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I am getting a strange error when creating Excel 2013 Power View sheets off an Analysis Services (SSAS) Tabular instance running on an Azure VM in the cloud. Here is the error:

Sorry, something went wrong while loading the model for the item or data source 'xxxxxx.cloudapp.net Tabular Model'. Verify that the connection information is correct and that you have permissions to access the data source.

The weird thing is that I can successfully create normal connected PivotTables from it; I only get the error when I try to make Power View sheets. Which would lead me to believe I am connecting to a multidimensional SSAS database, but I am not. Here are some things I have tried already:

  • Forwarded the default SSAS port 2383 in Azure and opened it in windows firewall (this allowed me to browse the cube with connected PivotTables)
  • Ensured my login has permissions on the SSAS database (I am not using windows authentication)
  • Checked the SSAS Tabular compatability version, it is 1103
  • Checked the SSAS Tabular SSDT project compatability level, it is also 1103
  • Made sure SQL Server Browser was running (I read somewhere that might be an issue)
  • Tried opening port 80 and 443 in case those were needed for something, didn't help...
  • Tried monitoring Excel's port usage to see if it was trying other ports, couldn't see anything besides 2383
  • Sucessfully connected to an intranet SSAS Tabular database (comparability 1101) and created a Power View sheet from it (which means there shouldn't be anything wrong with my Excel client)

Here are some details of my setup:

Server

  • Windows Server 2012
  • SQL Server 2012 SP1
  • SSAS Tabular default instance (compatability level 1103)

Client

  • Windows 8
  • Excel 2013 (15.0.4426.1017) MSO (15.0.4454.1002) 32-bit

Update (2/12/2013): I installed Excel 2013 on the server and can successfully create Power View sheets connected to the Tabular database. This implies that my tabular SSAS instance is setup just fine, but the problem still exists when trying to create sheets through the internet.

Update (2/15/2013): I updated my Excel to 15.0.4454.1503 with Windows Update to no avail. I had a coworker successfully connect with a slightly older version of Excel 2013. I am totally stumped. I also attempted installing a fresh copy of Excel on a VM that I updated to v 15.0.4454.1503 and it was giving me the same error.

Update (2/20/2013): I installed a fresh local VM with Windows Server 2012, SQL Server 2012, and SSAS Tabular compat 1103. I STILL cannot successfully make Power View reports from that server. I strongly believe there is some kind of bug with the Excel 2013 client.

Jondlm
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3 Answers3

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Try starting Excel with different user. I was able to open remote SSAS Tabular in that way:

runas /netonly /user:SERVERNAME\Administrator "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15\EXCEL.EXE"

This problem has something to do with Windows authentication. Maybe Power View don't have same kind of dialog to ask for password for remote login to SSAS.

Henri
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According to this article http://blogs.msdn.com/b/analysisservices/archive/2013/05/31/power-view-connectivity-for-multidimensional-models-released.aspx

is not possible to connect excel to multi-dimensional models

gdbdable
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I was having the same issue. I could not connect with powerview to a tabular cube using different credentials to the currently logged on user. Connecting with a normal pivot table worked fine. After installing CU7 and above for SQL 2012 SP1 this fixed the authentication problem. I then change the default port of my tabular instance and powerview could not connect again. I solved this by installing an app called portmapper. I mapped the default port 2383 to my server port. All works fine. It seems that powerview in excel expects the server to be on the default port and does not use the port specified in the connection.