Power BI refresh is paused due to inactivity

[dbeavon3]

Hi, How do I prevent a dataset refresh from being paused?

According to the docs it says:

After two months of inactivity, scheduled refresh on your dataset is paused. A dataset is considered inactive when no user has visited any dashboard or report built on the dataset. At that time, the dataset owner is sent an email indicating the scheduled refresh is paused. The refresh schedule for the dataset is then displayed as disabled. To resume scheduled refresh, simply revisit any dashboard or report built on the dataset.

 

However the dataset is actively used.  It is a data source for another dataset (imported via Analysis Services PQ connector).

Is there any way to programmatically trigger the mechanism (counter?) that would prevent the schedule from being disabled?

Thanks, David

[GilbertQ]

Hi @dbeavon3 

From what you said it appears that the actual report is never used on the dataset because it is being imported into another dataset.

I would suggest finding a way to view the report once a month to keep the dataset refreshing.

Or you could use Power Automate to automatically refresh the dataset on a daily basis without having to rely on the scheduled refresh?

Refresh your Power BI dataset using Microsoft Flow | Microsoft Power BI Blog | Microsoft Power BI

[dbeavon3]

Hi @GilbertQ 

Do you know what underlying mechanics are used to track usage?  It sounds like the usage is being tracked in the report, not the dataset right?  I was hoping there is a counter in the dataset, and that it can be incremented via a REST api, or something along those lines.

Also do you think the Power BI support team would be willing to examine this?  The topic actually came up when we migrated models from Azure Analysis Services (AAS) to PBI Premium with XMLA.  Most of our users connect to these tabular models indirectly via Excel pivot tables or .Net applications (ADOMD.Net).  There is not necessarily any relevant PBI report or dashboard that sit on top of the models, and it seems a bit silly that the PBI Premium service thinks there should be. 

I suppose in the worst case I will need to start scheduling the processing of datasets on my own via XMLA commands.

Thanks, David

[GilbertQ · Accepted solution]

Hi @dbeavon3 

Yeah it seems to be triggered by the people viewing the report in the Power BI Service.

As I mentioned before i would just use Power Automate (Flow) and just process the dataset every day. This will ensure that the data is up to date?

[dbeavon3]

I'll mark this as the answer.  I think I would probably use a simpler host (C#/XMLA code) to trigger refreshes.  That is essentially the same concept.

Ideally there would be a way to configure a dataset refresh schedule to never be auto-deactivated.  I'm sure there are good intentions behind that deactivation feature, but they don't apply in every case.  I'd prefer it if the service didn't think it was smarter than me.