How to connect to Google BigQuery on Power BI online

[LDS2023]

I would like to create dataflows on Power BI connect to Google BigQuery. When I connect Google BigQuery using Power BI Desktop, it works fine. There is a google account login page pop out automatically and I just simply click grant access then it connect to BigQuery and all the tables load perfectly.

I tried to enter the username and password online but it' shows invalid credentials. Is it possible to connect to Google BigQuery online for now? I need a schedule refresh on dataflows which are not doable with desktop file only.

Please advise.

[MAwwad]

Yes, it is possible to connect to Google BigQuery online using Power BI Dataflows. However, it requires a different authentication method than connecting through Power BI Desktop.

Instead of using a Google account login page, you will need to create a service account and a JSON key file from the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Console. You can then use the JSON key file to authenticate Power BI to connect to your BigQuery dataset.

Here are the steps to create a service account and a JSON key file in GCP:

1. Go to the GCP Console (https://console.cloud.google.com/)
2. Click the project drop-down and select or create the project that you want to use for the service account.
3. Go to the Create service account page (https://console.cloud.google.com/iam-admin/serviceaccounts)
4. Enter a name and description for the service account.
5. Under "Role", select BigQuery > BigQuery Data Viewer
6. Click "Create Key" and select "JSON" as the key type.
7. Click "Create"
8. Save the JSON key file to your computer.

Once you have the JSON key file, you can use it to authenticate Power BI to connect to your BigQuery dataset. You will be prompted to upload the key file when you connect to BigQuery in Power BI Dataflow.

Once you have authenticated, you will be able to create dataflows and schedule refresh on them.

Please be aware that you need to have Power BI Pro or Power BI Premium license to be able to create dataflows and schedule refresh on them.

[LDS2023]

I have thought it too complicated. I retried connecting to Google BigQuery source using organization account, and surprisely it connected to BigQuery. Now I have access to all the tables and I can set up schedule refresh. 🙂

[LDS2023]

I have downloaded the json file and connect to it. I got 1 rows of service account data.

What is hte next step to get BigQuery data? Am I doing it correctly？