Data Source credentials using service principal

Question

I have an embedded Power BI report, that is currently using a user accounts OAuth credentials to authenticate between Power BI and the Azure Analysis services source.

This is risky, as it means any issues with that users account (a change of password, user leaves the company, account gets disabled) will take the report offline.

I want to use a Service Principal to authenticate instead, as this reduces the risk of the account changing or being disabled.

When looking at the dataset settings in the Power BI Service, I am given the option of OAuth or basic authentication.

In AAS, it's normally possible to enter service principal credentials in the format app:clientId@tennantId however this doesn't appear to be possible in this case.

How do I authenticate Power BI to AAS using a service principal?

Answer 1

Note that in OAuth Power BI does not store the user's credentials; it stores a refresh token. So password changes won't affect the report.

And in LiveConnect and DirectQuery mode the end user's identity is used to connect to AAS, not the identity of the user who configured the data source.