What Does XMLA Endpoints Imply for Energy BI and Find out how to Check it for Free?

10 September 2025

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Test Environment from Power BI XMLA Endpoint

XMLA endpoint connectivity for public preview has been introduced late March 2019. As at at present, it’s only out there for Energy BI Premium capability customers. This seems like an enormous restriction to lots of people who don’t have a Premium capability, however they’d like to see the way it works. On this article I present you a simple option to get your fingers to Energy BI XMLA endpoint as fast as doable. Earlier than I begin, I’d like to easily clarify what XMLA endpoint is and what it actually means for Energy BI customers.

Typically talking, Energy BI has two totally different layers, presentation layer and information mannequin layer. Presentation layer is the visible layer, the one you make all these compelling reviews and visualisations. The information mannequin because the identify resembles, is the layer that you simply make your information mannequin in. This layer is the one you may entry it through XMLA connectivity.

In a Energy BI Desktop file, you may see each layers:

How XMLA Pertains to Completely different Layers in Energy BI?

As you could have already guessed, XMLA is just associated to the information mannequin layer and it has nothing to do with the presentation layer. So you might join to a knowledge mannequin, browse the information mannequin, import information from the mannequin to different platforms like Excel and so forth.

Significantly? Sure, critically. It’s not new. It’s been round
for a few years and maybe you’ve already used it zillions of instances. At any time when
you’re connecting to an occasion of SQL Server Evaluation Providers, both
Multidimensional or Tabular from any instruments like SQL Server Administration Studio
(SSMS), Energy BI Report Builder, Excel, Tableau, and many others…, you’re utilizing XMLA
connectivity certainly.

Energy BI is an Occasion of SSAS Tabular

It’s true. Energy BI runs an area occasion of SSAS Tabular
mannequin. So, everytime you open a Energy BI Desktop file (PBIX), Energy BI creates a
native occasion of SSAS Tabular mannequin with a random native port quantity that may
be accessed in your native machine solely. Whenever you shut the file, the native
occasion of SSAS Tabular is shut down and its port quantity is launched.

I first revealed the truth that you may connect with the underlying information mannequin in Energy BI Desktop from entire totally different vary of instruments like SSMS, SQL Server Profiler, Excel, and many others… on Jun 2016. So, we certainly had been utilizing XMLA to hook up with Energy BI information fashions for a very long time. We will even take a step additional to import our Energy BI information fashions into an occasion of SSAS Tabular. In that sense, we are actually producing XMLA scripts from Energy BI to create the identical information mannequin in SSAS Tabular. How cool is that?

Sooo… What’s new then?

Thus far, I solely talked about Energy BI Desktop, the report
authoring device put in on our native machine. What usually occurs after we
construct our report is that we publish these reviews into Energy BI Service. Proper?
You guessed it. The significance of XMLA endpoints is that it makes a
connectivity channel to all fashions revealed to Energy BI Service. That is
wonderful. Simply take into consideration the infinite potentialities it will probably open for us. You may
now connect with the information fashions revealed to Energy BI Service similar to you
usually connect with an occasion of SSAS. You should utilize SSMS (v18.0 RC1), DAX
Studio, Excel, Tabular Editor, Tableau, and many others… to hook up with revealed information
fashions to Energy BI Service.

Here’s a desk exhibiting how Energy BI sources map to SSAS Tabular occasion:

SSAS Tabular	Energy BI Service	Energy BI Desktop
Server (Occasion)	App Workspace	Localhost:PORT_NUMBER (when a PBIX file is opened)
Databases	Datasets	A Random database identify
Connections	Connections	Connections
Tables	Tables	Tables
Roles	Roles	Roles

Here’s a screenshot of SSMS linked a Energy BI Service Workspace utilizing XMLA Endpoints, an area Energy BI Desktop file opened on my native machine and an occasion of SSAS Tabular.

SSMS Connected to Power BI Service Through XMLA Endpoints

As talked about earlier, XMLA endpoints is on the market in Energy
BI Premium Capability which is an enormous roadblock for lots of us who don’t have
entry to a Energy BI Premium capability. However the excellent news is that XMLA can also be
out there in Energy BI Embedded Capability. You might ask, so what? I additionally don’t
have entry to an Embedded capability. Nicely, you fall in a single two classes beneath:

You might have an MSDN
subscription
You don’t have that one
both

Both manner, the excellent news is you could create an Embedded
Capability in azure if you have already got an MSDN subscription. For those who don’t have
it, don’t fear, you may get
a free trial subscription.

Now let’s see how we will create a Energy BI Embedded
Capability.

Creating Energy BI Embedded Capability

Login to your Azure tenant
with the identical account as your Energy BI Service, then:

Click on “Create a useful resource”
Kind in “Energy BI” within the
search field
Click on “Energy BI Embedded”
from the listing

Creating Power BI Embedded Capacity in Azure Portal

Word that you choose A1 pricing tier in any other case it drains all of your credit score in a short time. It’s good to click on “View full pricing particulars” to have a greater thought on across the prices.

As you see, even A1 pricing tier
is NOT low cost in any respect. So, you might take into account pausing the capability when not used.

We’re virtually there, only one
extra step to take.

After you create your embedded capability there is only one little factor you should do is to login to Energy BI Service and make
any desired workspace part of your embedded capability.

Click on “Workspaces”
Discover a desired Workspace
and click on ellipsis button
Click on “Workspace settings”

Within the settings pane click on “Premium” tab
Swap “Devoted Capability” on
After you turn the devoted capability on you see a dropdown field you could choose an out there capability for the workspace
As you most likely seen the “Workspace Connection” is the one you might be after. You may copy the connection then click on “Save”