Microsoft Power BI Output Tool

The Microsoft Power BI Output tool uses the Power BI REST API to upload a dataset from your Alteryx workflow to the Power BI web application. From there, you can create and share dashboards containing any number of data visualizations and reports.

Tool Configuration

The following steps will show you how to work with datasets:

1. Drag and drop the Power BI Output tool to your canvas.
2. The OAuth method is used for authentication, so you can either use the default Alteryx application by selecting Sign in via Internet Browser or you can provide your own API application by selecting Provide authentication details. Go to API Application Setup for more information on how to create an API application. Use your username and password to authenticate. When using the Power BI connector for the first time, you must give the app your consent to use the listed permissions.

   Note

   Depending on your company policy, some permissions might require administrator approval. In such case fill in your reason in the app and send request and/or contact your IT directly.

3. In the configuration panel - Data tab choose the Workspace you want to work with and select New Dataset to create a new dataset in Power BI.
4. In the configuration panel – Options tab - Output Options check if Create is the default option.
5. You can specify your own Dataset Name and Table Name fields, if you don’t like the default ones.

   Note

   Power BI allows you to have multiple datasets of the same name, so we recommend to modify Dataset Name.

6. To work with an existing dataset, select it from the list of existing datasets, and in the configuration panel – Options tab, choose an operation to perform:
   1. Append - appends new rows to the existing dataset.
   2. Overwrite (keep existing columns) - deletes existing rows (all records in dataset) and adds new rows to the table as per given input. The input column names are ignored, the structure of existing schema will not change.
   3. Overwrite (update columns) - updates existing schema by an input structure and adds new rows to the table.

      Note

      With this option, the structure of existing schema will change according to the input, therefore some references in your existing report might not work.

7. You can update multiple tables in the dataset at once, but first you have to provide the mapping between incoming connection and existing table in the selected dataset.
8. To run the workflow, select the Run button.

API Application Setup

The Power BI connector comes with built-in multi-tenant app you can use, but if you prefer using your own, follow the steps below.

For more information on how to build and manage an application using the Microsoft Azure cloud services, refer to the Azure documentation.

1. Navigate to https://portal.azure.com/#home.
2. Sign in with your Microsoft Azure Active Directory account.
3. On the Home screen use Search, or go to the upper left corner menu to open the Azure Active Directory service.
4. Open App registrations in the left menu.
5. Select + New registration.
6. Specify the Name of the app.
7. Choose desired account type – both Single tenant and Multitenant are allowed.
8. In the Redirect URL (optional) part...
   1. Select Single-page application (SPA) from the dropdown menu.
   2. Set the URL to https://login.live.com/oauth20_desktop.srf.
9. Select Register. The Application (client) ID is your Client ID. The Directory (tenant) ID is your Tenant ID.
10. Now proceed to Certificates & secrets and add New client secret. Copy the Value as it won't be accessible again once you leave the page – this is your Secret ID.
11. Go to API permissions and add these Delegated permissions:
    1. Microsoft Graph
       • Offline_access
       • Openid
       • User.Read
    2. Power BI Service
       • Dataset.ReadWrite.All
       • Workspace.Read.All