Need help with licence to building DataFlows Gen1/Gen2

[SChmielecki]

Hi everyone,

I cannot find verified information about the required license for Microsoft Fabric.

I need to merge queries using Dataflow Gen1, but I’ve come across some unclear information.

When I try to create Dataflow Gen2, I receive a message stating:

Currently, I have a Power BI Pro license, but I’ve read that I need a Microsoft Fabric license for certain functionality. Unfortunately, I’m not sure which specific license I need.

In my organization, only two people are responsible for creating Power BI dashboards, workflows, etc., so we don’t require extensive resources.

We’re trying to determine:

1. Which license is required to create Dataflows Gen2, and

2. Whether we need a different license to unlock the ability to merge queries in Dataflow Gen1.

Could you please clarify this for me?

Many thanks for your help,
Sebastian

[v-tsaipranay]

Hi @SChmielecki ,

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.

[v-tsaipranay]

Hi  @SChmielecki ,

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Fabric Community. Also thankyou @lbendlin  for your inputs.

To create and use Dataflow Gen2, you need either a Microsoft Fabric capacity (F64 or higher) assigned to your workspace, a valid Microsoft Fabric trial (which your tenant has already used up), or a Power BI Premium capacity (P SKU), as it also supports Dataflow Gen2 through Microsoft Fabric.

You can merge queries in Dataflow Gen1 with your current Power BI Pro license provided you’re working in a non-premium workspace. No additional license is required for this functionality within Gen1.

If this post helps, then please give us Kudos and consider Accept it as a solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

Thankyou.

[SChmielecki]

Dear v-rsaipranay,

thank you for your response. I'm very grateful for that.

Please let me know what can I do if I cannot select different License mode:

To be honest, I need only unlock the Marge Queries option in Dataflow Gen1.

Thank you for your help.

Sebastian

[v-tsaipranay]

Hello @SChmielecki ,

You're right, to focus on unlocking Merge Queries in Dataflow Gen1, but you don’t need to change the license mode or upgrade to use that feature.

Your current Power BI Pro license is enough as long as you’re working in a non-premium workspace, which seems to be the case based on your screenshot (license mode: Pro).

If the Merge Queries step is disabled or not working as expected, it’s likely due to something else, such as: A missing relationship or schema issue or limitation with the data source structure,or a temporary UI glitch.

Regarding the license mode options being greyed out: That happens because you're not an admin of the workspace or don’t have access to a paid capacity. Only an admin or capacity owner can assign a Fabric, Premium, or Trial license mode to a workspace.

If this post helps, then please give us Kudos and consider Accept it as a solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

Thankyou.

[v-tsaipranay]

Hi @SChmielecki   ,

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 and give a 'Kudos' so other members can easily find it.

Thank you.

[SChmielecki]

Hi @v-tsaipranay,

Sorry for the delay in my response.

Unfortunately, I appreciate your help, but it's still not enough to resolve my issue. I tried to adjust the settings as you described, but I'm encountering the same problem. I loaded two tables using Dataflow Gen1 from Google BigQuery. When attempting to merge these tables (without any modifications), I consistently receive this error message:

After saving the dataflow and refreshing, the error persists. As mentioned previously, this occurs in a Pro workspace environment.

As I sent last time, I have a Pro workspace:

I created a new workspace but I have the same issue.

I opened the link from message https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/transform-model/dataflows/dataflows-premium-features and I tryied to change Enhanced compute engine settings, but I cannot select different option:

Thanks for your help,

Sebastian

[v-tsaipranay · Accepted solution]

Hello @SChmielecki ,

The "This dataflow contains tables that require a Premium capacity..." error in your Dataflow Gen1 suggests Power BI believes you're using a Premium feature. Since Dataflow Gen1 is being retired, I strongly recommend considering migrating to Dataflow Gen2.

To troubleshoot the error in Gen1: first, simplify your merge operations, performing complex transformations in Power BI Desktop instead. Second, check for advanced BigQuery features triggering the error by testing with a very simple BigQuery table. Third, verify with your admin that your workspace is indeed a Pro workspace. The grayed-out Enhanced compute engine settings indicate a suspected Premium feature.

Regarding Power BI Premium Per User (PPU): Upgrading might resolve the error, but it's best to determine the underlying cause first. If you're inadvertently using a Premium feature, upgrading will simply mask the issue and may not be necessary. Try the troubleshooting steps before considering a PPU upgrade.

If this post helps, then please give us Kudos and consider Accept it as a solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

Thankyou.

[v-tsaipranay]

Hi @SChmielecki   ,

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 and give a 'Kudos' so other members can easily find it.

Thank you.

[SChmielecki]

@v-tsaipranay 

Could you please tell me if this issue is related to the Power BI Premium Per User (PPU) license or something similar?

Currently, we have Power BI Pro, but I see on the website below that I can upgrade to Premium:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/products/power-bi/pricing 

[lbendlin]

You need a Fabric capacity. This is not directly related to the license you hold.