MySQL Data Source Refresh Fails in Power BI Service Due to Encryption Issue question

[Gokul_Saraboji]

Am encountering an issue when trying to refresh a MySQL data source in Power BI Service, while it works fine in Power BI Desktop. 

Issue Description:

In Power BI Desktop:

    1.I connect to a MySQL database using an unencrypted connection (see screenshot below).

    2. A pop-up appears: "We were unable to connect to the data source using an encrypted connection. To access this data source  using an unencrypted connection, click OK."

    3. After clicking OK, the data loads successfully.

In Power BI Service:
   1.After publishing, scheduled refresh fails with the error:
                 "The MySql source doesn't support encrypted connections. (Source at [IP:Port]). The exception was raised by the IDbCommand interface."

Questions:

      1. Why does Power BI Desktop allow unencrypted connections but the Service requires encryption?
      2. How can i setup scheduled refresh in powerbi service

Environment & Setup:

     1.Database Type: Remote MySQL database (hosted externally).

      2.Connector Used: MySQL Connector/NET v9.3.0.

     3.Power BI Desktop: Connects via unencrypted connection (see screenshot).

     4.Power BI Service: Fails with encryption-related errors during scheduled refresh.

Has anyone else experienced this issue with MySQL and Power BI Service? Any insights or workarounds would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help!

[v-prasare]

Hi  @Gokul_Saraboji ,

As we haven’t heard back from you, we wanted to kindly follow up to check if the issue got resolved? or let us know if you need any further assistance here?

Thanks,

Prashanth Are

MS Fabric community support

[v-prasare]

Hi @Gokul_Saraboji,

We would like to follow up to see if the solution provided by the super user resolved your issue. Please let us know if you need any further assistance.

@Poojara_D12, Thanks for your prompt response

If our super user response resolved your issue, please mark it as "Accept as solution" and click "Yes" if you found it helpful

[Poojara_D12 · Accepted solution]

Hi @Gokul_Saraboji 

You're encountering a common issue that arises due to differences in how Power BI Desktop and Power BI Service handle MySQL connections—particularly with regard to encryption requirements. In Power BI Desktop, Microsoft allows users to explicitly accept and proceed with an unencrypted connection if the MySQL server doesn't support SSL/TLS encryption. This is facilitated through a user prompt, which you experienced when it offered to fall back to an unencrypted connection. However, in Power BI Service, this fallback option doesn't exist. The service operates in a more secure, cloud-hosted environment, and it enforces encrypted connections by default for MySQL, meaning it does not allow unencrypted connections at all. As a result, the refresh fails with the error: "The MySql source doesn't support encrypted connections."

To resolve this and successfully set up scheduled refresh in Power BI Service, you have a couple of options:

Enable SSL/TLS on your MySQL Server: This is the preferred and most secure approach. Configure your MySQL server to support encrypted connections by enabling SSL. You'll likely need to generate or obtain valid certificates and configure the MySQL server to use them. Once that’s done, test the connection from Power BI Desktop using the encrypted option, then republish the report to the service.

Use an On-Premises Data Gateway with Custom Connector Configuration: If you must use an unencrypted connection for legacy reasons and cannot modify the server configuration, you might be able to use an on-premises gateway where you configure the MySQL connector locally with the Use SSL=false setting. However, this still may not bypass the encryption requirement on Power BI Service depending on policy updates from Microsoft.

[Gokul_Saraboji]

Hi @Poojara_D12 ,
Thank you for your response!

I wanted to ask - if I try using a different version of the MySQL Connector (other than v9.3.0), could that potentially resolve this encryption issue?

[Poojara_D12]

Hi @Gokul_Saraboji 

Yes, using a different version of the MySQL Connector might help in some scenarios, but it is not a guaranteed fix for the encryption issue you're facing in Power BI Service. The error you're encountering is primarily due to Power BI Service enforcing encrypted connections by design, rather than a limitation of the connector version itself. However, certain versions of the MySQL Connector/NET (especially older ones) have known compatibility issues with SSL/TLS settings, and upgrading or downgrading the connector could change how Power BI Desktop behaves during the connection process. That said, even if a different connector version allows Desktop to connect more smoothly, the Power BI Service will still require the MySQL server to support encryption, because it doesn’t provide the option to fall back to an unencrypted connection like Power BI Desktop does. So, while experimenting with connector versions might offer better reliability or performance locally, the root solution for enabling scheduled refresh in Power BI Service remains the same—you’ll need to enable SSL/TLS encryption on your MySQL server to align with the service’s security requirements.