Create Excel Dataflows on PowerBI.com

The CData Power BI Connector for Excel seamlessly integrates with the tools and wizards in Power BI, including the real-time data workflows on PowerBI.com. Follow the steps below to pull data directly into DataFlows on PowerBI.com and use the Power BI Gateway to configure automatic refresh.

Create a DSN

Installing the Power BI Connector creates a DSN (data source name) called CData Power BI Excel. This the name of the DSN that Power BI uses to request a connection to the data source. Configure the DSN by filling in the required connection properties.

You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create a new DSN or configure (and rename) an existing DSN: From the Start menu, enter "ODBC Data Sources." Ensure that you run the version of the ODBC Administrator that corresponds to the bitness of your Power BI Desktop installation (32-bit or 64-bit).

Connecting to Local or Cloud-Stored (Box, Google Drive, Amazon S3, SharePoint) Excel Files

CData Drivers let you work with Excel files stored locally and stored in cloud storage services like Box, Amazon S3, Google Drive, or SharePoint, right where they are.

Setting connection properties for local files

Set the URI property to local folder path.

Setting connection properties for files stored in Amazon S3

To connect to Excel file(s) within Amazon S3, set the URI property to the URI of the Bucket and Folder where the intended Excel files exist. In addition, at least set these properties:

• AWSAccessKey: AWS Access Key (username)
• AWSSecretKey: AWS Secret Key

Setting connection properties for files stored in Box

To connect to Excel file(s) within Box, set the URI property to the URI of the folder that includes the intended Excel file(s). Use the OAuth authentication method to connect to Box.

Dropbox

To connect to Excel file(s) within Dropbox, set the URI proprerty to the URI of the folder that includes the intended Excel file(s). Use the OAuth authentication method to connect to Dropbox. Either User Account or Service Account can be used to authenticate.

SharePoint Online (SOAP)

To connect to Excel file(s) within SharePoint with SOAP Schema, set the URI proprerty to the URI of the document library that includes the intended Excel file. Set User, Password, and StorageBaseURL.

SharePoint Online REST

To connect to Excel file(s) within SharePoint with REST Schema, set the URI proprerty to the URI of the document library that includes the intended Excel file. StorageBaseURL is optional. If not set, the driver will use the root drive. OAuth is used to authenticate.

Google Drive

To connect to Excel file(s) within Google Drive, set the URI property to the URI of the folder that includes the intended Excel file(s). Use the OAuth authentication method to connect and set InitiateOAuth to GETANDREFRESH.

Pulling Excel Data Directly Into Your Dataflow

With the data source configured, follow the steps below to load data from Excel tables into your DataFlow.

Set Up the Power BI Gateway

Follow the steps below to configure the gateway on your machine:

1. Run the CData Power BI Connector installer. If you have not already done so, download the Power BI Gateway.
2. Select the on-premises data gateway (recommended) option.
3. Sign into the gateway.
4. Name the gateway and specify a recovery key.

5. In the Connectors step, choose a folder where the gateway will look for the CData Power BI Connector. This article uses C:\Users\PBIEgwService\Documents\Power BI Desktop\Custom Connectors\. Copy the .pqx files for the CData Connector (found in C:\Users\USERNAME\Documents\Power BI Desktop\Custom Connectors\) to the folder you configured.

   NOTE: The account configured for the service (NT SERVICE\PBIEgwService) needs to be able to access the folder chosen for the gateway. If needed, you can change the service account in the Service Settings section of the gateway installer.

6. Confirm that the entry CData.PowerBI.Excel is displayed in the list in the Connectors section. 👁 CData Power BI Connectors in the On-Premises Data Gateway.
   

Set up Power BI Online for a Dataflow

1. In Power BI Online, create a new workspace, which is also known as an app, if you do not already have one. Note that this is only available with Power BI Pro or higher.
2. Set up your On-Premises Gateway. The steps for this are in the Configuring the Gateway section of this article.
3. Go back to Power BI Online. In settings, go to 'Manage Gateways', and add a new data source to your Gateway
   • Enter the Data Source Name, the name that the data source will be referred to within Power BI Online
   • Select the Data Source Type, (e.g. CData Power BI Connector for Excel) and set the Data Source Name (e.g. CData Power BI Excel)
   • Set Authentication Method to "Anonymous" 👁 Configuring the connection for the gateway.
     
   • Set Privacy Level as needed
4. Click Add to finish the configuration (do not skip the test connection as it is important to know if a successful connection was made).
   
   If you would like to manage the users that have access to this data source, you can go to the Users tab.

Set up your Dataflow and pull the Excel data

1. In the new workspace, go to Create > Dataflow > Add New Entities.
2. Choose the ODBC data source and enter the correct connection properties.
   👁 Connect to the data source for the CData Power BI connector.
   Enter your DSN name in the ODBC connection string section, dsn=CData Power BI Excel. Choose your gateway and set the authentication type to Anonymous.
3. Choose the table(s) you want to work with and click Transform data.
   If you want to make any changes to the query, you can right click on the query and click on Advanced Editor.

Configure Data Refresh on PowerBI.com

Refresh your dataflow to have the most up to date data.

• To refresh manually, open the dataflow options menu from your workspace -> Dataflows and click Refresh Now.
• To schedule refreshes, open the dataflow options menu from your workspace -> Dataflows and click Schedule Refresh. Enable the option to keep your data up to date. Specify the refresh frequency in the menus.

👁 Scheduled refresh of Dataflow.

At this point, you will have a Dataflow built on top of live Excel data. Learn more about the CData Power BI Connectors for Excel and download a free trial from the CData Power BI Connector for Excel page. Let our Support Team know if you have any questions.