How to use managed Service Principal to connect PowerBI to Databrick SQL Warehouse

Question

How to use managed Service Principal to connect PowerBI to Databrick SQL Warehouse

zmsoft 470

Hi there,

Since databricks cannot allow external users, non-Databricks users can access the workspace.

So we decided to use a Service Principal, create a Service Principal for the end user, and then grant the corresponding permissions to the Service Principal. End users connect to SQL Warehouse through a Service Principal in Power BI.

Haven't found a way to get the access token for the managed service principal in the documentation, any suggestions?

Thanks&Regards,

zmsoft

phemanth 15,765 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-04-10T06:10:16.5+00:00
@zmsoft

To connect Power BI to Databricks SQL Warehouse using a managed Service Principal, follow these steps:

Create a Service Principal:

Register an application in Azure Active Directory (AAD) and create a client secret for it.

Add the Service Principal to Databricks:

Go to the Azure Databricks portal.

Navigate to the "Workspace" section.

In the left pane, click on "User Management" and then select "Credentials".

Click on "Add" and select "Service Principal".

Enter the client ID and client secret from AAD.

Select the appropriate Databricks workspace and click "Create".

Generate a Personal Access Token (PAT):

Use the Databricks API to create a PAT for the Service Principal. This token will be used for authentication in Power BI.

Configure Power BI:

In Power BI, use the generated PAT as the password and 'token' as the username when setting up the data source connection.

For more detailed instructions, please refer to the Databricks documentation
zmsoft 470 Reputation points

2025-04-10T06:15:12.6933333+00:00

Hi @phemanth ,

Thanks for your answer, If I'm not using AAD, but databricks hosting, how do I get the token

Thanks&Regards,

zmsoft
phemanth 15,765 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-04-11T04:32:51.36+00:00
@zmsoft

You're welcome,

If you're not using Azure Active Directory (AAD) and are relying on Databricks hosting, you can still generate a token for your Service Principal. Here's how you can do it:

Create a Service Principal in Databricks:

Go to the Databricks workspace.

Navigate to the "User Management" section.

Click on "Service Principals" and then "Add Service Principal".

Enter the necessary details and create the Service Principal.

Generate a Personal Access Token (PAT):

Once the Service Principal is created, you can generate a PAT directly from the Databricks UI.

Go to the "User Settings" section.

Click on "Generate New Token".

Provide a name and expiration period for the token.

Click "Generate" and copy the token.

Configure Power BI:

In Power BI, use the generated PAT as the password and 'token' as the username when setting up the data source connection.

This should allow you to connect Power BI to Databricks SQL Warehouse without using AAD.
zmsoft 470 Reputation points

2025-04-11T05:50:45.1466667+00:00

Hi @phemanth ,

How to generate a PAT for service principal?

Thanks&Regards,

zmsoft
phemanth 15,765 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-04-15T06:05:56.5333333+00:00

@zmsoft We haven’t heard from you on the last response and was just checking back to see if you have a resolution yet. In case if you have any resolution please do share that same with the community as it can be helpful to others. Otherwise, will respond with more details and we will try to help.

1 answer

Your answer

phemanth 15,765 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-04-10T06:10:16.5+00:00

@zmsoft

To connect Power BI to Databricks SQL Warehouse using a managed Service Principal, follow these steps:

Create a Service Principal:

Register an application in Azure Active Directory (AAD) and create a client secret for it.

Add the Service Principal to Databricks:

Go to the Azure Databricks portal.

Navigate to the "Workspace" section.

In the left pane, click on "User Management" and then select "Credentials".

Click on "Add" and select "Service Principal".

Enter the client ID and client secret from AAD.

Select the appropriate Databricks workspace and click "Create".

Generate a Personal Access Token (PAT):

Use the Databricks API to create a PAT for the Service Principal. This token will be used for authentication in Power BI.

Configure Power BI:

In Power BI, use the generated PAT as the password and 'token' as the username when setting up the data source connection.

For more detailed instructions, please refer to the Databricks documentation
zmsoft 470 Reputation points

2025-04-10T06:15:12.6933333+00:00

Hi @phemanth ,

Thanks for your answer, If I'm not using AAD, but databricks hosting, how do I get the token

Thanks&Regards,

zmsoft
phemanth 15,765 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-04-11T04:32:51.36+00:00

@zmsoft

You're welcome,

If you're not using Azure Active Directory (AAD) and are relying on Databricks hosting, you can still generate a token for your Service Principal. Here's how you can do it:

Create a Service Principal in Databricks:

Go to the Databricks workspace.

Navigate to the "User Management" section.

Click on "Service Principals" and then "Add Service Principal".

Enter the necessary details and create the Service Principal.

Generate a Personal Access Token (PAT):

Once the Service Principal is created, you can generate a PAT directly from the Databricks UI.

Go to the "User Settings" section.

Click on "Generate New Token".

Provide a name and expiration period for the token.

Click "Generate" and copy the token.

Configure Power BI:

In Power BI, use the generated PAT as the password and 'token' as the username when setting up the data source connection.

This should allow you to connect Power BI to Databricks SQL Warehouse without using AAD.
zmsoft 470 Reputation points

2025-04-11T05:50:45.1466667+00:00

Hi @phemanth ,

How to generate a PAT for service principal?

Thanks&Regards,

zmsoft
phemanth 15,765 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-04-15T06:05:56.5333333+00:00

@zmsoft We haven’t heard from you on the last response and was just checking back to see if you have a resolution yet. In case if you have any resolution please do share that same with the community as it can be helpful to others. Otherwise, will respond with more details and we will try to help.

Answer 1

@zmsoft

Here are the steps to generate a Personal Access Token (PAT) for a Service Principal in Databricks, along with the relevant documentation:

Create a Service Principal in Databricks:

Go to your Databricks workspace.
Navigate to the "User Management" section.
Click on "Service Principals" and then "Add Service Principal".
Enter the necessary details and create the Service Principal.

Generate a Personal Access Token (PAT):

Once the Service Principal is created, go to the "User Settings" section in the Databricks UI.
Click on "Generate New Token".
Provide a name and expiration period for the token.
Click "Generate" and copy the token.

For more detailed instructions, you can refer to the official Databricks documentation on personal access token authentication

andmanaging service principals

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/66792583/azure-databricks-pat-token-creation-for-azure-service-principal-name

Share via

How to use managed Service Principal to connect PowerBI to Databrick SQL Warehouse

1 answer

Your answer