Unable to Deploy Warehouse via Fabric API Automation (PrincipalTypeNotSupported with Service Princip

[avanisharma]

I'm encountering an issue while setting up CI/CD automation for Microsoft Fabric using the Fabric API, as detailed in the official documentation. I am invoking my PowerShell deployment script through Azure Pipelines.

Issue:
When attempting to deploy a warehouse (resource type: Warehouse) from 'Development' to 'Test', the process fails with the following error:

Failed to deploy. Error response:
{
"errorCode": "BadRequest",
"moreDetails": [
{
"errorCode": "PrincipalTypeNotSupported",
"message": "The operation is not supported for the principal type",
"relatedResource": {
"resourceType": "Warehouse"
}
}
],
"message": "The request could not be processed due to missing or invalid information"
}

Details:

• The script runs as a Service Principal (for automation).

• Error specifically says: "PrincipalTypeNotSupported", indicating Service Principal is not supported for this operation on Warehouses.

• According to the documentation, it is mentioned that all resource types supported by deployment pipelines should be supported, and Warehouse is listed as a supported item.

• I am successfully able to deploy other supported items such as pipelines, notebooks, and lakehouses using the same Service Principal account and process.

• I cannot use a user principal account due to enforced MFA policies in my organization.

Has anyone faced this limitation, or is there a workaround to enable automated CI/CD deployment of Fabric Warehouses using Service Principals? Is there any plan to support this scenario in the near future?

[mandania]

Thanks for the reply, i had to resort to user identity and that worked.

[v-echaithra]

Hi @avanisharma ,

We would like to confirm if you've successfully resolved this issue or if you need further help. If you still have any questions or need more support, please feel free to let us know. We are more than happy to continue to help you.

Thank you for your patience and look forward to hearing from you.

Best Regards,
Chaithra E.

[v-echaithra]

Hi @avanisharma ,

We wanted to follow up to see if the issue you reported has been fully resolved. If you still have any concerns or need additional support, please don’t hesitate to let us know, we’re here to help.

We truly appreciate your patience and look forward to assisting you further if needed.

Warm regards,
Chaithra E.

[v-echaithra]

Hi @avanisharma ,

Try to use a Managed Identity Instead. If you're running your pipeline in Azure DevOps or another Azure-hosted environment, switch from Service Principal to Managed Identity. Assign the Managed Identity appropriate roles in Microsoft Fabric and Entra ID. This sometimes bypasses the restriction, especially for read/write operations on Warehouses.

Best Regards,
Chaithra E.

[mandania]

Hi, just wondering if managed to solve this issue? i am also have the same problem.

[v-echaithra]

Hi @avanisharma ,

Thank you @burakkaragoz  for your inputs.

We would like to confirm if you've successfully resolved this issue or if you need further help. If you still have any questions or need more support, please feel free to let us know. We are more than happy to continue to help you.

Thank you for your patience and look forward to hearing from you.
Best Regards,
Chaithra E.

[mandania]

This issue is not solved as i have exactly same problem right now. It would be appreciated if you could update us on this issues.

[burakkaragoz]

Hi @avanisharma ,

You're hitting a frustrating gap between what Microsoft documents and what actually works. This "PrincipalTypeNotSupported" error is unfortunately common with Fabric warehouses, even though they're supposedly "fully supported" in deployment pipelines.

The reality: Fabric warehouses have extra security restrictions that don't apply to other items. Service Principals can deploy notebooks and lakehouses just fine, but warehouses are treated differently for some reason Microsoft hasn't clearly explained.

Practical workarounds:

Dedicated automation account: Create a user account specifically for CI/CD and get MFA exemption for it. Most security teams will approve this if you explain it's for automation and properly secure the account.

Managed Identity approach: If you're running this in Azure DevOps hosted agents, try switching to managed identity authentication instead of traditional Service Principal. Sometimes that bypasses the restriction.

Split your deployment: Deploy warehouses manually or in a separate pipeline with different auth, automate everything else with your current Service Principal setup.

Microsoft's inconsistent behavior: This is one of those areas where Fabric's documentation hasn't caught up with the actual API limitations. Other users have reported the same issue, so you're not alone in this frustration.

Worth trying: Contact Microsoft Support directly - they sometimes have workarounds or insider info about when this will be fixed. The public docs are clearly misleading about Service Principal support for warehouses.

This feels like an oversight that should be fixed, but Microsoft hasn't given any timeline for addressing it.

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