Set up Service Account for PowerBI

Setting up a Service Account for Power BI in Azure Entra requires multiple steps, including creating an app, assigning permissions, and configuring access. Follow this guide to complete the setup.

Step 1: Register an App in Azure Entra

  1. Go to the Azure Portal. Navigate to Azure Entra ID

  2. Click "+ Add" > "App registration"

  3. Enter app registration details. name: Smaply Power Bi. connector Supported account type: Accounts in this organizational directory only (Single tenant no need to set a redirect URI And click "Register"

Step 2: Assign API Permissions

  1. Within your app, navigate to Manage > API Permissions > Add a permission.

  2. Choose Power BI Service.

  3. Under Application permissions, add:

    • Tenant.Read.All

  4. Click Grant admin consent for {Your Tenant Name}.

Step 3: Create a Client Secret

  1. Within your app, navigate to Certificates & Secrets.

  2. Under Client Secrets, click + New client secret. description: Power Bi Smaply connector client secret expiry: [e.g. 12 months]

  3. Copy the generated Client Secret value, you will need it later.

Step 4: Create a Security Group & Assign the Service Principal

  1. Navigate to Azure Groups Management.

  2. Create a new security group ("New Group"). type: Security name: smaply-powerbi description: Smaply PowerBI Connector security group members: assign the Service Principal (Application). E.g. "Smaply Power BI Connector" from step 1

Step 5: Configure Power BI Admin Settings

  1. Go to the Power BI Admin Portal.

  2. Open Service Principal can use Fabric APIs (under tenant settings)

  3. Enable Service Principal access. Apply to: Specific security groups: type in the security group name from step4; e.g. smaply-powerbi Apply

Step 6: Assign Access to PowerBI workspace

In Power BI, do the following for all of the Workspace that Smaply should have access to:

  1. Assign the Security Group (created in Step 4) to a workspace. Note: your personal workspaces won't support this.

  2. Make sure you have given the service account member access to the workspace.

  3. Wait 30 to 60 minutes for the changes to propagate.

Step 7: Configure Power BI in Smaply

Once all configurations are in place, set up the integration in Smaply using from the service principal (Entra app). You'll need:

  • Tenant ID

  • Client ID

  • Client Secret (from step3)

  • In Smaply Account settings > Integrations > Power BI, add the details

  • Once validated, you will be able to select any workspace that you set up in step6

Now you're ready to create your first metric with Power BI 🚀. Learn how.

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