been used to spinning up for testing and learning. Unfortunately the ease of creating these tenants and these trial capacities led to significant abuse and we are unable to support further trial capacities on this class of tenant. We recommend all users initiate their Fabric trial capacities on the tenants associated with their work or school organization and NOT spin-up new tenants. Trial capacities continue to be available on longstanding tenants where there is material multi-product usage of Microsoft products. For other trial limitations you can visit: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric/get-started/fabric-trial#considerations-and-limitations

That said, you can create trial capacity by using established tenant where you have your other Power BI/Azure subscriptions.

Alternatively, you can consider purchasing an F2 capacity (or higher). This allows you to pause/resume as needed. For reference, F2 costs approximately $0.35/hour, and it's a good option for testing or development without relying on a trial.

Hope this helps. Please reach out for further assistance.

Thank you.

[v-veshwara-msft]

Hi @rde303 ,
Just wanted to check if the response provided was helpful. If further assistance is needed, please reach out.
Thank you.

[rde303 · Accepted solution]

I tried it a few days later and it worked. Sometimes new portal accounts cant spin up capacities

[v-veshwara-msft]

Hi @rde303 ,
Thanks for confirming, and glad to hear it worked for you.
You must be using an established tenant (for example, one associated with your work or school organization) to create a trial capacity, as newly created tenants may not be eligible.

Please reach out for further assistance.

Thank you.

[andrewsommer]

You need a Fabric capacity to use a Lakehouse so you will either need to get a free 60-day trial or purchase an F SKU

Please mark this post as a solution if it helps you. Appreciate Kudos.