How to Add On-Premise Gateway in Power BI

Connecting your Power BI reports in the cloud to a data source on a local server in your office can seem tricky. That's where the on-premise data gateway comes in - it acts as a secure bridge, letting your cloud-based tools access your on-premise data. This guide will walk you through what the gateway is, why you need it, and exactly how to get it installed and configured step-by-step.

What Exactly Is an On-Premise Data Gateway?

Think of the Power BI service as living in its own world up in the cloud. It can easily connect to other cloud services like Salesforce or Google Analytics. However, it can't see or access a SQL Server database running on a machine in your company's server room. Your private network is, by design, firewalled off from the public internet for security. The on-premise data gateway is a small application you install on a computer inside your private network. It creates a secure, encrypted channel to the Power BI service.

This "bridge" allows Power BI to send queries to your local data source and receive data back to update your reports. In short, it’s the crucial piece of a hybrid BI setup that enables two key functions:

• Scheduled Refreshes: Automatically update your dashboards and reports with the latest data from your local sources (e.g., every morning at 8 AM). Without a gateway, you'd have to republish your report from Power BI Desktop every time you wanted fresh data.
• DirectQuery: Run live queries directly against your on-premise data source. When a user interacts with a visual in a Power BI report, the query is passed through the gateway to the database in real-time. This is perfect for very large datasets or when you need up-to-the-second data.

Before You Begin: A Quick Checklist

Before jumping into the installation, a little preparation will save you a lot of time. Here's a quick checklist to run through.

System Requirements

The gateway needs to be installed on a machine that is always on and connected to your network. Don't install it on your laptop that you take home every night! A server is the ideal choice.

• Operating System: Windows Server 2012 R2 or newer is recommended. It can run on Windows 10/11, but a server OS is built for this kind of "always-on" service.
• .NET Framework: Version 4.7.2 or later is required. The gateway installer will typically check this for you.
• Hardware: Microsoft recommends a machine with at least an 8-core CPU, 8 GB of RAM, and plenty of disk space, but the actual needs depend on how much data you'll be pushing through it.

Permissions and Accounts Needed

• You must have a Power BI Pro or Premium account to use the gateway. The account you use to sign into Power BI is the same one you'll use to register the gateway.
• You will need local administrator rights on the machine where you are installing the gateway.
• Make sure you have the credentials (username and password) for your on-premise data source (like your SQL Server database).

Understanding the Two Gateway Modes: Standard vs. Personal

When you install the gateway, you’ll be asked to choose between two different modes. It's important to understand the difference because your choice has significant implications for how you'll use it.

Standard Mode

This is the recommended mode for most business and enterprise scenarios. It’s designed for teams and can be shared among multiple users. Once configured, other report builders in your organization can use the same gateway to connect their reports to the same data sources (assuming you grant them permission).

• Designed for Teams: A single standard gateway can service many users and reports.
• Supports More Services: It works not just with Power BI, but also with Power Apps, Power Automate, and Azure Logic Apps.
• Supports both DirectQuery and Scheduled Refresh: It offers full functionality for connecting to data.
• Runs as a Service: The gateway runs in the background as a Windows service, so it keeps working even after you log off the machine.

Personal Mode

Personal Mode is significantly more limited. It’s designed for a single user to run scheduled refreshes for their own Power BI reports. It cannot be shared with colleagues, and it does not support DirectQuery or live connections. It runs as an application under your user account, meaning you must be logged into the machine for it to function.

• For a Single User: It can only be used by the person who installed it.
• Power BI Only: It does not work with Power Apps or Power Automate.
• Scheduled Refresh Only: DirectQuery is not supported.
• Runs as an Application: If you sign out of Windows, the gateway stops running and dashboards won't refresh.

The takeaway? Unless you are the only data person in your entire company and never plan to share your work, you should almost always choose Standard Mode.

Step-by-Step Guide: Installing and Configuring the Gateway

We'll walk through the process using Standard Mode, as it's the most common and robust option.

1. Download the On-Premise Data Gateway

First, head to the official Microsoft download page. You can bypass the Power BI Service and grab it directly. Or, inside the Power BI Service, click the settings gear icon in the top-right corner and select "Download" → "On-premises data gateway." This ensures you always get the latest version.

Download the standard mode gateway installer to the server or machine where you plan to run it.

2. Run the Installer

Open the installer file and follow the initial prompts. It’s a straightforward process:

• Click Next on the welcome screen.
• Select On-premises data gateway (recommended) for Standard Mode. A warning will tell you it's not for personal use.
• Accept the terms of use.
• Confirm the installation path (the default is usually fine). Click Install.

3. Sign In and Register the Gateway

Once the installation program finishes, a configuration screen will appear. This is where you connect the application to your Power BI account.

• Enter the email address you use for your Power BI Pro/Premium account.
• Click Sign in and you will be routed to the normal Microsoft 365 login screen.
• Once signed in, you'll be asked if you want to register a new gateway or migrate an existing one. Select Register a new gateway on this computer.

4. Name Your Gateway and Create a Recovery Key

This next step is extremely important.

• Gateway Name: Give your gateway a descriptive name, like "Marketing SQL Server Gateway" or "Company HQ-MainDB-Gateway". This is how you'll identify it in the Power BI service.
• Recovery Key: You must create a Recovery Key. This is essentially a master password for your gateway. It is used if you ever need to restore, migrate, or take over a gateway.

Important: Store this recovery key somewhere safe, like a password manager. If you lose it, you cannot recover it, and you'll have to create a new gateway and reconfigure all your data sources.

Once you've entered a name and a recovery key (and confirmed it), click Configure.

After a few moments, you should see a confirmation screen telling you that your gateway is online and ready to be used. You are now done with the on-server portion. The rest of the setup happens in the Power BI service online.

Adding a Data Source to Your Gateway

Installing the gateway just builds the bridge, now you need to tell it which roads (data sources) you want to open over that bridge.

1. Navigate to the Power BI Service in your browser.
2. Click the settings gear icon in the top-right corner and select Manage connections and gateways.
3. You'll be on the "On-premises data gateways" tab. You should see the gateway you just named and registered, with a green status indicator.
4. Click the gateway name to select it. Then, click the New button at the top to add a new connection.
5. You'll now see a form to fill out. This is where you provide the details for your on-premise data source:
6. Click Create. Power BI will use the gateway to try and connect to your database with the provided details. If it's successful, you’ll see a "Connection Successful" message.

That's it! Your gateway is now fully configured for that data source. You can now use this connection in the settings for your Power BI Datasets to schedule automatic data refreshes.

Final Thoughts

Installing a Power BI on-premise gateway is an essential step for any organization that relies on local data. By safely connecting your internal data sources to the Power BI Cloud Service, you unlock the ability to schedule automatic refreshes and use DirectQuery, transforming static uploaded reports into dynamic, living dashboards that are always up-to-date.

While the setup process for tools like Power BI can sometimes feel technical, it creates powerful, centralized reporting hubs. For teams in marketing and sales whose data often lives across various cloud platforms, managing complex data infrastructure can get in the way of getting quick insights. That's why we designed an approach that skips the complex setup. With Graphed, we connect a Graphed in one click to sources like Google Analytics, Shopify, and Salesforce. Because our platform is purpose-built for these tools, we eliminate the need for manual configuration and let you start building real-time dashboards and getting answers from your data just by asking questions.