Forum Discussion
Shared Data Source Limitation for Azure Synapse Serverless in Power BI Service
Hi,
I'm following this guide to create a shared data source with SQL Server as a data type in Power BI Service: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/connect-data/service-create-share-cloud-data-sources
My goal is to connect to an Azure Synapse Serverless SQL endpoint. In Power BI Desktop, I can work with multiple databases within my semantic model (field left empty) since the database parameter is optional as seen in the Screenshot:
However, when creating a shared data source in the Power BI Service, I'm required to specify a database. This prevents me from using the shared data source with my semantic model, as I cannot select the connection under "Gateway and cloud connections". The connections are considered different due to the presence of a database in the shared data source and its absence in the semantic model as seen in this Screenshot:
Is this a known limitation? And is there any recommended workaround without modifying the connections in the semantic model?
Thanks and best regards
Yes, this is a known limitation in Power BI Service. When connecting to Azure Synapse Serverless SQL in Power BI Desktop, you're allowed to leave the database field blank. However, in Power BI Service, when creating a shared data source, the database field becomes mandatory. This causes a mismatch, and as a result, your semantic model cannot use the shared data source because the metadata does not match. A simple workaround is to manually specify the database name in Power BI Desktop before publishing the report. This way, the connection string matches exactly with the shared data source created in the Power BI Service. Once both use the same server and database name, the semantic model should be able to connect without issues.
4 Replies
Yes, this is a known limitation in Power BI Service. When connecting to Azure Synapse Serverless SQL in Power BI Desktop, you're allowed to leave the database field blank. However, in Power BI Service, when creating a shared data source, the database field becomes mandatory. This causes a mismatch, and as a result, your semantic model cannot use the shared data source because the metadata does not match. A simple workaround is to manually specify the database name in Power BI Desktop before publishing the report. This way, the connection string matches exactly with the shared data source created in the Power BI Service. Once both use the same server and database name, the semantic model should be able to connect without issues.
Thank you for submitting your question to the Microsoft Fabric Community Forum, and thanks to rohit1991 for offering helpful suggestions.
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