How to connect to data source in dataflow and datahubs

[donnynz]

Hello, When I try and create an Auto-ML model using a dataflow or try to create a datahub I can't seem to be able to connect directly to the data source on my laptop. Trying to connect to a simple excel workbook isn't an option. Instead I have to put in an URL, or get a message about OneDrive for Business. I do have a personal OneDrive account but do I need a business account to be able to connect to files on my local drive? It is very frustrating and I'm almost ready to give up as finding it to hard. I've put some screenshots to show the problem, I'm using a current free trial of premium per user if that is of any use. Appreciate any help to be able to make a simple connection to my data sources. Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Hi @donnynz ,

You can connect to the folder through the gateway using the local path. Please install the on-premises data Gateway and follow the steps in the documentation.

After connection.

Downloads | Microsoft Power BI

Power Query Folder connector - Power Query | Microsoft Docs

Best Regards,
Gao
Community Support Team

If there is any post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly. If I misunderstand your needs or you still have problems on it, please feel free to let us know. Thanks a lot!

How to get your questions answered quickly -- How to provide sample data

[Anonymous]

Hi @donnynz ,

1. You can upload a file directly.

2. You will be prompted with this message if you are using your personal cloud storage OneDrive.

Best Regards,
Gao
Community Support Team

If there is any post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly. If I misunderstand your needs or you still have problems on it, please feel free to let us know. Thanks a lot!

How to get your questions answered quickly -- How to provide sample data

[donnynz]

Hi,

I get this message when trying to do an excel file:

The other issue is I have lots of excel files in one folder and want to connect to that folder so it uploads all the excel files and the additional ones I upload each week. But I can't even browse my local drive, I have to connect to a URL?

All I want to be able to do is link to files or folders on my laptop and create a dataflow or datahub and use some AutoML to trial and learn. But difficult when can't even get the data easily sourced from my laptop.

Losing hope.

Thanks

Brendan

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Hi @donnynz ,

You can connect to the folder through the gateway using the local path. Please install the on-premises data Gateway and follow the steps in the documentation.

After connection.

Downloads | Microsoft Power BI

Power Query Folder connector - Power Query | Microsoft Docs

Best Regards,
Gao
Community Support Team

If there is any post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly. If I misunderstand your needs or you still have problems on it, please feel free to let us know. Thanks a lot!

How to get your questions answered quickly -- How to provide sample data

[donnynz]

Hello,

Thanks for all the help so far. After several hours of reading and searching and trying I think I am almost there. I managed to set up a gateway and can now put in the folder location of the data being in my 😧 drive and gateway settings options come up as per your screenshot. The issue I have now is when I try and go beyond the connection settings screen I am getting error message "Invalid credentials" The data gateway is the new one I set up that I can select from the dropbox. The Authentication kind is Windows. So I might be doing something wrong in the username and password. Is the username the 'Users' as per the gateway settings and do I need to add /admin after the name? Is the password my Power BI password or the password entered when setting up the gateway? I tried all sorts of combinations and keep getting the invalid message. Thanks

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Hi @donnynz ,

Please enter WHOAMI in CMD to get your username.

The password is the password you use to log in to the computer.

Best Regards,
Gao
Community Support Team

If there is any post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly. If I misunderstand your needs or you still have problems on it, please feel free to let us know. Thanks a lot!

How to get your questions answered quickly -- How to provide sample data

[donnynz]

AWESOME, got it......

Thanks so much for your help. The only problem now is that this is the last day of my free trial with premium per user so not much chance to play around hahaha.

So good to know how to do it and really appreciate your help.

Thank you

Brendan

[Anonymous]

Hi @donnynz ,

Has this question been solved? If any of the responses were helpful to you, please consider marking them as solutions, which will help more users find similar problems faster. Thanks in advance!

Best Regards,
Gao
Community Support Team

[donnynz]

Hi,

Sorry still figuring out how to use and get help from the community. This is still an issue, any help much appreciated. Thanks

[donnynz]

Screenshots