Forum Discussion
Issue with Power BI Service Refresh for PostgreSQL (SSL certification GCP postgres sql)
Solution Summary: Connecting Power BI to a DB on Ubuntu VM in GCP
We successfully resolved the connectivity issue to a database hosted on a Ubuntu OS inside a VM on GCP (Google Cloud Platform). Here's a step-by-step breakdown of what worked, both in Power BI Desktop and Power BI Service.
✅ Power BI Desktop Configuration
Open Power BI Desktop
Go to the Home tab > Click Transform Data
In the Power Query Editor, go to:
File > Options and settings > Data source settings
Select your data source and click Edit Permissions
In the Edit Permissions window:
Uncheck the "Encrypt connections" box (if applicable)
Set the Privacy Level to Organizational
Click OK, close the editor, and publish the report to the Power BI Service
✅ Power BI Service Configuration
Go to the relevant Workspace in Power BI Service
Find the Semantic Model (Dataset) you just published
Click the three dots (···) > Settings
Under Data Source Credentials:
Select Authentication Method as OAuth
Enter your DB credentials and Sign in
Scroll to Gateway and Cloud Connection
Enable "Use an On-premises or VNet data gateway"
Under the Gateway section:
Click the dropdown under Action > Choose "Add to gateway"
Create a new data source connection that matches the configuration used in Power BI Desktop
🧩 Final Outcome
Now, you're able to successfully refresh the data in Power BI Service.
This setup solved our issue connecting to a database hosted in an Ubuntu VM on GCP.
Hi Anonymous,
I wanted to check if you had the opportunity to review the information provided. Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions. If my response has addressed your query, please accept it as a solution so that other community members can find it easily.
Thank you.
Hi Anonymous,
May I ask if you have resolved this issue? If so, please mark the helpful reply and accept it as the solution. This will be helpful for other community members who have similar problems to solve it faster.
Thank you.
Hi Anonymous ,
I,m really sorry for the delay, Honestly I didn't solve and i didn't notice the REPLY.
We tried all the ways but we coluldn't solve the issue.
The thing is it was asking for purchase the Domain for the ssl configure.
Is there any way we can do without doing the above step.?Hi Anonymous,
Thank you for the update. You are right in most cases, to generate a trusted SSL certificate, you need a registered domain. This is because trusted authorities require domain ownership validation. If purchasing a domain is not an option, here are alternative option you can consider:
* You can use SSL with Self-Signed Certificate with On-Premises Data Gateway. Power BI Service does not trust self-signed certificates by default, but you can bypass this restriction by using an On-Premises Data Gateway. Install and configure an on-premise data gateway on a Windows machine. Then use Power BI Desktop with encryption disabled or with a self-signed certificate. Now in Power BI Service, set up the data source in the gateway, and assign it to your dataset. Now, Power BI will use the gateway for refreshes, and SSL validation errors won’t occur since the gateway handles the connection.
This method avoids needing a public domain or a trusted certificate.
If I misunderstand your needs or you still have problems on it, please feel free to let us know.
Best Regards,
Hammad.
Community Support TeamIf this post helps then please mark it as a solution, so that other members find it more quickly.
Thank you.
Hi Anonymous ,
Thank you for your detailed response — it's very helpful.
To clarify our setup:
We are hosting a PostgreSQL database on a Google Cloud Platform (GCP) VM running Ubuntu. Since it's a Linux-based VM, we cannot install the On-Premises Data Gateway, which is only available for Windows.You're right that Power BI Service requires a trusted SSL certificate or a gateway to connect without errors. However, since we're running Ubuntu and can't use the gateway, we are looking for alternative solutions.
Could you please advise on the best approach in this case?
is there another recommended way to securely connect Power BI Service to a PostgreSQL instance hosted on an Ubuntu VM in the cloud?Appreciate your guidance.