What is the correct method of managing reports in multiple Environments

[ahopkinson]

We are experimenting using Power BI desktop and the power bi service at app.powerbi.com. We have created two seperate gateways, and I have created different workspaces, one called dev, one called qa and one called test. I have successfully created SSAS connections in each workspace so we have a Dev_SSAS and a QA_SSAS connection. I have setup the stages in a pipeline and hooked up each workspace to point to the corresponding staging environment. All of this seems logical, however, if I create the report using Power BI Desktop then publish to an environment, I can hook it up to the appropriate gateway, however, when I publish to the other environment, it won't let me select the gateway on the environment. What is the best method of creating reports and deploying to multiple environments/workspaces? Thanks.

[Tutu_in_YYC]

Are you using Deployment Pipeline? If not, please have a look at the following link. With deployment pipeline, you can automatically switch the source when you prmote from ie Qa to Prod.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric/cicd/deployment-pipelines/get-started-with-deployment-pipel...

If you like to do CICD, have a look at integrating power bi with github/azure report to get version control.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/developer/projects/projects-azdo

[ahopkinson]

Yes, I am using pipelines and github integration of the workspace. So I have to setup deployment rules in the pipeline to change data sources? Does it matter if we only use one github branch? Thanks.

[Tutu_in_YYC]

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@ahopkinson wrote:

 So I have to setup deployment rules in the pipeline to change data sources? 

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 yup

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@ahopkinson wrote:

 Does it matter if we only use one github branch? Thanks.

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no. 

Let us know if you still have issues with the gateway. It could be the connection setup that is the issue here. 

[ahopkinson]

Ok so the solution I came up is a little convoluted, but I could not find a better way.

1. Created report using PowerBI Desktop using live data connection to Dev
2. Published to powerbi.com to Dev workspace
3. Changed Semantic model to connect to the gateway
4. Report works
5. Could not set up any deployment rules in pipeline because this report doesn't exist yet in the QA workspace (this is a bit weird).
6. Deployed to QA workspace. Report did not work.
7. Went back to pipeline rules, setup rule to change the connection string to point to qa server
8. Redeployed report and semantic model
9. Report still doesn't work in QA
10. Went into semantic model and clicked the "Refresh" button to refresh data. At this point it tells me that it is not hooked up correctly.
11. Went back to semantic model and selected the appropriate connection pointing to the QA gateway
12. Opened up report again on QA and hit refresh, this time it works!

So what am I doing wrong here? is there a bettter/easier way to do this?

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your support Tutu_in_YYC 

Hi, @ahopkinson 

You're on the right path, and deploying the semantic model of a pipeline to a different workspace for the first time requires us to manually apply the corresponding gateway connection.

The deployment pipeline rule does not explicitly state that the gateway connection will be updated automatically:

Create deployment rules for Fabric's ALM - Microsoft Fabric | Microsoft Learn

Your problem has been solved. If you'd like, you can mark this reply as a "solution" so others know that the question has been answered and help other people in the community. Thank you again for participating!

Best Regards

Jianpeng Li

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[ahopkinson]

It really frustrates me when people just post links to documentation instead of just explaining what I am missing. Is this a puzzle I'm trying to solve? I would rather spend my energies working on my work related problems.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Hi, @ahopkinson 

We apologize for the inconvenience. I understand that providing a direct link to documentation can be frustrating, especially if you need to solve the problem urgently. Let me elaborate on what you may have missed:

First of all, I will have two parameters to set the rules of the pipeline:

parameter datasource report

Normal datasource report

My workspace:

My connection:

I didn't create a Pipeline and configured our connection for the Semantic Model of DevWorkspace at this point.

Create a pipeline and deploy the rule:

At this point, we look at the semantic model of the Proworkspace workspace and don't map the gateway connection to the semantic model of our Devworkspace

Redeployment:

We found that it doesn't automatically reference the gateway connection and requires us to manually reference it.

The same is true for the Parameter rule:

When we first deploy to a different workspace, we need to go into the semantic model and apply it manually.

If you have any further questions or need further assistance, please feel free to let me know. I'm here to support you.

Thank you for your understanding and patience.

Best Regards

Jianpeng Li

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[Tutu_in_YYC]

I was going to replicate your scenario, but unfortunately i dont have SSAS to try. 

But what you did sounds correct. First deployment is sometimes a little bit tricky depending on the mode that you have for the report.