Connecting Canary to Power BI (version 26)

Knowledge Base / Version 26 / Client Tools / Using Canary's APIs

updated 20 hrs ago

The Power BI Add-in was introduced in v26.2. If needing to connect with Power BI using the Read API in a previous version, see Connecting Canary to Power BI (version 25). The user also has the option of connecting with the ODBC Connector.

Overview

Canary's Power BI Add-in is built on top of its web API used for consuming data into 3rd party applications. Inasmuch, it connects to the Views service over HTTPS using port 55236.

Configuration

Prerequisite

A trusted certificate with its private key will be needed for the Views service users connect to; otherwise, Power BI will throw the following error if the source is not trusted:

Once the certificate is installed on the Canary server, update the Views service to use the new certificate through the Views>Configuration>Endpoints screen pictured above. (See Using a TLS Certificate for Canary Services for more details.)

Installation

On the client machine, run the CanaryInstaller.exe and check the Power BI Add-in.
If other client applications (i.e. Excel Add-in) are already installed on the machine, leave these checked as unchecking them will uninstall the application(s).
Open Power BI and select the Get Data function from the ribbon.
Search for "Canary" and select the Canary Labs Connector.
If the connector does not appear, verify the CanaryLabsConnector.mez file resides in
```
C:\Users\[user]\Documents\Power BI Desktop\Custom Connectors
```
If this directory does not exist, the user must create it and copy the CanaryLabsConnector.mez file from
```
C:\Program Files\Canary\Power BI Add-In
```
Input the Machine Name or endpoint of the Views service. This should match the subject name of the trusted certificate.
Only change the Port number if not using the default 55236.
Input an API Token for authentication. Tokens are generated within the Identity service. See How to Create an API Token. The user assigned to the token will need read permissions to the view(s) within Tag Security if it is enabled.
Once connected, a list of functions will appear. Click Transform Data.
Users can click the Functions link in the Data column or right-click and select "Add as New Query". The latter option will allow users to build queries on top of one another.
Input the necessary parameters and click Invoke. Parameters and their descriptions can be located at https://readapi.canarylabs.com with their respective function name.
Apply changes in the report window.
The Invoked Function will appear in the Data panel on the right allowing the user to enable specific elements for the report.
By default, Power BI creates a hierarchy of the timestamp using Year, Quarter, Month, and Day. To display the entire timestamp, right-click the Timestamp node and select Create hierarchy. A new Timestamp Hierarchy will appear displaying the entire date-time.