Diagram + blog post updated: Oct 10, 2022
Video last updated: Feb 18, 2020
Permissions in the Power BI Service are directly managed by self-service content creators and owners - that is, the business users who are responsible for publishing and managing content. It's important to be aware of the breadth of permissions from administration, governance, auditing, security, and user training perspectives.
Downloadable Diagram
IMPORTANT! This diagram has been updated more recently than the video. The video is much older (it’s on my backlog to re-record it).
If you like the above diagram, you can download a PDF from my diagrams page.
Want to Know More?
I’ll be presenting a half-day session on Power BI security at the PASS Data Community Summit in November 2022. You can sign up to attend either virtually (which is the most cost-effective option), or in-person. The conference is held in Seattle, Washington.
I have lots of security information in my online course, including a broader view of security that also includes security and data protection that an administrator is responsible for (the above diagram focuses on self-service content creators that would manage their own security). The course includes a couple of security-related templates. We’ve done a couple of live workshops related to security as well. I invite you to check out the Power BI Deployment and Governance course.
The videos shown below were recorded in Feb 2020, so it’s much older than the new diagram (shown above). The concepts are still ok - the videos are just missing all the newest features.
Video Part 1: Power BI Permissions / Security Overview
Part 1 of this 2-part video series is an overview of the concepts. Part 1 is targeted towards managers, auditors, and users who need to be aware of the breadth of permissions which are available:
Video Part 2: Demonstration of each Permission in the Power BI Service
Part 2 of the video series demonstrates what the options actually look like for each item. Part 2 is targeted towards the hands-on implementers who need to manage permissions.
After watching the above videos, were you surprised at anything?
Not only are there several aspects to it, but some permissions are implicitly set when performing another action - particularly the build permission for a dataset. This means that auditing of security settings becomes broader than you might initially think. It’s also really important to support the self-service users with enough information so they can manage permissions effectively.
Where Can You Find More Information?
Power BI Security - blog post by James Serra
Like this Content?
Check out our Power BI Deployment & Governance training course.
