Deployed Items in Deployment Pipeline but TEST and PROD tables are empty

[kallens]

Hello,

I just created my first Deployment Pipeline with a DEV, TEST and PROD environment. 

I was able to deploy my semantic model and associated PowerBI report between the environemnts, but the tables in my Semantic model didn't carry over any data from the DEV workspace. 

I am hoping someone knows why this happend and can offer a solution!

[v-xianjtan-msft]

Hi @kallens 

Try updating the data source credentials and then manually refreshing the semantic model after deploying to the Test/Prod environment to see if the data loads.

Please refer to the following links for incremental load data:

Pattern to incrementally amass data with Dataflow Gen2 - Microsoft Fabric | Microsoft Learn

Incremental refresh in Dataflow Gen2 - Microsoft Fabric | Microsoft Learn

Best Regards,
Jarvis Tang
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[kallens]

Thanks for your feedback. It seems that my team doesn't want to use deployment pipelines after all so I had to scrap this work. Appreciate your response though and sorry i won't get to test it. 

[kallens]

In the meantime I asked ChatGPT for some help and it explained it as such below. I guess I will have to figure out how to set up a recurring, incremental data load from my DEV warehouse into the PROD warehouse, as the data in my DEV workspace updates daily from a Datagen2 pipeline. If anyone else has any other suggestions - I am all ears.   

In Microsoft Fabric, when deploying across environments (e.g., from DEV to TEST or TEST to PROD), deployment pipelines copy the metadata and structure of the Power BI reports and associated datasets but do not automatically copy the underlying data in your warehouse. Here's why the tables in your warehouse are blank and how to resolve it:

1. Data in Warehouses is Environment-Specific

• Deployment pipelines do not transfer or synchronize data between the environments. Each workspace (TEST or PROD) uses its own instance of the data warehouse.
• After deployment, the warehouse structure is copied, but the data needs to be ingested or refreshed separately in each environment.

2. Steps to Resolve

• Re-ingest Data in the TEST/PROD Environment:
  • Use your data pipelines to load data into the warehouse in the TEST or PROD workspace after deployment.
• Use a Data Migration Process:
  • If you want to copy data from the DEV warehouse to TEST or PROD, you can:
    1. Export data from DEV using tools like Azure Data Studio or SQL scripts.
    2. Import the data into the corresponding TEST or PROD warehouse using the same tools or pipelines.
• Ensure Scheduled Refresh is Active:
  • If your data is refreshed automatically (e.g., from an external source), verify that the refresh settings are configured and running in the TEST and PROD environments.

3. Validate Data Sources

• Check the data source connections in TEST and PROD. The connections might be pointing to empty or incorrect source systems. Update them if needed.

4. Deploying with Data (Optional)

• If your scenario requires pre-populated data in the TEST/PROD environment, you might need a manual or custom process to copy data as part of your deployment steps.

Key Tip:

To ensure a smooth transition:

• Document the steps required to load data into each environment post-deployment.
• Automate the data migration process where possible to reduce manual effort.