Connect to Power BI from Business Central on-premises
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Business Central on-premises must be enabled for Power BI integration. This task is typically done by an administrator. For more information about enabling Power BI integration with Business Central online, see Set up Business Central on-premises for Power BI integration.
Some features are only available with Business Central online, not on-premises. Learn more in Introduction to Business Central and Power BI
Set up Business Central on-premises for Power BI integration
This section explains the requirements for a Business Central on-premises deployment to integrate with Power BI.
Configure either NavUserPassword or Microsoft Entra ID as the authentication method for the deployment.
Note
Power BI integration doesn't support Windows authentication.
Enable OData web services and the ODataV4 endpoint.
Enable OData web service on the Business Central Server and open the OData port in the firewall. Learn more in Configuring Business Central Server - OData Web Services.
The local server must be accessible from the Internet.
Give Business Central user accounts a web service access key.
A web service access key is only needed to view Business Central data in Power BI. You can assign a web service access key to each user account. Or instead, create a specific account with a web service access key for use by all users. Learn more in Web Services Authentication.
Create an application registration for Business Central in Microsoft Azure.
To view Power BI reports embedded in Business Central pages, register an application for Business Central in Microsoft Entra ID. The registered application needs permission to Power BI services. At a minimum, the app requires User.ReadWrite.All permission. For users to view reports from shared Power BI workspaces, the app requires Workspace.Read.All permission. Learn more in Registering Business Central on-premises in Microsoft Entra ID for Integrating with Other Services.
Note
If your deployment uses NavUserPassword authentication, Business Central connects to the same Power BI service for all users. You specify this service account as part of registering the application. With Microsoft Entra authentication, Business Central connects to the Power BI service associated with the individual user accounts.
Make the initial connection from Business Central to Power BI.
Before users can use Power BI in Business Central, an Azure application administrator must give consent to the Power BI service.
To make the initial connection, open Business Central, and run Get Started with Power BI from the Home page. This action leads you through the consent process and checks your Power BI license. When you're prompted, sign in using a Microsoft Entra admin account. Learn more in Connect to Power BI - one time only.
Build Power BI reports displaying Dynamics 365 Business Central data
You can make your Dynamics 365 Business Central data available as a data source in Power BI Desktop and build powerful reports of the state of your business.
Use Power BI Desktop to create reports that display Dynamics 365 Business Central data. After creating reports, you can publish them to your Power BI service or share them with all users in your organization. Once these reports are in the Power BI service, users set up for it can view the reports in Business Central.
For Business Central on-premises, get the following information:
The OData URL for Business Central.
Typically, this URL has the format
http[s]://[computer]:[port]/[serverinstance]/ODataV4, for example,https://localhost:7048/BC190/ODataV4. If you have a multitenant deployment, include the tenant in the URL, for example,https://localhost:7048/BC190/ODataV4?tenant=tenant1.A user name and web service access key of a Business Central account.
To get data from Business Central, Power BI uses basic authentication. So, you need a user name and web service access key to connect. The account might be your own user account, or your organization might have specific account for this purpose.
Add Business Central as a data source in Power BI Desktop
The first task in creating reports is to add Business Central as a data source in Power BI Desktop. Once connected, you can start to build the report.
Start Power BI Desktop.
Select Get Data.
If you don't see Get Data, select the File menu, then Get Data.
On the Get Data page, select Online Services.
In the Online Services pane, connect to Business Central on-premises, select Dynamics 365 Business Central (on-premises), then Connect.
Sign-in to Business Central (one-time only).
If you're not signed in to Business Central from Power BI desktop before, you're prompted to sign in.
For Business Central on-premises, enter the OData URL for Business Central and select OK. When prompted, enter the user name and password for the account for connecting to Business Central. In the Password box, enter the web service access key. Select Connect when done.
Note
After you connect to Business Central, you aren't prompted again to sign in. How do I change or clear the account I'm currently using to connect to Business Central from Power BI Desktop?
Once connected, Power BI contacts the Business Central service. The Navigator windows appears and displays available data sources for building reports. Select a folder to expand it and see the available data sources.
These data sources represent all the web services and API pages published for Business Central. The data sources are grouped by Business Central environments and companies.
Note
The structure for Business Central on-premises is different because it doesn't support API pages.
Select the data source or sources that you want to add to your data model, and then select the Load button.
To add more Business Central data later, repeat the previous steps.
Once the data is loaded, view it in the right navigation on the page. At this point, you're successfully connected to your Business Central data and can begin building your Power BI report.
Tip
Learn more about Power BI Desktop in Get started with Power BI Desktop.
Manage and modify reports
Note
You can't manage and modify reports.
Upload reports
For Business Central on-premises, there are no demo reports available, so you have to start from scratch by using Power BI Desktop. Alternatively, Power BI reports can be distributed as files that you can upload directly from Power BI online service. Learn more in Upload the report to the service.