Install Data Gateway
Log in into the Power BI Service, click on the Download menu and choose the option Data Gateway. Now you go to the downloadpage of the Data Gateway.
The Data Gateway must be installed on a Windows computer, which may be a physical computer or a virtual machine in the cloud. This computer must be powered on at the times that you want to refresh the dashboards. The Data Gateway can be installed in 2 ways: ‘standard mode’ and ‘personal mode’. Both options are possible, but we prefer to use the ‘standard mode’ so different users can make use of the same gateway.
The setup of the Data Gateway is explained by Microsoft on their website: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/service-gateway-onprem
Install Power BI Connector
If you install the Data Gateway on a different computer than where you work with Power BI Desktop, the Power BI Connector must also be installed on that computer. This allows the Power BI Service to use the Power BI Connector via the Data Gateway.
To install the Power BI Connector you can follow the same steps as described in chapter 2.1 Setup Connector. The destination folder here is also the folder C:\Users\<Username>\Documents\Power BI Desktop\Custom Connectors.
Setup Data Gateway
After the setup is done, it is important to check if the Data Gateway has access to the folder C:\Users\<Username>\Documents\Power BI Desktop\Custom Connectors where the connector is installed.
Follow the steps below to check this:
- Run the ‘On-premises data gateway’ and go to the section Service Settings.
- Check the Gateway service account, default this is ‘NT SERVICE\PBIEgwService’. This serviceaccount needs access rights to the folder C:\Users\<Username>\Documents\Power BI Desktop\Custom Connectors
- In the Windows Explorer go to the folder C:\Users\<Username>\Documents\Power BI Desktop, rightclick the folder Custom Connectors and choose Properties.
- Go to the tab Security and check if the user PBIEgwService exists in the list. If not, click on Edit.
- Click on Add.
- Enter the name NT SERVICE\PBIEgwService (att.: a space between NT and SERVICE) and click on OK.
- Ensure the user PBIEgwService has at least checked ‘Read & execute’, ‘List folder content’ and ‘Read’.
- Click on OK twice.
- Go back to the ‘On-premises data gateway’ and go to the section Connectors.
- Check if the ConnectorExactOnline is shown in the list.