When deploying to different environments, data source connections often need to be adjusted as well. For example, a report in the test environment should connect to the test database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Native deployment pipelines support these adjustments through deployment rules. Alternatively, the data sources of a semantic model can be updated using a PowerShell script and a REST API call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The screenshots below first show how to find a gateway connection that points to a previous server or a development server.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n After the script has been executed, the semantic model points to a different database that is also accessible through the gateway:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The script is fairly straightforward, so I\u2019m sharing it here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n In my recent posts, I described how to build a continuous deployment (CD) pipeline step by step using PowerShell. Among other things, I demonstrated how to deploy projects and update parameters: When deploying to different environments, data source connections often … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.flip-design.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/image.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.flip-design.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/image-1.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n# Specify the current database to match and the replacement database to use.\nparam (\n [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)]\n [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]\n [string]$oldDatabase,\n\n [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)]\n [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]\n [string]$newDatabase\n)\n\n# Configure the service principal credentials used to authenticate with Power BI.\n$tenantId = \"dd31239f-1fba-49a4-8b6c-47df999883d6\"\n$clientId = \"b705d1ab-0a03-4c29-8c42-d6e5d9f5808f\"\n$clientSecret = ConvertTo-SecureString \"XXXXXXXXXX\" -AsPlainText -Force\n\n# Sign in using the service principal's client ID and client secret.\n$credential = [System.Management.Automation.PSCredential]::new($clientId, $clientSecret)\nConnect-PowerBIServiceAccount -ServicePrincipal -Tenant $tenantId -Credential $credential -ErrorAction Stop | Out-Null\n\n# Identify the workspace and semantic model whose data source should be updated.\n$workspaceId = \"f2558832-a956-45b8-be5c-de8e884419ee\"\n$datasetId = \"c920dfda-0516-40a5-8647-8a63ad660305\"\n\n# Keep the SQL Server unchanged while switching the database.\n$server = \"G9PRM84\"\n\n# Build the request body: match the existing SQL connection and provide its replacement.\n$body = @{\n updateDetails = @(\n @{\n datasourceSelector = @{\n datasourceType = \"Sql\"\n connectionDetails = @{\n server = $server\n database = $oldDatabase\n }\n }\n connectionDetails = @{\n server = $server\n database = $newDatabase\n }\n }\n )\n} | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 10\n\n# Transfer semantic model ownership to the signed-in service principal.\nInvoke-PowerBIRestMethod `\n -Url \"groups\/$workspaceId\/datasets\/$datasetId\/Default.TakeOver\" `\n -Method Post `\n -ErrorAction Stop\n\n# Apply the new database connection details to the matching data source.\nInvoke-PowerBIRestMethod `\n -Url \"groups\/$workspaceId\/datasets\/$datasetId\/Default.UpdateDatasources\" `\n -Method Post `\n -Body $body `\n -ErrorAction Stop\n<\/code><\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"