Template App deployment options

[mwestergaard]

I shared a Power BI Template App with my customer who has Premium Capacity (I have Fabric F16 Capacity). The app was installed by their admin with a Power BI Pro license, but then copied to an existing workspace that is configured for sharing across their organization. The customer tells me that only users with Pro licenses are able to open the report in the new destination workspace. I assume the issue is that the semantic model still resides in the template app's original installation workspace and is bound to the permissions there.

Are there any options other than to alter the template app's workspace permissions? Their preference is to eliminate the need for the template app's workspace altogether. I didn't think that was possible.

I should add that we're still at the point of using the sample data I included, if that makes any difference. The data source (Azure Storage container) is parameterized and we will eventually connect to their own data.

[collinq]

Hi @mwestergaard ,

If I am understanding what happened, then,yes, the report is still bound to the original dataset.  And so, users need to have access to the original dataset.

And, make sure that the new (final) workspace is a premium capacity workspace or users will need to have both a license and access to the original dataset.

To fix this part, you can go to Power BI Desktop and connect to the correct dataset (and or the original one) and the publish the report to correct workspace.  Or, you could move the dataset to the same workspace as the file that has just been published.  (But, you may need to repoint the report to the new location.)

[mwestergaard]

Thanks for your quick reply. Yes, the customer's target workspace is Premium capacity. The issue here is that my dataset is delivered via a Template App. I do not have the ability to publish the report in their capacity. I provide a Template App installation link from my company's capacity (in a Template App workspace) and they handle the installation in their company capacity, similar to the process the would follow if they had purchased the app from AppSource. I promoted my template app to "production" in the Release Management pane and shared the installation link. 

The semantic model is delivered in the workspace created by the Template App installation process and doesn't appear to be movable, although the report can be copied to the Premium workspace they intend to use.

[collinq · Accepted solution]

Hey @mwestergaard ,

I think that the problem is that the Template App has a dataset still connected to it.  Andthat the dataset is linked still to your side. 

I did some more research on it though and I believe that a Template App, by default, is still using the original licensing model fomr the app's original workspace.  The way around that is to have everything - dataset and report moved into a Premium workspace.  

Review this article and see if it is helpful:  (particularly all the notes sections)
Create template apps in Power BI - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

And then this one about sharing:
Install, share, and update template apps in your organization with Power BI - Power BI | Microsoft L...

[mwestergaard]

Thanks @collinq. I believe you've confirmed my suspicions about the relationship of dataset, workspace, and licensing. The template app approach was a good idea until the customer decided they needed the report and dataset to reside outside of the deployment workspace! It's more of a process issue than a technical problem. I'll have to arrange to publish directly to their target workspace, either by myself or by their admin. Thanks again!