Getting started with a data gateway
Contents
- What is a data gateway
- Why do you need a data gateway
- Downloading the gateway
- Installing the gateway
- Before using the gateway for the first time
- Using the gateway
What is a data gateway
An on-premises data gateway acts as a bridge between on-premises data (i.e. data that is not in the cloud) and a certain cloud service. In the case of Power BI, a dataset can be refreshed through Power BI’s website when the machine that published this dataset is running a gateway.
Why do you need a data gateway
To be able to refresh the data on dashboards that are on the cloud (app.powerbi.com) instead of locally on the PowerBI desktop application. When not using this gateway, the data on the cloud is static and can only be overwritten by running a local refresh and republishing of a dashboard.
Downloading the gateway
In order to download the gateway, go to Install an on-premises data gateway and under section Download and install a personal mode gateway click on Download the personal mode gateway.
After the download has finished, click on the downloaded file to start the installation process.
Installing the gateway
Before installing the gateway, the installation path has to be provided and the terms of use have to be accepted. Afterwards, click on Install.
After installation, you need to sign in with the account you use for Power BI. After providing your email address, click on Sign in.
A pop-up window will appear requesting your password. When done, click on Sign in again.
If this account has previously been used to install a gateway, you will get the following message.
No action is required, just click on Continue.
At this point, the gateway is up and running and it will remain so as long as the window is not closed.
The gateway goes back online by simply just signing in.
Before using the gateway for the first time
Before using the gateway for the first time, sign in such that the gateway goes online and then go to the Connectors tab.
Change the default location of the data connectors to the folder where your EduFrame connector is. Then click on Apply and Apply & Restart.
Using the gateway
After the dataset and the report have been published using the Power BI Desktop app, go to Power BI and sign in with your account. Then go to Datasets and go to Settings on the dataset that you published.
Under Gateway connection select Personal Gateway and then click Apply.
Under Data source credentials click Edit credentials.
A pop-up window will appear on the screen. Here select Key under Authentication method, provide the access token under Account key, and set the Privacy level setting for this data source to Private. Then click on Sign in.
At this point refreshing the dataset is possible, and this can be done by going to Datasets, clicking on the dataset you want to refresh, and then click on Refresh and Refresh now.
The dataset will start refreshing and this is indicated by the throbber as shown below.
Refreshing the page will update the date and time of the last refresh.