Schedule Refresh

[PME]

Hi, I've been using Power BI Desktop for a while now, but only recently using it online (apps.powerbi.com).

In Desktop, I can refresh the source data, publish again from there, then refresh manually in PBI Service online.

Would like to be able to schedule the refresh, but the Schedule Refresh and Data Source Credentials are greyed out. I have looked through similar questions here, but cna't find anything conclusive. My data and desktop version are online in an Azure VM. I am accessing PBI Service outside of that.

First question, is the schedule refresh, to refresh the latest published desktop version, i.e. the data would have needed to be refreshed there first, or does it essentially re-publish with up to date data, i.e. latest csv in VM network location will be used?

Secondly, as teh data is online, it sounds like I don't need a gateway? If not, why are both Schedule Refresh and Data Source Credentials greyed out then? What am i missing?

Thanks in advance!

[V-lianl-msft]

Hi @PME ,

You would need a Gateway to connect from the Power BI Service to data source.

The Gateway would need to be installed on a VM that would need to be able to connect outwards to the Power BI Service.

You can learn more from this:https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/data-integration/gateway/service-gateway-onprem-indepth 

Best Regards,
Liang
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[PME]

Hi,

Thanks for that. i think maybe I need to figure out a higher level question first. If I get the gateway and scheduled refresh working, what exactly is this doing, in terms of power bi desktop and web service. Is it

a) refreshing the desktop report with latest csv file data, but not actually publishing it, in which case I still need to open desktop, and hit "Publish" in order to view this online

b) refreshing the desktop report with latest csv file data, and effectively publishing it, in which case I don't need to open desktop, and i can just refresh the report online (or have it syncing with onedrive for example to refresh every hour or so).

Thanks a mill.