Forum Discussion
Azure Blob Storage
I am trying to find a way to store an excel file on Azure Blob Storage and keep it in sync with the PowerBI service. I have the desktop version and some dashboards online. When I try to setup the Blob data source in the desktop I see nothing in my container. I can successfully connect with credentials and see my container but it has nothing in it.
I can get the desktop to work if I use the web url for the file as a generic web source but the online service can't refresh the web source. It claims that it can't do it as anonymous and requires credentials. I'm not really sure what credentials I could give it to successfully refresh. Has anyone else had any luck with this?
I tried to connect to the blob storage on the service but it doesn't seem to be an option. I may just be out of luck with that one. I also considered onedrive but I don't see the option on my desktop software. I don't know if I need the onedrive software installed on my system first. I'm rather limited on what I can install.
Thanks,
Rick
2 Replies
Ok, so I was able to get the generic web source to refresh with anonymous access. It may be a bug. I tried to change it to other auth methods and then changed it back to anonymous and it decided it was ok with that. I would still be interested in knowing what is working for others when it comes to hosting an excel file online for refresh by the PowerBI service. I would think the Azure blob storage should work using that functionality instead of the generic web source.
Thanks,
Rick
Hi Rick, I've also found that Power BI won't list my container items, within the "get data" interface. I did find however that I could load the entire container (or even the next level up - what it calls the account name) as a data source. I was then able to see my individual blobs as a binary data source in the tabular view. Editing the query then allowed expanding this bringing the file content into view.
