Power BI Gateway Installation issues

[DaleJohnson]

Good Afternoon,

I am trying to install the latest version of PowerBI Data Gateway onto Server 2022 running RDS services.

The server uses User Profile Disks.

The install fails with the error that the PBIEgwService cannot be started.

I am not sure what is causing the issues.

[tayloramy]

Hi @DaleJohnson,

The on-premises data gateway is a machine-wide Windows service, not per-user, so RDS user profiles/UPDs shouldn’t be involved. Use the Standard (enterprise) gateway installer and run it as an administrator. See Microsoft’s install guide: Install an on-premises data gateway.

Verify the service account has “Log on as a service”. By default the service runs as the virtual account NT SERVICE\PBIEgwService. Confirm Group Policy isn’t stripping this right on RDS hosts:

• Open secpol.msc > Local Policies > User Rights Assignment > Log on as a service and ensure NT SERVICE\PBIEgwService is present.
• If your domain GPO overwrites local settings, add it (or switch to a gMSA/domain account) centrally. Docs: Change the on-premises data gateway service account.
  Tip: If you do change accounts, do it in the Gateway app, not just services.msc, so permissions are applied correctly.

Start the service and check Event Viewer.

• Start: services.msc > On-premises data gateway service (PBIEgwService).
• Event logs: Event Viewer > Applications and Services Logs > On-premises data gateway service for precise startup errors. Microsoft’s troubleshooting article shows where to look and how to export logs: Troubleshoot the on-premises data gateway.

Best practice (optional but recommended): Consider hosting the gateway on a dedicated utility VM instead of an RDS session host to avoid contention and GPO/profile hardening side-effects. Background and guidance: RADACAD gateway overview and Using the gateway with Fabric.

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[DaleJohnson]

The issue is I cannot get the gateway to install.  It gets to the end of the installer then it bombs out and reverts the install.

As much as it is running on RDS, we have no GPOs that impact RDS services.  When I look at the secpol.msc, I do see the NT SERVICE\PBIEgwService user in the list.

I cannot change the service account to anything else as the appication will not even install.

In these instructions, I cannot get past Step #2

Install an on-premises data gateway | Microsoft Learn

[vivien57]

Hello @DaleJohnson ,

Do you have more information in Event Viewer under Windows Logs → Application for more detailed error message

Vivien 

[DaleJohnson]

Log Name: Application
Source: MsiInstaller
Date: 10/3/2025 2:18:24 PM
Event ID: 11920
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: ESCSEC\sec_djohnson
Computer: SECRDSP001.escsec.local
Description:
Product: GatewayComponents -- Error 1920. Service 'On-premises data gateway service' (PBIEgwService) failed to start. Verify that you have sufficient privileges to start system services.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="MsiInstaller" />
<EventID Qualifiers="0">11920</EventID>
<Version>0</Version>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>0</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2025-10-03T20:18:24.5888689Z" />
<EventRecordID>121762</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID="0" ThreadID="0" />
<Channel>Application</Channel>
<Computer>SECRDSP001.escsec.local</Computer>
<Security UserID="S-1-5-21-4222912542-1287919725-14415386-1103" />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data>Product: GatewayComponents -- Error 1920. Service 'On-premises data gateway service' (PBIEgwService) failed to start. Verify that you have sufficient privileges to start system services.</Data>
<Data>(NULL)</Data>
<Data>(NULL)</Data>
<Data>(NULL)</Data>
<Data>(NULL)</Data>
<Data>(NULL)</Data>
<Data>
</Data>
<Binary>7B30323338313244332D304135372D343638312D383333412D4338393735363336343045357D</Binary>
</EventData>
</Event>

Log Name: Application
Source: Microsoft-Windows-User Profiles Service
Date: 10/3/2025 2:18:24 PM
Event ID: 1501
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords:
User: NT SERVICE\PBIEgwService
Computer: SECRDSP001.escsec.local
Description:
Windows cannot create a temporary profile directory. This problem may be caused by insufficient security rights.

DETAIL - Element not found.

Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-User Profiles Service" Guid="{89b1e9f0-5aff-44a6-9b44-0a07a7ce5845}" />
<EventID>1501</EventID>
<Version>0</Version>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>0</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x8000000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2025-10-03T20:18:24.3472474Z" />
<EventRecordID>121763</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID="1944" ThreadID="3600" />
<Channel>Application</Channel>
<Computer>SECRDSP001.escsec.local</Computer>
<Security UserID="S-1-5-80-1835761534-3291552707-3889884660-1303793167-3990676079" />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data Name="Error">Element not found.
</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>

[vivien57]

Hello @DaleJohnson ,

- Ensure PBIEgwService is added to the Administrators group.
- Grant full control permissions to the folder where the gateway is installed.
- Confirm that the service is set to Automatic start, not Delayed Start.

Vivien 

[DaleJohnson]

I rant the installer by right clicking on the .exe and running it as Administrator.  If it helps, my account on the server is a Domain Admin, so I have full admin access on the server.

[tayloramy]

Hi @DaleJohnson, 

Both the error logs you posted above seem to suggest missing permissions or some sort of group policy blocking the creation of tempoary user profiles and system services. You mentioned you are a domain admin, so permissions shouldn't be a problem I think. 

Just to completly rule that out, are you able to make a local user with administrator rights and try using that user instead of your network user?

If that doesn't work, are you able to test the install on a different device (even a temporary VM) to see if there are some environment settings somewhere in your environment that are blocking this?

If you found this helpful, consider giving some Kudos. If I answered your question or solved your problem, mark this post as the solution.