SSL Certificate Chain Not Trusted Error in SQL Server Connection in Power BI

Suchith D 5 Reputation points
2025-02-13T08:46:38.4433333+00:00

I’m encountering an SSL certificate chain issue when trying to connect to my SQL Server from a Power BI server. The server connects, but when I click refresh, this error appears. Below are the details:

Error Message:

Microsoft SQL: A connection was successfully established with the server, but then an error occurred during the login process. (provider: SSL Provider, error: 0 - The certificate chain was issued by an authority that is not trusted.)

The error occurs even when connecting from the Power BI on the same SQL Server machine.

Environment:

  • SQL Server Version: SQL Server 2019 (15.0.4153.1)
  • Client Application: Power BI
  • Server OS: Windows Server 2019 Datacenter
  • Client OS: Windows 10 / Windows 11

Actions Taken:

  1. Verified SSL configuration on SQL Server.
  2. Installed the SSL certificate on the client machine and added it to trusted root certificate authorities.
  3. Tried different connection string options with Encrypt=true and TrustServerCertificate=true. 4. Checked firewall and network settings.

I’ve exhausted my current options and would greatly appreciate any suggestions. Thank you!

Screenshot from 2025-02-12 21-09-52 (another copy)

SQL Server
SQL Server
A family of Microsoft relational database management and analysis systems for e-commerce, line-of-business, and data warehousing solutions.
14,485 questions
0 comments No comments
{count} vote

2 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
  1. Erland Sommarskog 117.2K Reputation points MVP
    2025-02-13T22:08:30+00:00

    Sounds like you've done everything right. But apparently you haven't after all.

    Just to check, how does things look at the server? It should look like this:

    User's image

    That is, a name should appear in the certificate drop-down. It should not be blank.


  2. ZoeHui-MSFT 40,661 Reputation points
    2025-02-14T02:02:17.32+00:00

    Hi @Suchith D

    Go to File->Options and Settings -> Data Source Settings in Power BI Desktop, select your SQL data source and tick "Encrypt connections".

    User's image

    Or go to other source, use OLEDB driver for a try.

    User's image

    User's image

    Regards,

    Zoe Hui


    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.


Your answer

Answers can be marked as Accepted Answers by the question author, which helps users to know the answer solved the author's problem.