Not able to refresh semantic model AND cannot publish to Power BI services from desktop

[dszarowski]

I am a novice data analyst and Power BI user and I've really only been using Power BI for the past year. I am 100% self taught and have completed multiple training courses for Microsoft Power BI certificates including working towards my PL-300 certification. I have a report that has been running smoothly for months now. I've connected to a data source (excel) in SharePoint and had an automatic refresh set up in regular intervals. Everything has been running smoothly and operating as it should with zero problems since June/ July. That is until the IT department made some changes a couple weeks ago that I was unaware of and immediately after I now have 2 major problems I've identified that I have not been able to solve on my own.

The first, when I go in to make changes or update my report in Power BI Desktop, I save then click Publish. This has never been a problem, however now I am getting this window that says I have to rename the file,

I've never once encountered this and now in order to publish changes I have to rename the file but now I have 2 reports in my workspace that are the same and it's unecessary. I have no explanation for this. 

The second problem I've encountered appears to be the bigger of the two. After IT came in and changed things, all of a sudden my auto refresh is failing and I'm not able to update my credentials or refresh the semantic model, etc... My login credentials have not changed and the source has not moved. Regardless, it appears I am not able to update my credentials within Power BI. When I go to "Transform Data" and try to check connections, etc.. I get this notice.. 

I have never seen this message before nor do I know why I have to connect via DirectQuery all of a sudden or even how to address this problem. So I figured I'd just follow the prompts and hopefully I'd resolve the problem. When I click add a local model, I'm taken to a window where I'm suppose to connect to the data, however, when I click submit I get an error message

and another window that reads I don't have permission to the underlying dataset. 

However, I have no problem accessing the dataset on my own and I'm in fact the creator/author of the underlying dataset. My credentials have not changed and I'm not able to even update my credentials in Power BI. Any insights or help would be appreciated. Thank you! @Everyone 

[v-tsaipranay]

Hi @dszarowski ,

We are following up once again regarding your query. Could you please confirm if the issue has been resolved through the support ticket with Microsoft?

If the issue has been resolved, we kindly request you to share the resolution or key insights here to help others in the community. If we don’t hear back, we’ll go ahead and close this thread.

Should you need further assistance in the future, we encourage you to reach out via the Microsoft Fabric Community Forum and create a new thread. We’ll be happy to help.

Thank you.

[v-tsaipranay]

Hello @dszarowski ,

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Fabric Community Forum.

For publishing Issue :

When attempting to publish your report from Power BI Desktop, you may be prompted to rename the file, which can result in duplicate reports in your workspace. To resolve this issue, please follow these steps:

• Verify that your workspace settings remain unchanged, as IT updates can sometimes modify permissions or settings.
• Ensure you are using the latest version of Power BI Desktop, as updates can often resolve unexpected issues.
• Clear the cache in Power BI Desktop by navigating to File > Options and settings > Options > Data Load and clearing the cache.
• If the issue persists, save the report with a new name and re-publish it. After publishing, you may delete the duplicate report from your workspace.

For Auto Refresh and Credential issues :

It appears that your auto-refresh is not functioning correctly, preventing you from updating your credentials or refreshing the semantic model. Please follow these steps to troubleshoot the issue:

• Navigate to Settings > Data source credentials in the Power BI service to ensure your credentials are current.
• The notice regarding Direct Query connection might suggest a change in data source access. Verify that your data source supports Direct Query and that your credentials have the necessary permissions.
• Re-authenticating your data source can sometimes resolve credential issues. Go to Settings > Data source credentials and re-enter your credentials.
• If using an on-premises data gateway, ensure it is running and properly configured. Gateway issues can occasionally cause refresh failures.

Below are some useful links and resources that may assist you further. Please review them for a better understanding:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/create-reports/desktop-upload-desktop-files

refresh-in-power-bi-desktop-vs-power-bi-service

Incremental refresh for semantic models in Power BI - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

I hope this should resolve your issue, if you need any further assistance, feel free to reach out.

If this post helps, then please give us Kudos and consider Accept it as a solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

Thank you. 

[v-tsaipranay]

Hi @dszarowski ,

I wanted to check if you had the opportunity to review the information provided. Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions. If my response has addressed your query, please accept it as a solution and give a 'Kudos' so other members can easily find it.

Thank you.

[dszarowski]

The response was helpful, although it did not resolve the issue. When discussing with IT they were not able to confirm or deny any changes to my permissions (which was not helpful) not were we able to solve thiws issue. I confirmed all credentials are correct and the pathway to my underlying dataset in SharePoint looks correct as well.

A question I have is why would my report all of a sudden require a direct query connection? Wasn't it already automatically set up like that when I created the report and connecgted to the data source?

[v-tsaipranay · Accepted solution]

Hi @dszarowski ,

When you create a report in Power BI and connect to an Excel file (e.g., from SharePoint), Import mode is usually the default. This mode loads data into Power BI’s in-memory model, enabling faster reporting.

DirectQuery, on the other hand, means the data is not loaded into Power BI but remains in the source (e.g., SharePoint, SQL Server) and is queried directly when needed. DirectQuery is often used for larger datasets or real-time access.

Although your report may have been created with Import mode, it could have switched to DirectQuery due to IT changes. This could happen if:

• IT modified the permissions or access configurations for the data source. There was a change in how SharePoint or the file you're accessing is being handled (e.g., server-side configurations). Power BI detected that your dataset was large or complex and switched to DirectQuery to optimize performance.

Once you confirm it with them and if the issue still persists, I suggest raising a support case with Microsoft.
To raise the support ticket, please follow the link below:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/support/create-support-ticket

If this post helps, then please give us Kudos and consider Accept it as a solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

Thank you. 

[v-tsaipranay]

Hi @dszarowski ,

I wanted to check if you had the opportunity to review the information provided. Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions. If my response has addressed your query, please accept it as a solution and give a 'Kudos' so other members can easily find it.

Thank you.

[v-tsaipranay]

Hello @dszarowski ,

Could you please confirm whether the previous suggestion has resolved your issue or if you have raised any support tickets? Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions.

Thank you.

[ToddChitt]

Seriously, I would go back to the IT folks as it looks like you lost some MAJOR permissions.

Ask them what changed, and what caused the change in policy. Emphasise that it is affecting your abilty to do the work you are assigned to do, and that it is affecting production. 

[dszarowski]

They were not helpful in confirming or denying permission changes.