Power Bi service gateway connection - File connector

[ErikSierra7]

I have an excel file that sits on a network drive that I used to source in my Power Bi report. However, when I try to create a connection on our on-prem gateway using the 'File' connector type and service account credentials, it says the credentials are invalid. I've confirmed my windows account, as well as the service account have the correct access using cmd. Does the 'File' connector in Power Bi service support alternate credentials or must they be the user's windows credentials? Thanks!

[v-sshirivolu]

Hi @ErikSierra7 

Thank you for reaching out to the Forum community.

Please note that the File connector in Power BI Service does not support the use of alternate credentials. It will always utilize the Windows account under which the On-premises Data Gateway service is running to access the network share. To resolve this, you should configure the gateway service to run under a service account that has the necessary permissions for the file location, and then restart the service. If you require different credentials for separate shares, you will need to set up additional gateway instances accordingly.

Regards,
Sreeteja.

[ErikSierra7]

Hi @v-sshirivolu Thank you for your response. @tayloramy provided the correct solution. When creating a new connection with the File connector, it prompts user to input Windows credentials. I was able to use the service account credentials (with domain\) without needing additional gateway config. Thank you!

[tayloramy · Accepted solution]

Hi @ErikSierra7, 

When creating the connection are you adding the domain before the user? 

DOMAIN\USER 

For example, if I was in the domain "company", I would add company\taylor as my username. 

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