Scheduled Refresh fails when retrieving VSTS data set

[alan_t]

I'm hitting this error nightly. 

Last refresh failed: Sat Aug 05 2017 11:18:04 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time (Mexico))
There was an error when processing the data in the dataset.Hide details
Data source type:
Processing error: Timeout expired. The timeout period elapsed prior to completion of the operation.
Cluster URI: WABI-WEST-US-redirect.analysis.windows.net
Activity ID: 4b39f22b-8d13-4bdd-9928-45cead397ae6
Request ID: 28a86fa8-2787-4b84-a87b-ebb6d0b2f0e0
Time: 2017-08-05 16:18:04Z

This occured previously and it was 'resolved' only to re occur. Maybe the dataset is too large? What options would I have to trin the data set (e.g. put date range on the refresh)?

[v-haibl-msft]

@alan_t

I got some information from the related team.

The VSTS Content pack is based on VSTS REST API’s. Calls to those API’s were causing accounts to be throttled and introducing a lot of load on the service so we introduced a delay into the calls. Introducing the delay has caused some accounts to hit the timeout for data refresh in Power BI.com which is why the customers data set went from working properly to failing unexpectedly. 

We are working on a new OData endpoint tied to the new Analytics Marketplace extension (https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms.vss-analytics). The OData feed is currently based on WIT but will grow to support all data types. The OData endpoint is designed to address many of the problems with the content pack today but unfortunately the preview of the WIT OData endpoint is closed.

If you send me the customers VSTS Account URL, I can send it to related team and they will add it to the preview as soon as it becomes available.

Best Regards,
Herbert

[v-haibl-msft]

@alan_t

I’ve got response from the related Team.

We did introduce a change to the way the VSTS Content Pack queries the REST APIs to prevent it from throttling VSTS on our largest accounts. If the data refresh is timing out on the content pack the primary alternative is using the Analytics OData endpoint. The preview for OData is currently closed but because the customer is blocked from using the Content Pack we will make an exception.

To start using the 3 new Widgets and OData the customer will need to install the Analytics Extension on the account - https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms.vss-analytics.

Examples of how to use the Power BI extension (VSTS.Feed) can be found here: https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/docs/report/powerbi/data-connector-functions

A general overview of the OData endpoint can be found here: https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/docs/report/analytics/overview-analytics-service

A more detailed overview of the aggregations we support can be found here: https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/docs/report/analytics/aggregated-data-analytics.

We are working on some experiences which will improve the out of the box functionality with our OData endpoint and Power BI which is currently planned for early next year.  We do not have any plans to update the Content Pack at this time.

Best Regards,
Herbert

[alan_t]

Is Is the Analytics OData endpoint for Power BI Desktop or Web version? Seems like its only for the Desktop version. 

All my work is in the Web version.

[v-haibl-msft]

@alan_t

It is for Power BI Desktop. You can publish the report to Power BI Service.

Best Regards,
Herbert

[marcin_k]

@v-haibl-msft Is it possible to make another exception? 🙂 We have excactly the same issue - content pack is not working since 04 Jul and built in VSTS analytics is just not enough to keep desirable level of metrics.

Waiting half a year for release of endpoint seems frightening. Same goes for no planned updates for content pack.

[alan_t]

I installed the VSTS extension as you instucted. I opened the Power Bi desktop and tried to Get Data as requested. I need to retrieve all the project s in my VSTS instance therefore I entered * for the Project field.  * is not supported. I have 30 projects. The VSTS.feed doesnt make sense to me. please clarify

[alan_t]

On alternative would be to add a feautre into the connector to allow the user to specify the date range of the projects to download. That way one could limit the data and get the projects into Power BI