How to integrate my Google Bigquery Warehouse with Power BI?

Introduction

Power BI is a business intelligence (BI) tool, that allows you to connect to, transform, and visualize your data. There are many different types of visuals to choose from in Power BI according to the nature of data you are trying to graphically represent. Thus, Power BI makes it easy for you to create complex and visually rich reports, using data from multiple sources.

In order to link your Google BigQuery Data Warehouse to Power BI, you will need to install Power BI desktop.

Steps to Connect Google BigQuery to Power BI

  1. Sign in to Power BI. You will reach the Welcome screen on your display if you are logging in for the first time.

    power bi welcome screen

  2. If you close the welcome screen, you will reach the home page of the Power BI User Interface.

    power bi homepage

  3. In order to connect to a data source you can either use the 'Get Data' option on the welcome screen or access the 'Get Data' option from the Home tab on the top ribbon.

    power bi top ribbon get data

  4. From the Home Tab, select Get Data > More.

    power bi get data dropdown

  5. The 'Get Data' window will appear, listing the various categories of Data Sources to which Power BI Desktop can connect. You may use the Search Box to search for Google BigQuery. Else, click on the 'Database' category and locate Google BigQuery in the list. Click on Connect.

    power bi database big query

  6. Selecting BigQuery will seek your inputs on Advanced Options. If you want to use any advanced options you may manage these here. Else, to use default settings, click on OK.

    power bi big query adv options

  7. Next you will be prompted, to connect through an organizational account or a service account sign-in.

    1. If you choose to connect through and organizational account, click on Sign In to continue. A Sign in with Google dialog will be displayed wherein you can choose the Google account you want to connect to. Provide your account details and approve the connection between Google BigQuery and Power BI Desktop.Click on Connect to continue.

power bi big query org account
power bi bigquery dialog

  1. If you choose to connect through a service account enter the required details(your service account email and your service account JSON key file contents) and click on Connect to continue.

power bi big query service account

  1. A Navigator window will be displayed on your screen. Here you will be able to view your projects from the BigQuery data warehouse to which you have access. Choose the BigQuery Project, the dataset, and the table from which you wish to load data. Once you have selected the required table, click on Load. If you wish to carry out any transformations you may do so by clicking on Transform Data.

    power bi big query navigator1

  2. Lastly, you will be prompted to choose the mode of connecting Google BigQuery to Power BI. There are two options available:

    1. If you choose the Import option, data from BigQuery will be copied to Power BI. This option offers to you the advantage of providing access to the full features of Power BI desktop. You can make manipulations/ transformations to your dataset without altering the original datasource. However, this method is not suitable if you want to refresh your dataset at a near real time frequency.

    2. If you choose the DirectQuery option, this will set up a live connection to this dataset. Since the data is synchronised, any change in BigQuery records will automatically be updated in Power BI. However, you can not make any manipulations/ transformations to your dataset using this mode.

      power bi big query connection settings

  3. Once you have selected the required importing option, click on OK to make your BigQuery data available for visualization in Power BI.

    power bi build viz

  4. You can read more about connecting Google BigQuery to Power BI here.

Finding your DataChannel managed BigQuery Warehouse details

  1. Login to the DataChannel Console.

  2. Access the Data Warehouse page by clicking on the Data Warehouse Tab on the sidebar.

    dc managed bigquery 1

  3. Click on the card of the data warehouse that you want to connect to Power BI .

  4. The following screen would show up. All the required details will be available in the form that opens up.

dc managed bigquery 2

Still have Questions?

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