How to schedule the refresh of your BIMcollab Power BI reports

How to schedule the refresh of your BIMcollab Power BI reports

Use scheduled data refreshes to keep your BIMcollab Power BI reports always updated. By locally installing and configure an on-premise data gateway, users will be able to program importing data from BIMcollab Nexus into a semantic model in Power BI service. 

Install on-premise data gateway

  1. Log into your Power BI service and go to Download (1) > Data Gateway (2)


  2. Click 'Download standard mode' and run the installer on your on-premise server. 
  3. In the gateway installer, keep the default installation path, accept the terms of use, and then select Install.


  4. Enter the email address for your Power BI service account, and then select Sign in. 

    You need to sign in with either a work account or a school account. This account is an organization account
  5. Select Register a new gateway on this computer > Next.


  6. Enter a unique name for the gateway and recovery key. You'll need this key if you ever want to recover or move your gateway. Select Configure.


  7. Go to 'Connectors' and verify that the folder containing your custom connectors has been selected and that the BIMcollab connector is visible


    If the BIMcollab connector not visible then you must either:

      1. Go to 'Service Settings' and change the Gateway service account to one which has access to the custom connectors folder (you will need to sign in again).
      2. Change the permissions of the folder containing the custom connectors to allow access to the current gateway service account.
                                        
  8. Go to 'Diagnostics', click 'Start new test' and verify the test completes successfully
After installing the on-premise Data Gateway, users need to modify the following options in the Power BI services to setup a scheduled refreshes: Gateway connection, Data source credentials, and Schedule refresh.

Manage on-premise gateway

  1. Log back into your online Power BI service and go to Settings > Manage connections and gateways


  2. Go to 'on-premises data gateway' (1) and verify that your gateway is visible. Access the options menu by clicking in the '' button (2) and select 'Settings' (3).


  3. Add any additional information and check the 'Allow user’s cloud data sources…' and 'Allow user’s custom data connectors…' boxes. Click 'Save'.


  4. Test the one-premise gateway connection by clicking on the '' button under status. 


Create a new connection

  1. Go to Connections (1) > add a new one (2).


  2. Create a new on-premise connection (1), select the gateway added in the previous steps as cluster (2), give the new connection a name (3) and select 'BIMcollab Connector 2.0' as your data source type (4).


  3. Enter the URL of your Nexus space and click on 'Edit Credentials' to sign into your space.


  4. Fill in your e-mail address and password of your Nexus space account and press the Login button.


    Note: The account you sign in MUST be a member of all projects you wish to retrieve data from
  5. The next screen will ask for your consent to allow Power BI to use the BIMcollab API services. Offline Access is required if you want Power BI to be able to refresh data without logging in again. Click 'Yes, allow' to continue.


  6. Click 'Create' to save the new connection. 


  7. Make sure that all users who publish reports are added to the users list, click 'Share' to publish changes. 


  8. Test the connection status by clicking on the '' button.



Set up scheduled refreshes

Previous Power Bi 'data sets' were renamed to 'semantic models'

  1. Access your semantic models by navigating to your workspaces. You can use the filtering options to assist you.


  2. Here you will find any semantic model you previously published from Power BI. Hover over the semantic model you wish to schedule, click on the '' button.


  3. Expand 'Gateway and cloud connection' menu (1) and select the one-premise gateway, If there are multiple gateways available, ensure to select the correct one. Click on the '' button (2) to see the actions menu and map the new connection created in previous steps as your data source (3). 


  4. Click 'Apply'
  5. Scroll down and expand the 'Refresh' menu (1), enable the toggle (2) and set up the refresh frequency and time zone (3). Click 'Apply'


  6. Test the connection by going back to your workspace, hover over the semantic model, click on the refresh now button.


  7. Make sure to wait until the refresh has completed. Afterwards, verify the dates in the "Refreshed" and "Next refresh" columns to confirm that the test has been completed and the next refresh has been scheduled correctly.



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