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Support SSAS connection using HTTP data pump (msmdpump.dll)

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Tony Valentine on 20 Mar 2015 03:50:23

I know its a bit strange that we would want to configure the Power BI SSAS connector to point to an HTTP msmdpump, but it allows us to do something we can't do when going directly to the server. However, when I get to the last phase where it creates the connection in Power BI, it returns a strange "The remote server return an error: (404) Not Found....." that I do not get when going directly to the server. Could you validate my results and perhaps fix?

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40e458ce 1d13-4f00-bfaf-dd916dba35ee on 05 Jul 2020 21:59:15

RE: Support SSAS connection using HTTP data pump (msmdpump.dll)

Where do I vote for this ?? This is something we really could use ?

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bed56463 2133-433c-873e-fa07d7f832b3 on 05 Jul 2020 21:59:15

RE: Support SSAS connection using HTTP data pump (msmdpump.dll)

Hi John,
You should see an option to vote next to the main title of this suggestion.

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bed56463 2133-433c-873e-fa07d7f832b3 on 05 Jul 2020 21:59:11

RE: Support SSAS connection using HTTP data pump (msmdpump.dll)

Hey Tony,
Thank you for the feedback. We understand the consistency part and this feature is on the backlog. User voice is a great way for us to figure out the priority in which we should execute & release features. So keep voting :)
Mapping identities is a tricky feature but we understand the power/benefit it has. We hope to enable it soon.

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68183361 d533-43b1-9f06-4c8d32e6e936 on 05 Jul 2020 21:59:10

RE: Support SSAS connection using HTTP data pump (msmdpump.dll)

Thanks for the response. I would think it is minimal work to make msmdpump.dll work, but I can't say since it's not my code. As far as I know, all other Microsoft products that work with SSAS connections support msmdpump.dll, so for consistency alone I think it would good.

Translating identities would be nice because it provides any provider who is hosting an SSAS based solution for a client to provide data via Power BI without having a robust and expensive web API that the big guys have (SendGrid, Zendesk, etc).

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b59dc44e 2beb-4634-9268-0063d985295e on 05 Jul 2020 21:59:09

RE: Support SSAS connection using HTTP data pump (msmdpump.dll)

Definitely something I'd like to see

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bed56463 2133-433c-873e-fa07d7f832b3 on 05 Jul 2020 21:59:08

RE: Support SSAS connection using HTTP data pump (msmdpump.dll)

Hi Tony,
At the moment, the msmdpump is not a supported scenario for the AS Connector. We have it on our backlog & we'll prioritize it accordingly.
For your scenario to work, we need to provide a way for you to provide a custom mapping of user identities. As you pointed out, the Connector currently is locked down to work with the effective user name passed from Power BI only. It cannot accept requests from other applications (or proxies) & hence you cannot provide a custom mapping.

It is not something we plan to get started on soon, but if we receive feedback from multiple users we'll definitely expedite this scenario.

Hope this helps!

Thanks.

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bed56463 2133-433c-873e-fa07d7f832b3 on 05 Jul 2020 21:59:06

RE: Support SSAS connection using HTTP data pump (msmdpump.dll)

Hi,
What is your scenario? Can you share more details? Can you access the AS server from Excel or SSMS?

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68183361 d533-43b1-9f06-4c8d32e6e936 on 05 Jul 2020 21:59:06

RE: Support SSAS connection using HTTP data pump (msmdpump.dll)

Yes, I can access the AS server using the HTTP pump in Excel and SSMS. It's bit complicated, but the reason I want the pump is I want to allow users on external domains to access our data warehouse. We provide our clients a hosted BI solution. I can easily write a proxy web application for the pump that will take the EffectiveUsername from their domain (client\username) and convert it to our domain via a lookup in LDAP (we can store their local AD name in a AD field in our domain). I have done a similar proxy in the past to add certificate based authentication for the pump. However, if the Power BI will not allow me to use the pump, then I have no way hijack via a proxy to convert the EffectiveUsername to our domain. Here is a link to someone who did something similar to my proxy... https://code.msdn.microsoft.com/SSASProxy-Custom-HTTP-7db6d016#content