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Get the Report →Import Dynamics 365 Business Central Data into the Power BI Service for Visualizations
Use CData Connect Cloud to connect to Dynamics 365 Business Central Data and provide access to live Dynamics 365 Business Central data for custom reports in the Power BI Service.
Power BI transforms your company's data into rich visuals for you to collect and organize so you can focus on what matters to you. When paired with CData Connect Cloud, you get access to Dynamics 365 Business Central data for visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article shows how to connect to Dynamics 365 Business Central in CData Connect Cloud, publish a dataset from Power BI Desktop to the Power BI Service and then create reports on Dynamics 365 Business Central data in the Power BI service.
Configure Dynamics 365 Business Central Connectivity for Power BI Service
Connectivity to Dynamics 365 Business Central from Power BI Service is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with Dynamics 365 Business Central data from Power BI Service, we start by creating and configuring a Dynamics 365 Business Central connection.
(Optional) Add a New Connect Cloud User
As needed, create Users to connect to Dynamics 365 Business Central through Connect Cloud.
- Navigate to the Users page and click Invite Users
- Enter the new user's email address and click Send to invite the user
- You can review and edit users from the Users page
Connect to Dynamics 365 Business Central from Connect Cloud
CData Connect Cloud uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.
- Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
- Select "Dynamics 365 Business Central" from the Add Connection panel
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Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Dynamics 365 Business Central.
To authenticate to Dynamics 365 Business Central, you must provide the User and AccessKey properties.
To obtain the User and AccessKey values, navigate to the Users page in Dynamics 365 Business Central and then click on Edit. The User Name and Web Service Access Key values are what you will enter as the User and AccessKey connection string properties. Note that the User Name is not your email address. It is a shortened user name.
To connect to data, specify OrganizationUrl. If you have multiple companies in your organization, you must also specify the Company to indicate which company you would like to connect to. Company does not need to be specified if you have only one company.
- Click Create & Test
- Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Dynamics 365 Business Central Connection page and update the User-based permissions.
With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Dynamics 365 Business Central data from the Power BI service.
Publish a Dataset from Power BI Desktop
Once you connect to Dynamics 365 Business Central in Connect Cloud, you can create a dataset in Power BI desktop and publish the dataset to the Power BI service.
- Open Power BI Desktop and click Get Data -> Online Services -> CData Connect Cloud and click "Connect"
- Click "Sign in" and authenticate with your CData Connect Cloud account
- After signing in, click "Connect"
- Select tables in the Navigator dialog
- Click Load to establish the connection to your Dynamics 365 Business Central data from Power BI
- Define any relationships between the selected entities on the Relationships tab.
- Click Publish (from the Home menu) and select a Workspace.
Build Reports and Dashboards on Dynamics 365 Business Central Data in the Power BI Service
Now that you have published a dataset to the Power BI service, you can create new reports and dashboards based on the published data:
- Log in to PowerBI.com.
- Click Workspaces and select a workspace.
- Click Create and select Report.
- Select the published dataset for the report.
- Choose fields and visualizations to add to your report.
Live Access to Dynamics 365 Business Central Data from Cloud Applications
Now you have a direct connection to live Dynamics 365 Business Central data from the Power BI service. You can create more data sources and new visualizations, build reports, and more — all without replicating Dynamics 365 Business Central data.
To get live data access to 100+ SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications, sign up for a free trial of CData Connect Cloud.