Different data is displayed between the actual Power BI user and the Admin using Test as Role

[bboschma]

For one of our Power BI reports, a user raised an issue that he could not see some specific data on a report page. We gave the user the proper Row Level Security which works for all other users. We tested the Row Level Security by using the "Test as Role" feature in Power BI.

Procedure to use "Test as Role":

1) Navigated to the report's dataset in the workspace where the report is located.

2) For that dataset, clicked the elipsis (...) and selected Security from the menu

3) When the Row Level Security page opens, clicked the elipsis (...) to the right of "Users" and selected "Test as Role" from menu

4) Clicked the link for "Now Viewing As" and searched for the user who reported the issue and then clicked the "Apply" button

When we use "Test as Role" for that user, we can see the data that needs to display. It works. However, when the user actually visits the same report page, he still cannot see the data that we can see when using "Test as Role" as that user.

Please share feedback on how we can debug this further, or in the spirit of suggesting a new idea, can Power BI provide more debugging tools within the interface to let us detect the root cause of this issue.

[Anonymous]

Hi @bboschma 

1. Can you make sure that the user account you test is same as the account of the user with the problem ? 

2. Have you tried logging in with this user's account on your Service and checking this report ? 

3. In what way did you share your report to this user ? What kind of access does he have to the report, read or edit ?

4. Sggest that this user clear his browser cache and then log back in to see if RLS is in effect .

Best Regards,
Community Support Team _ Ailsa Tao

[bboschma]

Alisa, 

Thanks for the fast reply.

Here are responses to each question.

1. Can you make sure that the user account you test is same as the account of the user with the problem ? 

Yes, we believe the user only has 1 Windows account with our organization. We used the 1 account that we know to use. We will verify that the user does not have more than 1 Windows account.

2. Have you tried logging in with this user's account on your Service and checking this report ? 

No, we did not try that yet since the user is in another city and we do not allow the user to share his password. We will try to arrange a meeting in person with the user to try this although it will require some extra driving.

3. In what way did you share your report to this user ? What kind of access does he have to the report, read or edit ?

The Power BI report is embedded in a Power BI app. That app is accessed by the user with his web browser at the Microsoft Power BI platform located at https://app.powerbi.com/home. The link to the report was shared with the user. The user has "Member" access to the Power BI workspace where the report is located. The user also has Row-Level-Security for the one dataset that powers the report.

4. Sggest that this user clear his browser cache and then log back in to see if RLS is in effect .

Yes, we tried this earlier and will try that again.

[Anonymous]

Hi @bboschma 

The third point we discussed is the crux of the matter . Workspace members assigned Admin, Member, or Contributor have edit permission for the dataset and, therefore, RLS doesn’t apply to them. So RLS does not work for this user . 

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/enterprise/service-admin-rls#using-rls-with-workspaces-in...

Best Regards,
Community Support Team _ Ailsa Tao

[bboschma]

I removed Member permission for the user. We are waiting for the user to give feedback on whether or not the issue still exists. That may take a few days. Thanks.

[bboschma]

I changed the user's level of access from "Member" to "Viewer" and asked the user to confirm. The user has confirmed that this resolved his problem.

Thanks for the help on this.

The only other comment is that before I made the change from "Member" to "Viewer", we did see differences in the data displayed on the report between the real user's experience and our simulation of the user's experience using the Power BI Test As Role feature.

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Hi @bboschma 

I am so glad to hear that your issue has been solved . I will change the status to "Delivered" .

Best Regards,
Community Support Team _ Ailsa Tao