Doubt regarding the workflow of powerBI (sharing and user access)

[shamsuddeenvp]

Dear,

I have built a powerBI dashboard on powerbi on top of SSAS tabular model which resides on server.

It is working fine in powerbi.com. I shared the user this dashboard, though the dashboard came as blank first, it started appearing after clearing caxhe etc.

If the user wants to access the shared dashboard, the user also should be given access to SSAS tabular model in the server? or adding the user in the datasource in powerbi.com alone would do?

thinng is that I removed the user from both SSAS tabular model and also from user tab in datasource as well, still user is able to see the dashboard and able to interact with the reports.

Can anybody explains how it works?

Thanks!
Shamsuddeen

[v-qiuyu-msft · Accepted solution]

Hi @shamsuddeenvp,

In your scenario, as you are connecting to SSAS in a live connection, when you share the dashboard with users, user can access the to dashboard. Because the dashboard data is cached in Power BI. But if the user accesses the underling report or dataset, the power BI services access data source to get data based on user's credential, and if sufficient permissions exist, the data is loaded into the report or data model for that user. If authentication fails, the user will see an error.

For more information, please refer to links below:

Data and Service Security

download the Power BI Security whitepaper

If you have any question, please feel free to ask.

Best Regards,
Qiuyun Yu

[shamsuddeenvp]

Thanks @v-qiuyu-msft. It takes some times to reflect actually, reflecting from cache even in underlying report.

I have two more queries, highly appreciate if you could answer

• To collaborate the power BI report, is there any option to enable the access to the report, Dataset,and dashboard for them to edit incase if the dashboard dosnt covert what the user is looking for. I know 2 options (Having a work group and also upload to content pack). Where does the data saved if we us content pack? security is main concern in our org.
• I need to share with a email distribution of my organization (I dont think we ar using Office 365 for email), it is not possible and I need to add users one by one?(itteam@abc.com)

[v-qiuyu-msft]

Hi @shamsuddeenvp,

•To collaborate the power BI report, is there any option to enable the access to the report, Dataset,and dashboard for them to edit incase if the dashboard dosnt covert what the user is looking for. I know 2 options (Having a work group and also upload to content pack). Where does the data saved if we us content pack? security is main concern in our org.

In your scenario, you can package up the report ,dataset and dashboard, then share with a member of the group, the user can unlock and use the dashboards and reports as a starting point for customizing his own. As you use SSAS on-premises datasets, the credentials of each individual group member are used to determine which data he or she can access. For more information, please refer to links below:

Organizational content packs: Introduction

How should I share Power BI dashboards and reports?

•I need to share with a email distribution of my organization (I dont think we ar using Office 365 for email), it is not possible and I need to add users one by one?(itteam@abc.com)

As stated from the above second link:

"Groups in Power BI are built on Office 365 groups, so you and your colleagues need a Power BI Pro license. When you're a member of a group, you can create a dashboard in the group workspace. Everyone in the group can view, interact with, and edit the dashboard and its reports. They have the same permission you have. "

The better way is to create a dashborad in the group, so that all group members can have permission to access the dashboard. For more information, see: Create a group in Power BI.

Best Regards,
Qiuyun Yu