Forum Discussion
Cloud connection and Data source credentials
Hi dmkblesser ,
This is something a lot of us are navigating with Databricks and the move away from on-prem gateways.
Here’s the bottom line:
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For anything org-wide or production, always use Shareable Cloud Connections. They’re designed for centralized, secure, and reusable credential management. Setting up at this level means fewer headaches down the road.
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Individual Data Source Credentials are really only for quick testing or personal stuff. They don’t scale and can lead to messy governance if used for shared models.
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For automation: Right now, there’s no REST API to directly bind a semantic model to a Shareable Cloud Connection (unlike gateway binding). You’ll need to assign the connection manually for now but keep an eye on Microsoft’s roadmap, because I bet this will change soon.
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Hi dmkblesser ,
Prioritize Shareable Cloud Connections: For organization-wide use and better management.
Databricks Power BI Task Flow: Great move to eliminate the on-prem gateway. Ensure your Databricks connection in Unity Catalog is set up appropriately for orchestration.
Automation: While the Gateways - Update Datasource API exists for credential updates, a direct, comprehensive API for programmatically binding newly published semantic models to existing shareable cloud connections might still have some gaps or require specific workarounds. Keep an eye on the Power BI REST API documentation and community forums for updates on this specific automation.
Hope this helps you navigate the Power BI cloud connection landscape!
Best Regards,
Jainesh Poojara | Power BI Developer