Happy 2017! We are now introducing a new way to get fresh data in your Power BI Desktop Workbooks, and publish them to a Workspace in Power BI Service!!!

Today we are announcing:

• Power BI Desktop refresh with Direct Access to Data Model
• Support for Power BI Workspaces or Groups in Power Update

In versions prior to 2017, Power Update was using UI Automation that worked in most cases, but could easily fail. The latest version of Power Update now has the option to run without this UI automation.  It has become as stable as the Power Query/Excel updates that thousands of users are already taking advantage of.

This article will tell you how you get access to these new features of Power Update.

Q: I own a Power Update License with a Maintenance Contract

• Download the latest version of Power Update or start Power Update and click Check for Updates Now
• When the latest version is installed, go to Power Update, select Options and UNCHECK “Use UI Automation in Power BI”

• Now it is time to create a new Power BI job
• Just click New, and select Power BI, and go through the wizard.
• There is a new screen in the wizard you can see below. Here you can type in the name of the Workspace you want to publish to.

• All the jobs will now run in a more stable mode with connections directly to the Data Model in Power BI Desktop

Tip:

For the job to run more steadily incase of Power BI or Azure outages, please set the Retry Count to 3, and let it wait 1800 seconds (30 mins) before trying again.

Note: IMPORTANT – Credentials

In order for Power Update to store the credentials when running the file in Automatic Mode, it is required that you try to run at least one job MANUALLY where it will prompt for your credentials and save them encrypted.

Reset Credentials:

If you need to reset the credentials, delete the file C:\Users\[USER]\AppData\Local\Power Update\PUPBI.token, then re-run one of the Power Update Jobs  for PBI Desktop files manually. This step will store the new Power BI Credentials.

Q: My Maintenance Contract with Power Update has expired

It is required that you have a maintenance contract for Power Update to continue to get access to these new features. If you have any questions for Maintenance or how to keep it up to date, please visit our Maintenance FAQ page.

If you happen to revert to the FREE version for Power Update, you can use the same page above to reset your license to it’s original state.

Q: I don’t have Power Update, but I want to try the Free Version

You can always download and try the Free Version for Power Update