Before ingesting semantic models from your Power BI workspace via XMLA endpoint into Dawiso, prepare your account for authentication by configuring an Azure Application and granting the necessary permissions.

Connection prerequisites

  • An active Azure Portal subscription (you can create one for free)
  • Microsoft Entra ID administrative access.
  • Power BI Service tenant and account with administrative privileges. You can use this simple tutorial to configure it.

Connection configuration

Dawiso scans semantic models from Power BI workspaces using a registered app (service principal) that is connected to the workspace XMLA endpoint.

In this guide, you will:

  1. Configure an Azure application.
  2. Generate a Client Secret.
  3. Test the application for a successful connection to Azure AD.
  4. Configure a Power BI Tenant to allow service principals to connect via XMLA endpoints.
  5. Allow the service principal access to individual workspaces.

Register a new application

You need to register a new application in Microsoft Entra ID.

  1. In your Azure Portal, navigate to Microsoft Entra ID.
  2. In the left menu, select the App Registrations. Click the + New Registration button. Register_New_Application.png
  3. Choose a name name for your application, e.g., Dawiso Integration. You can keep default values for the rest of the form.
  4. Click Register and wait for the deployment to finish. Register_New_Application_Form.png

Client and tenant IDs

On the Overview page, you can find important values that identify your application. These will be used in the connection setup in Dawiso:

  • Application (client) ID is the unique identification of the application.
  • Directory (tenant) ID is the unique identification of your tenant (organization).

Generate Client Secret

Now, you will need to generate a client secret to later authenticate the connection.

  1. In the left menu, select Certificates & secrets.
  2. Here, click + New client secret. Generate_New_Secret.png
  3. Choose a descriptive name for the client secret and select an expiration date that fits your organization’s requirements. Generate_New_Secret_Details.png
  4. Click Add to finish creating the secret.
  5. Once the secret is created, make sure to copy the value and store it somewhere safe for later use. The secret cannot be displayed twice. Generate_New_Secret_Copy_Value.png
Warning

The secret value is displayed only once. Copy and save it immediately, otherwise you will need to generate a new client secret if it is lost.

Create a security group in Microsoft Entra ID

To follow security best practices, assign Power BI Admin API access to the service principal via a Microsoft Entra ID security group only.

  1. In your Microsoft Entra ID, navigate to Groups. Groups.png
  2. Click New group. Groups_Add_New.png
  3. Choose the Security group type and choose a descriptive name, e.g., in this case, Power BI Service Principals. Groups_Create_New.png
  4. Click Create to finish the group configuration.

Add members to the group

  1. On the Groups page, click the name of the newly created group. Groups_Open.png
  2. Click + Add members. Groups_Add_Member.png
  3. Using the search box, find your application (in our case Dawiso Integration) and select it using the checkbox. Add_Members2.png
  4. Click Select to finish adding the application as a member.
  5. On the group’s page, you can double-check whether the application has been added successfully. Groups_Member_Added_View.png

Configure Power BI Tenant

Using an account with administrative privileges, navigate to your Power BI Admin Portal. Here, you can create a new Power Platform and Fabric Administrator or assign an existing user to the role. See more details in the Microsoft Fabric documentation.

  1. Select Tenant settings in the Portal. AdminPortal.png
  2. In the Developer settingssection:
    1. Find the Allow XMLA endpoints and Analyze in Excel with on-premises semantic models item and enable it.
    2. Apply it to Specific security groups.
    3. Find the newly created security group (in this case, Power BI Service Principals) and add it.
    4. Click Apply to finish the configuration. 1 Allow XMLA Endpoints.png
  3. In the Admin API settingssection:
    1. Find the service principals can call Fabric public APIs item and enable it.
    2. Apply it to Specific security groups.
    3. Find the newly created security group (in this case, Power BI Service Principals) and add it.
    4. Click Apply to finish the configuration. 2 Admin API.png

Allow service principal access to individual Workspaces

To ingest semantic models metadata via XMLA endpoint, the Service Principal requires access to the workspace(s) with the Member role or higher.

  1. On your Power BI homepage, select the workspace for which you want to configure the access.
  2. Click Manage access. A Manage Access.png
  3. Continue with clicking Add people or groups. B Add People.png
  4. Find and add the newly created security group (in this case, Power BI Service Principals), and change the role to Member.
  5. Click Add to allow the security group to access your workspace with member access rights. C Add Security Group.png

You have successfully configured Power BI for integration with Dawiso. Next, create a connection in Dawiso to start metadata ingestion.