PowerConnect – Connector Installation and Configuration Guide

This installation guide describes how to install and configure the PowerConnect connector to load data from IBM Planning Analytics to Microsoft Power BI. 

• Installation of Power BI Desktop. 
• Access to the Cubewise PowerConnect connector file: CWPAPBIConnector.mez. 

• In the user’s “Documents”, locate a folder called “Microsoft Power BI Desktop”. If this folder does not exist, it needs to be created. 

• In the “Microsoft Power BI Desktop” folder, locate a folder called “Custom Connectors”. If this folder does not exist, it needs to be created. 
• Copy the PowerConnect connector file (CWPAPBIConnector.mez) into the “Custom Connectors” folder. 
• Microsoft Power BI Desktop does not require a restart; however, the “Get Data” dialog may need to be reopened after placing the custom connector into the “Custom Connectors” directory. 

• If a newer version of the PowerConnect connector is available, the existing custom connector file in the “Custom Connectors” directory must be replaced. 
• Microsoft Power BI Desktop does not require a restart; however, the “Get Data” dialog may need to be reopened after placing the custom connector into the “Custom Connectors” directory. 

• For the PowerConnect connector to appear in the “Get Data” dialog, the following configuration change needs to be applied to Microsoft Power BI Desktop:
  • Open the Options dialog in Microsoft Power BI Desktop:
    File → Options and settings → Options
  • Navigate to the Security options:
    Global → Security
  • Activating custom connectors:

• After changing this setting, Power BI Desktop must be restarted.
• The first time the PowerConnect connector is accessed, the user must confirm using this custom connector. 

To ensure a successful installation, open the “Get Data” dialog in Microsoft Power BI Desktop and search for “cubewise”. The following data source will appear:

The PowerConnect connector will prompt the user to sign in with Azure Active Directory credentials via your organization’s login screen. 2FA (two factor authentication) will be adhered to.

If the user is already signed into other Microsoft Apps with their Azure Active Directory credentials, a brief popup will be displayed and the user will not be prompted for credentials.

A list with the configured environments and connections (IBM Planning Analytics instances) is shown:

Upon expanding a connection, a list of cubes will be shown:

Displaying a list of cubes indicates a successful connection to IBM Planning Analytics has been established.

IBM Planning Analytics data can be accessed by navigating to a view in the Views node underneath the cube node:

1. If the connector does not appear in the “Get Data” dialog, check the following: 
2. Restart Microsoft Power BI Desktop. 
3. Ensure the option to load custom connectors is activated as described in step Configuration -> c. (Activating custom connectors).