Accton supports several authentication methods for discovering and working with your Power BI metadata. Each method and the information it requires is described below. If you need help, contact our support team using the Help Request button in the Accton menu.
1. Principal access
Used for a Power BI / Azure connection authenticated with a service principal (app-only) token. Depending on how the Azure Principal service app is configured, it can handle requests to both the Graph API and the Power BI API. To establish the connection, provide the Principal service app credentials below.
| Item | Description | UI |
|---|
| Authenticate method | Select "Principal" to use a service account for authentication | drop-down list |
| Tenant Id | Azure AD tenant identifier for the Power BI | input field |
| Client Id | Application ID of the service principal used to access Power BI reports | input field |
| Client secret | Secret key of the service principal for authenticating API requests | input field |
2. Principal with Standard
Used for a Power BI / Azure connection when you need to parse the maximum possible amount of data, including .pbix files . It handles requests to both the Graph API and the Power BI API. To establish the connection, provide the user's login and password in addition to the Standard app's credentials.
| Item | Description | UI |
|---|
| Authenticate method | Select "Principal with standard" | drop-down list |
| Tenant Id | Azure AD tenant identifier for the Power BI | input field |
| Principal Client Id | Application ID of the service principal | input field |
| Principal Client secret | Secret value of the service principal | input field |
| Standard Client Id | Application ID | input field |
| Standard Client secret | Secret value of application | input field |
| BI username | Username of the user account for BI access | input field |
| BI password | Password of the user account | input field |
3. With Certificate
Uses the same Principal service app as in Principal access, but proves the connection with a .pfx certificate and its password instead of a client secret. This method must be configured accordingly in Azure.
| Item | Description | UI |
|---|
| Authenticate method | Select "With certificate" to authenticate using a certificate | drop-down list |
| Tenant Id | Azure AD tenant identifier for the Power BI | input field |
| Client Id | Application ID associated with the certificate | input field |
| PFX certificate | Upload the PFX certificate for certificate-based authentication | file input |
| Certificate password | Password protecting the PFX certificate | input field |
4. With Federated auth method
Used for a Power BI / Azure connection authenticated via workload identity federation, using a single service account with no impersonation step.
| Item | Description | UI |
|---|
| Authenticate method | Select "Federated" | drop-down list |
| Tenant Id | Azure AD tenant identifier for the Power BI | input field |
| Client Id | Azure Application ID | input field |
| Service account | Account name associated with the authentication provider | input field |
5. Federated with impersonated SA
Used for a Power BI / Azure connection authenticated via workload identity federation, where the federated identity impersonates. A second service account to obtain its final access - useful when the federated identity itself should not hold direct access and should instead delegate through a dedicated impersonated account.
| Item | Description | UI |
|---|
| Authenticate method | Select "Federated with impersonated SA" | drop-down list |
| Tenant Id | Azure AD tenant identifier for the Power BI | input field |
| Client Id | Azure Application ID | input field |
| VM Service account | Base service account used to obtain the federated token; leave as default to use the environment's attached account | input field |
| Impersonated Service account | Target service account the connection ultimately runs as — the VM Service account must be granted permission to impersonate it | input field |
Additional options
| Item | Description | UI |
|---|
| Parse PersonalGroups | Includes or excludes personal workspaces and their reports from discovery | switcher |
| Limited access | Lets you provide a list of workspace IDs to limit requests to BI data | switcher |
| Attach all objects to workspace category | Automatically creates a category in Accton for each workspace and maps its reports and other entities to that category | switcher |
| Action | Description |
|---|
| Save | Saves the entered credentials for this connection |
| Cancel | Discards changes and closes the form |
| Clear | Clears all entered values from the form |