Microsoft Power BI Report Server lineage configuration

Connect to Microsoft Power BI Report Server to scan metadata and display it on lineage. To import lineage metadata, create data source definition, a connection, and metadata import job.

Supported Microsoft Power BI Report Server versions

  • 1.6.7236.4246, 1.5.7074.36177, 1.8.7485.35104

Processed metadata

The following Microsoft Power BI Report Server metadata is processed and displayed on lineage:

  • Reports consisting of data from:
    • Databases
    • Uploaded files such as XSLX, CSV etc.
  • PBIX files
  • Datasets
  • Database connections
  • Paginated reports

Limitations

The following limitations apply:

  • The following use cases of paginated reports are not processed:

    • Mobile reports
    • KPIs

  • The files in the PBIP format are not processed. The files with the .pbix extension might also have this format. If the .pbix file has the Report/Layout option as in the following example, it is processed. If it does not have this option, it means that is has the PBIP format and is not processed.

    .pbix
│
├── DataModel  
├── Report/
│     └── Layout   
├── Metadata
├── Connections
├── DataMashup
└── SecurityBindings

  • You can't use Windows authentication in local extraction mode.

Prerequisite configuration

Before you import lineage metadata, ensure that the following prerequisites are met:

  • You must have the permission to read content, report definitions and properties.
  • In the Microsoft Power BI Desktop settings, go to Preview features, and clear the Store PBIX reports using enhanced metadata format (PBIR) setting.

Creating a metadata import asset

Data source connection

To connect to the data source from which you want to import lineage metadata, you need to select a data source definition and a connection. You can create them before you start creating the metadata import, or you can create them when you create and configure the metadata import asset.

Data source definition

Select Microsoft Power BI Report Server as the data source type.

Connection

When you create the connection, you must provide a local server folder of Power BI where reports are stored. To find it, open your Microsoft Power BI Report Server in a browser. The URL has the format <address>:<port>/<server_folder>/browse. The <server_folder> section is the name of the folder that you must provide in the connection, for example BIReports.

For connection details, see Microsoft Power BI Desktop connection.

Connection mode

You can connect to Microsoft Power BI Report Server by using one of the following connection modes:

Include and exclude lists

You can include or exclude assets up to the report level. Provide Folders and Reports in the format Folder/Report. Each part is evaluated as a regular expression. Assets which are added later in the data source will also be included or excluded if they match the conditions specified in the lists. Example values:

  • myFolder/: all reports in myFolder,
  • myFolder2/.*: all reports in myFolder2,
  • myFolder3/myReport1: myReport1 from myFolder3,
  • myFolder4/myReport[1-5]: any report in myFolder4 with a name that starts with myReport and ends with a digit between 1 and 5.

External inputs

You can provide Power BI Reports, Dataflows, and PowerQuery scripts as external inputs. The file can have the following structure:

<Folder_name> - A folder with the Folder name.
  [report_name].pbix - A PowerBI report.
  [dataflow_ID].dataflow - A PowerBI dataflow.
  [report_name].txt - Manually extracted PowerQuery scripts for a specific report.
  [report_name].rdl - A paginated report.
  metadata.json - A file with metadata. If this file is provided, it overrides metadata that is extracted automatically for the specified Folder.

Learn more