Steps to Setup Data Sources and Tables in the BI Connector Server Edition via the Web App

Modified on Thu, 5 Jun at 6:17 AM

The Power BI Gateway is generally managed by an Admin user on the Gateway Server. So every time a Power BI Developer creates a BI Connector Data Source or Table, they have to rely on the Gateway Server Admin to create the same Data Sources or Tables on the BI Connector Server Edition manually.

The BI Connector Server Edition as a Web App enables the Power BI Developers to publish the BI Connector Data Sources and Tables directly to the Gateway Server from a browser on their PC. This, in turn, eliminates the dependency of the Power BI Developers on the Gateway Admin to publish BI Connector Data Sources or Tables in the Gateway Server.

This article is a step-by-step guide to configure and use the BI Connector Server as a web app, which is supported in BI Connector v8.x and above.

One-time Steps to be followed by the Gateway Administrator

Step 1: Install BI Connector Server Edition on the Gateway

Log in to the Gateway Server as an Administrator
Download the BI Connector Server Edition for Power BI from here
Run the downloaded executable and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation

Step 2: Activate the BI Connector License Key

Open the BI Connector web app URL
Note - The URL can be set up by following the steps in any of the options mentioned here.
Enter a valid business email and create an account
Note - The user associated with this email will be the Admin by default for the BI Connector Server App, and will have the privileges to manage users, and access to the BI Connector API key
Enter the user info and the license key
Click Activate.
Note - If you don’t see the Activate button, please follow the steps here to perform an offline activation

Step 3: Create User Accounts for Power BI Developers in the Web App

Open a browser and go to the BI Connector web app URL
Log in using the email that was used to activate the BI Connector license on the Gateway Server. If logging in for the first time, use the following as the password:
admin
In the left pane, click Users
Click Add User
Enter the First Name and Last Name of each user
Enter the email and password (for each user)
Note - The emails entered for each user must be the same email that the respective Power BI Developers use to activate the BI Connector Desktop Edition on their respective PCs. The respective users can change their default password.
Select the Role based on the privilege you want to grant each user.
Note - Choose Admin for users to whom you want to grant the privileges of managing the other users, activating the BI Connector license key, and managing the Data Sources/Tables/Custom Views created by all users.
Choose the User role when you want to grant a user with complete control over the Data Sources/Tables/Custom views created by themselves, while granting them just the View (without Edit or Delete) access for the content created by the other users.
Click Save, and repeat the steps to add more users
Share the BI Connector web app URL with each Power BI Developer users, and their respective credentials

Steps to be followed by the Power BI Developers

The following steps need to be followed by the individual Power BI Developer users from their PC, after creating the BI Connector Data Sources and Tables in the BI Connector Desktop Edition.

Step 1: Get the API Key for Web App

Open a browser in the PC, and enter the web app URL (which the Gateway admin shared with you along with the username and password)
Enter your credentials and sign in
Click API Key in the left
Copy the API key and paste it in a Notepad or word file and keep it handy to use in the next step

Step 2: Integrate the Gateway Server with the BI Connector Desktop Edition App

Open the BI Connector Desktop Edition (v8.x and above) in your PC
Click BIC Server on the left pane
Click New Integration
In the name field, give any name that’s easy for you to identify.
Ex:Prod_Gateway
Enter the BI Connector web app URL(shared with you by the Gateway Admin) in the BI Connector Server URL field
Enter the API Key you copied in the previous step
Click Integrate Server. If the info entered are correct, a success message will appear

Step 3: Publish the Data Sources and Tables to the Server(s)

Publishing Data Sources
- To publish individual Data Sources, click on the Publish icon under the Action column for the specific data source
  Note - You can also bulk select all the Data Sources by clicking on the checkbox at the top to the left of the Data Source Name (DSN) column, and click the Publish button at the top right.
- Select the Server(s) and click Publish
Publishing Tables
- To publish individual Tables, click on the Publish icon under the Action column for the specific Table
  Note - You can also bulk select all the Tables by clicking on the checkbox at the top to the left of the Table Name column, and click the Publish button at the top right.
- Select the Server(s) and click Publish

Note - When publishing a Table, its corresponding Data Source would also get auto-published to the Server.