"Power BI Salesforce Data Source Connection Issue: Desktop Success, Service Failure"

[09Ishan]

Hello Power BI community,

I am encountering an issue while refreshing a Power BI report that uses Salesforce as a data source. The error message I'm receiving is "Unable to connect to data source undefined." What's particularly puzzling is that the report refreshes successfully in Power BI Desktop but fails when I try to refresh it in the Power BI Service.

Here are some details about my setup:

• I have a Power BI report that connects to Salesforce to pull in data.
• The report was working fine previously, and I can refresh it without any issues in Power BI Desktop.
• However, when I upload the report to the Power BI Service and attempt to schedule automatic refreshes, I encounter this error.
• I've verified that my Salesforce credentials are correct, and I can access Salesforce outside of Power BI without any issues.
• I've also checked the connection settings in Power BI Desktop and made sure they match the Salesforce configuration.
• The report is set to refresh on a scheduled basis in the Power BI Service, and this error occurs consistently during those automatic refreshes.

I'm not sure why the report refreshes successfully in Power BI Desktop but fails in the Power BI Service. Has anyone else experienced a similar problem or can provide guidance on troubleshooting steps to resolve this error specifically in the Power BI Service? Any help or insights would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your assistance!

[metrica]

Hi @09Ishan,

The "Unable to connect to data source undefined" error is a bit different from the usual "invalid credentials" pattern - "undefined" usually means the Service can't resolve the actual data source URL from your dataset metadata. Two common causes:

1. Dynamic source expression in M code - if your Salesforce.Data(...) call uses a variable or parameter for the URL (rather than a hard-coded string), Power BI Service refuses to refresh it for security reasons. Republishing with a static URL in the Source step usually fixes this.
2. My Domain / custom domain change in Salesforce - if your org enabled My Domain or changed its instance URL recently, the Service's cached connection points to the old URL while Desktop discovers the new one on the fly.

If those don't resolve it, Power BI Connector for Salesforce on AppExchange is an alternative worth knowing - the connection lives inside your Salesforce org rather than in Power BI Service's data source registry, so this category of "undefined source" issues doesn't come up.

Free 30-day trial, details at https://metricasoftware.com/, demo on request.

Cheers,

Metrica Team.

[ReportGuru]

Hi @09Ishan were you able to find a solution? As a workaround, maybe you can try to test your connection with a 3rd party connector, which pulls data from the SF objects API directly and shouldn't have any problem when refreshing on PBI service. I've tried windsor.ai, supermetrics and funnel.io. I stayed with windsor because it is much cheaper so just to let you know other options. In case you wonder, to make the connection first search for the Salesforce connector in the data sources list:

After that, just grant access to your Salesforce account using your credentials, then on preview and destination page you will see a preview of your Salesforce fields:

There just select the fields you need. It is also compatible with custom fields and custom objects, so you'll be able to export them through windsor.  Finally, just select PBI as your data destination and finally just copy and paste the url on PBI --> Get Data --> Web --> Paste the url. 

[09Ishan]

I am connecting through Salseforce objects.

[lbendlin]

How are you authenticating in the service, via user name/password or via token?

[09Ishan]

via username and password

[lbendlin]

Please verify that the specified user has access to the object and all the fields that you are pulling.

BTW, the object connector supports some mild query folding even though it is not indicated in the UI. So when you "choose columns" that will result in custom SOQL.

[lbendlin]

Please provide more details. Are you connecting to Salesforce Reports or Salesforce Objects?