Power BI Developer PC not on Domain with Gateway and SSAS, is it possible?

[MarioTechera]

Hi,

ist it possible to install the data gateway, SSAS and SQL Server on the same standalone PC without being on a domain?

The desired result is to publish Power BI reports on the service where the semantic model uses a live connection going through the gateway and connecting to the SSAS TAB on the same PC. Purely for development purposes.

I've tried getting it to work but with no luck. I've read in several posts the report isn't able to connect to the SSAS TAB even though the connection says on-line.

Any ideas? I can imagine other developers have tried this already.

Regards!

[v-aatheeque]

Hi @MarioTechera 

Thanks for reaching out to Microsoft Fabric Community Forum.
Yes, it is supported to install SQL Server, SSAS, and the on-premises data gateway on the same standalone (non-domain joined) machine. This configuration is suitable for development, testing, and personal lab/POC scenarios.

For production environments, domain membership is recommended to support enterprise requirements such as proper authentication (SSO), governance, scalability, and high availability.

Regarding your specific scenario:
Power BI Service can use the on-premises data gateway to establish a live connection to SSAS Tabular running on the same standalone machine. However, SSAS live connections are more sensitive to authentication. The “Gateway Online” status only confirms that Power BI Service can reach the gateway service; it does not guarantee that authentication to SSAS is correctly configured.

On non-domain machines, so ensure that:

SSAS is added as a data source in the gateway using the machine name (not localhost).

The gateway service account has sufficient permissions on the SSAS instance (for example, added as SSAS server admin or to the appropriate roles).

The same local Windows account is used consistently between Power BI Desktop, SSAS security, and the gateway connection.

This setup should work for dev/POC scenarios, but some authentication limitations are expected on standalone machines.

Reference : On-premises data gateway - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

[MarioTechera]

Hi @v-aatheeque ,

I've tried now repeatedly with several configurations and I've come to the conclusion it CAN'T be done!

I haven't found a single resource on the web that indicates it is possible.

What is annoying is that I would expect that the documentation would state this explicitely because it appears to be such a natural development/demo environment. If you can point me to any source on the web that explains how to set it up, I would be greatful.

Summary:

• Standalone PC not on domain
• SSAS and Gateway running on same PC
• Enterprise Gateway running with local non-domain account and SSAS Tab Admin rights running on same machine
• Power BI Service Semantic model using Live Connect
• Desktop has no problems,
• Power BI Service refuses to connect through the gateway even though it shows the data source as online.

Conclusion: it doesn't work.

(Somewhat frustrating I have to say....)

[v-aatheeque]

Hi @MarioTechera 

Thanks for the detailed summary. To better understand the gap you’re seeing, could you share which Microsoft documentation or reference led you to expect this setup (standalone PC + gateway + SSAS Live) to work?
That will help clarify whether this is a documentation gap or a product limitation.

[v-aatheeque]

Hi @MarioTechera 

Following up to confirm if the earlier responses addressed your query. If not, please share your questions and we’ll assist further.

[MarioTechera]

Hi @v-aatheeque ,

my question has not been answered yet:

Is it possible to install the data gateway, SSAS and SQL Server on the same standalone PC without being on a domain so that the Power BI service can access a tabular cube using Live Connect?

I haven't been able to get it to work. 

If someone has any idea I would be very greatful.

Regards!

[v-aatheeque · Accepted solution]

Hi @MarioTechera 

No. Power BI Service  On‑premises data gateway  SSAS Tabular (Live connection) is not supported on a standalone / non‑domain machine.
Although you can technically install SQL Server, SSAS Tabular, and the on‑premises data gateway on the same standalone PC, Live Connect from the Power BI Service will not work in this setup.

Live connections to SSAS Tabular require Windows Authentication and Kerberos delegation so that the Power BI Service can impersonate the end user. This only works in an Active Directory domain environment. A workgroup (non‑domain) machine has:

• No Active Directory
• No Kerberos
• No SPNs
• No delegation

As a result:

• Power BI Desktop may work locally
• The gateway may show Online
• But Power BI Service Live Connect will fail with authentication / impersonation errors
  (this is by design, not a misconfiguration)

Reference : Manage SQL Server Analysis Services data sources - Power BI | Microsoft Learn
Configure Kerberos-Based SSO from Power BI Service to On-Premises Data Sources - Power BI | Microsof...
Configure Analysis Services for Kerberos constrained delegation | Microsoft Learn


Hope this helps !!

Thank You.

[MarioTechera]

Hi @v-aatheeque ,

that would be great if it worked on a standalone non-domain PC! But I haven't gotten it to work.

Here is my setup:

SQL Server and SSAS Tabular runing on a non-domain account.

The local user is admin for both SQL Server and SSAS Tab.

I've also installed on the same PC the Enterprise Data Gateway runing on the account NT Service\PBIEgwService. This account is also set up as admin for SQL Server und Analysis Service.

I've published a semantic model and report on the PBI Service which uses Live Connect to the SSAS instance. The rreport runs flawlessly in the Desktop. The gateway appears also to running correctly:

When I run the report I get the following error message:

Here are the settings:

I've tried mapping my Power BI Service account to the local admin on the PC but it doesn't seem to work.

Would you happen to know what I am missing or doing wrong?

Regards,
Mario