Connect to Denodo as datasource with PBIRS

Hi MarkTower,

Thanks for your follow-up and the screenshot, it’s helpful to see the documentation. Let’s address your questions about the connectors and the PBIRS supported data sources list.

I apologize for any confusion earlier. When I mentioned the Denodo ODBC driver being used as a “generic” ODBC data source in PBIRS, I meant that PBIRS accesses Denodo through its ODBC data source option (unlike native connectors like SQL Server). However, connecting to Denodo’s Virtual DataPort (VDP) server typically requires the Denodo ODBC driver, as generic ODBC drivers (e.g., Microsoft’s built-in drivers) aren’t designed for Denodo’s architecture. Denodo Support’s advice to use the “Power BI ODBC Generic Connector” likely refers to PBIRS’s ODBC data source option, but you’ll likely still need the Denodo ODBC driver installed. To be certain, I recommend confirming with Denodo Support if a generic driver can be used instead, as this isn’t a common setup based on community feedback :https://community.denodo.com/.

The screenshot shows “Denodo” listed as a supported data source in the PBIRS documentation (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/report-server/data-sources), separate from ODBC, which is confusing. This may be an error or outdated information, as Denodo isn’t a natively supported data source in PBIRS, and its inclusion might reflect older Power BI Desktop support (e.g., via the Denodo Power BI Custom Connector, which PBIRS doesn’t support). The correct approach, as Denodo Support advised, is to use the ODBC data source option with a DSN-less connection. You can provide feedback on this discrepancy directly to Microsoft via the “Feedback” link at the bottom of the documentation page to help clarify this for the community.

I trust this information proves useful. If it does, kindly “Accept as solution” and give it a "kudos" to help others locate it easily.
Thank you.