Power BI Integration
The Power BI integration lets you build advanced business intelligence dashboards from your company's real data in AdmCloud, using Microsoft Power BI Desktop connected directly to your database.
What it is and what it's for
This screen gives you everything you need to analyze your company's data with Microsoft Power BI: the link to download Power BI Desktop, a dashboard pre-built by AdmCloud ready to connect to your own database, and the instructions to set up that connection.
Unlike AdmCloud's Custom Reports, here you work inside Power BI itself: you can use the dashboard as AdmCloud delivers it, or modify and extend it with your own tables, charts and measures, taking full advantage of Power BI's analysis tools.
How to use it
1. Before you start: enable access to your database
- Power BI connects directly to your company's database, so you first need to enable that connection from the Direct Database Access screen (linked from this same screen): authorize your IP address and create a read-only connection user and password.
- See the manual page for that screen for the full details of that process.
2. Download Power BI Desktop and AdmCloud's dashboard
- If you don't already have it installed, download Microsoft Power BI Desktop from the link on this screen.
- Download AdmCloud's pre-built dashboard (a .pbix file) from the link on this screen and open it with Power BI Desktop.
3. Connect the dashboard to your database
- Inside Power BI, go to File → Options and Settings and then Data Source Settings.
- Click the Change Source button.
- In the Database field, enter your database name; this AdmCloud screen shows you the exact name to use.
- Click the Refresh button to update the dashboard with your database's information.
- If Power BI asks you for permission to run a Native Query, click accept; that's expected — it's how Power BI reads AdmCloud's data.
4. Enter your connection credentials
- When Power BI asks for your credentials, select the Database option on the left (not Windows or any other option).
- Enter the username and password you created when enabling Direct Database Access in step 1. This screen shows an example username for reference; in practice you must use the one you registered yourself.
Key capabilities
- Download, at no extra cost, a business intelligence dashboard pre-built by AdmCloud.
- Connect that dashboard directly to your company's real database, with read-only access.
- Customize the dashboard with your own tables, charts and measures inside Power BI Desktop.
- Refresh the dashboard's data at any time, with a single click, to reflect your company's most recent information.
- Share your dashboards with other users in your company over the web, if you have a Microsoft Power BI Pro account.
What you'll need to connect
| Item | Where to get it |
|---|---|
| Database name | Shown directly on this AdmCloud screen. |
| Connection username | The one you created on the Direct Database Access screen. |
| Connection password | The one you set when creating that same user on Direct Database Access. |
Availability and permissions
- This feature is only available on the Enterprise plan, and only if your company has the Enterprise "Direct Database Access" module active. If your plan or your active modules don't include it, the screen tells you the option isn't available on your edition.
- You also need to have set up at least one IP rule and one user on the Direct Database Access screen before you can connect from Power BI.
Tips and common issues
Power BI is a tool developed by Microsoft. AdmCloud does not provide support or assistance with its use; for questions about Power BI itself, check the Power BI website.
If you can't connect, check Direct Database Access first. The most common issue is that your current IP address isn't authorized, or that the connection username and password don't match the ones registered on that screen.
Sharing dashboards over the web has a separate cost. If you want to share your Power BI dashboards with other users over the internet, Microsoft requires a Power BI Pro account, which has a monthly cost independent of your AdmCloud plan.