shortcut of azure mirrored database won't refresh

[aashnashah]

Hey all! I have an azure sql database that I mirrored into my instance of Fabric. I then created a shortcut to get that mirrored data into my lakehouse with all my other data sources. While the mirrored database refreshes regularly, the data in the lakehouse has not been updated at all since I created the shortcut. What can I do? Is there any way to set up an auto refresh?

[v-prasare]

@aashnashah, As we haven’t heard back from you, we wanted to kindly follow up to check if the solution provided for your issue worked? or let us know if you need any further assistance here

Thanks,

Prashanth Are

MS Fabric community support

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly and give Kudos if helped you resolve your query

[v-prasare]

Hi @aashnashah,

As we haven’t heard back from you, we wanted to kindly follow up to check if the solution provided for your issue worked? or let us know if you need any further assistance here?

@burakkaragoz, @Witmanm Thanks for prompt response.

Thanks,

Prashanth Are

MS Fabric community support

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly and give Kudos if helped you resolve your query

[burakkaragoz · Accepted solution]

Hi @aashnashah ,

It's a great step to mirror your Azure SQL database to Fabric and create a shortcut to Lakehouse. However, it is common that the data is not updated after creating a shortcut. I have a few suggestions on this subject:

1. Shortcut Update Logic
Shortcuts created in Fabric do not physically copy data; they only provide a connection. However, this connection does not provide automatic data updates. That is, changes in the database are not reflected directly in Lakehouse.

2. Auto Refresh Setting
There is currently no direct “auto-refresh” feature for shortcuts in Fabric. However, you can try the following alternative ways:

a) Using Dataflow Gen2
By connecting your Azure SQL database with a Dataflow Gen2, you can pull data periodically.
By routing this dataflow to Lakehouse, you can keep your data up to date.
Dataflows can be scheduled, thus enabling automatic updates.
b) Scheduled Data Transfer with Notebook
You can create a notebook in Fabric, pull data from Azure SQL and write it to Lakehouse.
You can put this notebook in a pipeline and schedule automatic data updates.
c) Pipeline Usage
With Fabric Pipelines, you can automate and schedule data flows.
Setting up Azure SQL → Lakehouse data flow in this way can meet your current data needs.

[Witmanm]

This seems to be a caching issue in the shortcut.

This is a fairly common occurance as presented here: Solved: Re: Shortcut of mirrored database won't update - Microsoft Fabric Community
And here: Re: Fabric Shortcuts have a delay reflecting chang... - Microsoft Fabric Community

Additionally, here is some Microsoft documentation outlining the behavior of shortcuts: Unify data sources with OneLake shortcuts - Microsoft Fabric | Microsoft Learn

For your purposes, wanting to query the mirrored database as changes happen, perhaps relying on a Direct Query approach would better suit your needs.