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amaaiia's avatar
amaaiia
Skilled Sharer
1 year ago
Solved

Migrate from DIrectLake semantic model into Import mode

Hi, I have a PBI report_1 in fabric workspace_1. I have a DirectLake semantic_model_2 in Fabric workspace_2. Report_1 gets data from semantic_model_2. I want to convert the semantic model into impo...
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  • Akash_Varuna's avatar
    Akash_Varuna
    1 year ago

    Hi amaaiia Yes, you can convert your DirectLake semantic model to Import mode:

    1. Export the .pbix file of semantic_model_2 from Fabric workspace_2.

    2. Open it in Power BI Desktop, switch all tables to Import storage mode.

    3. Save and republish it to Fabric workspace_2.

    4. Update Report_1 to use the modified model.
      If this post helped please do give a kudos and accept this as a solution
      Thanks In Advance

AndyHowes's avatar
AndyHowes
New Member
6 months ago

Hi amaaiia,

 

I also had this issue. It is hard to convert from Direct Lake to Import Mode. My understanding is that it is not possible using the UI. You can't download Direct Lake models, and you can't change tables to Import Mode in the UI directly.

 

There's a few options using Tabular Editor but this caused issues after the first refresh for me with invalidated relationships and sort-by-columns.

 

In the end, I got it working by creating a Python notebook that can be used to convert a model from Direct Lake to Import Mode. You need to follow some manual steps as well but the end result will be an Import Mode model and all your existing reports linked to it.

 

I've written this article to explain it: https://andyhowes.co/change-a-semantic-model-from-direct-lake-to-import-mode-in-microsoft-fabric/#converting-the-direct-lake-model-to-import-mode

 

Cheers,

Andy