Today you have the possibility to consolidate a hundred predefined reports, with Microsoft technology
by simply injecting them into your Power BI Premium Per User (PPU) or Power BI Premium client.
Our reports are free, available for download, maintained and updated regularly, we can also develop
specific reports according to your requirements.
You can connect these reports to a SQL server which can be a SQL Express version, a cloud version, an AWS version or a serverless
version in Azure, the choice is yours.
The procedure below exclusively presents the deployment of your paginated reports in an Azure tenant, assuming that you
have at least one Power BI PPU license which allows you to inject paginated reports directly into your Power workspace BI.
In this way you will have in your infrastructure, reports in your Azure tenant, that you can share with all your
collaborators by administering the Entra ID rights, Consult from anywhere from your Power BI client.
Deploy and manage paginated reports (.RDL) in Power BI Service
SQL steps
Create a Resource Group in your Azure tenant
Create a SQL database named Monitorpack_Guard in the Resource Group,
Provide a SQL server name in the Resource Group,
Connect to the Monitorpack_Guard database and run the CreateAzureTableswithProcedures.sql script
Schedule the triggering of stored procedures with PowerAutomate.
Power BI steps
Take a suitable Power BI subscription (PPU or Premium),
In app.powerbi.com, create a cloud connector to the serverless SQL server,
Install Visual Studio community and the .vsix module,
Edit the paginated reports with the connection string corresponding to your SQL server,
Create a Power BI workspace and inject the .rdl reports into your workspace work,
Possibly create a Power BI application.
Our procedures are sufficiently detailed, however, if you would like to be assisted by one of our engineers in order to deploy your reporting
solution, do not hesitate to contact us
License: A Power BI Premium Per User (PPU) or Power BI Premium license is required to use paginated reports.
Infrastructure: A Microsoft Azure tenant.
Tools required:
Visual Studio (free): For editing .RDL files.
Microsoft Reporting Services Projects Extension: Available via Visual Studio Marketplace .
1. Creating the Azure database
We recommend that you create a dedicated Group resource in your Azure tenant and then select a serverless SQL server
in order to then allow you to create a database that you must imperatively name Monitorpack_Guard.
You can then download the SQL file that will allow you to create all the tables and stored procedures in a few seconds.
1. Azure database connection
In order to be able to dynamically update your Power BI reports, you must, from your Power BI portal (app.powerbi.com) be connected to the SQL database
which allows you to collect information by creating a Cloud type connector. You will also need to implement a way to
synchronize or run stored procedures every 5 minutes, Power Automate is one of the possible solutions to run
stored procedures.
1. Prepare RDL Files
Paginated reports are provided in .RDL format. You can use Visual Studio to review
or edit content, including data sources.
2. Install Visual Studio and the RDL Extension
1. Download Visual Studio Community from this link.
3. Install the Microsoft Reporting Services Projects extension, which you can download here
Open Visual Studio.
Go to Extensions > Manage Extensions > Online.
Search for and install Microsoft Reporting Services Projects.
Restart Visual Studio.
Add the extension that will allow Visual Basic to process .rdl reports
Download and install the latest version of the Microsoft.DataTools.ReportingServices.vsix file.
Go to Tools > Options, and then select Extensions and Updates under General.
Under "Additional Extension Galleries," enter the following information:
Name: Microsoft BI VSIX Preview
URL: http://aka.ms/VSIX2022
After entering these settings, your "Extensions and Updates" dialog box will display the extension updates when
there is a new release candidate that you can install to provide feedback for a day or two before
the VS Gallery VSIX is updated.
4. Edit Data Sources
Open the RDL files in Visual Studio > open each report > show the reports Data > Data Source Properties view. Update
the data source information (authentication, connection string, etc.) as needed. Save changes.
In Visual Studio community > report data window > Data source >Monitorpack_Guard > right click Data Source
Properties > General > Embedded Connection > Type Microsoft SQL Server > properties > connection string:
Data Source=Name of your SQL server;Initial Catalog=Monitorpack_Guard
Example: Data Source=srv-sql-prod-mpa.database.windows.net;Initial Catalog=Monitorpack_Guard
IT incident management
5. Manage connections and gateways
In your space https://app.powerbi.com/ click on Settings, go to Manage connections and gateways then
create a new connection of type Cloud by clicking on New, in the new connection tab select
the type Cloud, in Connection Name provide a name for example Monitorpack Gateway,
in Connection Type choose SQL Server In server provide the name of your SQL Azure server
in the format (MyServer.database.windows.net), in the database field, write Monitorpack_Guard select
basic authentication mode provide name username and password of the SQL account of the serverless SQL server. Test
and validate this connection you can determine whether you want the exchanges to be encrypted or not in the configuration of your
connector. The connector name is the one that should be used in the connection string of paginated reports
2. Create a Premium Workspace or use an existing one.
3. Click New > Upload File > Paginated Report (.RDL).
4. Import the RDL files one by one.
7. (Optional) Create an App from the Workspace
Once the reports are imported, create a Power BI app from the workspace to centralize their distribution:
Go to the workspace.
Click Publish an application.
Follow the steps to customize the application and share it with your users.
Configuration
SQL: You will have to expressly authorize the public IP address from which you will connect to the SQL server in order to authorize it to write to your SQL server
https://portal.azure.com/ > Resource groups > Your SQL Server > Security > Networking > in Public access select Selected networks, in the Firewall rules tab Check that your IP address is authorized and that the exception allow Azure services and resources to access this server is checked.
You can follow the automated recommendations of defender but remember that the connection is end-to-end TLS encrypted, it is necessary to use a login / password to access the database, the exposure is linked to your unique public IP address, this accumulation of restrictions provides a very high level of security according to Microsoft's own criteria.
Connecting Monitorpack to your SQL server
You can't get any easier to start consolidating your alarms to SQL server whether in the Monitorpack Guard console or Monitorpack SNMP.
select the SQL server tab, provide the connection parameters login, password, the instance of your SQL server, the name of your database which is
always Monitorpack_Guard (except in the case of Express server).
IT incident management
Don't forget in each creation alert that you want to consolidate in SQL, check the box named Update local DB in the Data consolidation tab of your alerts.
IT incident management
Advantages
Simplicity: No need for local infrastructure like SQL Server or Power BI Report Server.
Customization: Reports can be modified at any time via Visual Studio.
Collaboration: Easily share paginated reports with your team or clients via Power BI Service.
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