Here we go through the task of setting up a connection for Power BI to connect through a standard gateway.
Over the last year i’ve been getting up close and personal with Power BI, setting up complex data models and connections using the personal mode gateway. However lately this has come a bit unstuck. With request through API’s that are not allowed through the personal mode gateway. So figured now would be a good time to look to setup a Standard Mode Power BI Gateway.
You can install up to two gateways on a single computer: one running in personal mode and the other running in standard mode. But you can’t have more than one gateway running in the same mode on the same computer. So lets see if I can get this up and running.
What is a Power BI Gateway?
Power BI Gateway is software that is required to access data situated in an on-premises network. The gateway acts as a gatekeeper for the on-premises data source. All the connection requests are attended by the gateway and access is granted based on their authentication and requirements.
Gateways do not transfer data from the on-premises source to the client platform. But it connects that platform directly to the on-premises data source. The client can directly access data from its on-premises location to use it for making reports, dashboards and data analysis.
Types of Power BI Gateways
There’s two types of gateway available
- On-premises data gateway (standard mode)
- On-premises data gateway (personal mode)
On-premises data gateway (standard mode)
Allows multiple users to connect to multiple on-premises data sources. With a single gateway installation, you can use an on-premises data gateway with all supported services. This gateway is well-suited to complex scenarios in which multiple people access multiple data sources.
On-premises data gateway (personal mode)
Allows one user to connect to sources and can’t be shared with others. An on-premises data gateway (personal mode) can be used only with Power BI. This gateway is well-suited to scenarios in which you’re the only person who creates reports, and you don’t need to share any data sources with others.
How to setup a Power BI Standard Mode Gateway
Here’s the detail from Microsoft. (Pretty light on detail, so going to take a look at how to do this IRL)
- Download and install the gateway on a local computer.
- Configure the gateway based on your firewall and other network requirements.
- Add gateway admins who can also manage and administer other network requirements.
- Use the gateway to refresh an on-premises data source.
- Troubleshoot issues with the gateway.
First up – Computer specs to run Power BI On-premises data gateway (standard mode)
Minimum Requirements
- .NET Framework 4.7.2 (Gateway release December 2020 and earlier)
- .NET Framework 4.8 (Gateway release February 2021 and later)
- A 64-bit version of Windows 8 or a 64-bit version of Windows Server 2012 R2 with current TLS 1.2 and cipher suites
- 4 GB disk space for performance monitoring logs (in default configuration)
Recommended Requirements
- An 8-core CPU
- 8 GB of memory
- A 64-bit version of Windows Server 2012 R2 or later
- Solid-state drive (SSD) storage for spooling.
As one of the considerations
Don’t install a gateway on a computer, like a laptop, that might be turned off, asleep, or disconnected from the internet. The gateway can’t run under any of those circumstances.
Microsoft
This is currently what I’m doing, get caught out at times with connectivity. A new computer is going to eventually be required.
Step 1 – Download
Download the latest installer from the Microsoft Power BI website. Be sure to download the standard mode.
Step 2 – Install
Open the downloaded installer, choose the destination and accept the terms of use and install.
Just to be super duper clear – Power BI desktop and these gateways are Windows only. Sorry Mac peeps.
Sign in with your microsoft login that you use to access Power BI online.
Select to register a new gateway on this computer. Unless you’re migrating or taking over an existing gateway.
Time to configure the gateway. Give it a name and recovery key. Keep your recovery key safe. You’ll need this if you ever want to recover or move your gateway.
There’s an option to add to an existing gateway cluster. This allows multiple gateways to be available to avoid having a single point of failure for on-premises data access. Where if the main gateway becomes unavailable, request are then routed to the next gateway in the cluster.
Simple…right? It’s all installed now. However now we need to jump in and configure the gateway for use.
Configure the on-premises data gateway app
Now open-er-up
Simply search for gateway and select to open
From here – Sign in
