Use the Power BI Connector (with API Keys)

This page explains how to configure and use the SysTrack Power BI Connector, including API key authentication.

IMPORTANT: The steps on this page explain how to use the API key method of authenticating as you configure the connector. It is highly recommended that you switch to using these API keys to authenticate. To start using API keys, get and install the latest version of the Power BI Connector kit. Then generate an API key. Then follow the instructions below for connecting.

Configure the Connector

To use the Power BI Connector, follow these steps:

Start Power BI Desktop.
Go to Get data from another source.
Enter Lakeside in the search window.
Select Lakeside Software.

The Connecting to a third-party service dialog box opens.
In the Connecting to a third-party service dialog box, select Continue.

NOTE: This dialog box is a standard Power BI notification to inform you that the connector has been developed by an external organization and not directly by Microsoft. The SysTrack Power BI Connector is designed to integrate seamlessly with Power BI and provide secure and efficient access to your data.

The Enter Connector Details dialog box opens.

Enter your Client ID, which is based on your cloud URL.

IMPORTANT: The Client ID that you need to enter in the Enter Connector Details dialog box is the same as the Cloud ID that you can find on the Tenant Information page in SysTrack. The following table lists most of the Client IDs. But, for some specialized configurations, you might have to look up your Cloud ID in SysTrack.

If your cloud URL is:	Then your Client ID is:
cloud.lakesidesoftware.com	eab7a011-36fc-4c1b-94dd-cb6f31473ff3
cloud-au.lakesidesoftware.com	84220ad6-2194-4096-b2c7-4cb311ba4090
cloud-ca.lakesidesoftware.com	48368da0-6642-429e-915e-68f4d6cbb3b1
cloud-fr.lakesidesoftware.com	c61fbf03-9787-44e9-bf33-283cea7ae065
cloud-de.lakesidesoftware.com	e7f082f2-a855-44da-a5e3-9a6ee3d777b4
cloud-uk.lakesidesoftware.com	4b68aeaa-cb67-4280-87a1-016fecb772b3

Enter your Tenant ID.

You can find your Tenant ID on the Tenant Information page in SysTrack.
Enter your API Domain Name, which is simply your Cloud FQDN or the cloud URL at which you access SysTrack.

To find your API Domain Name, look at the URL in your browser when you access SysTrack. (The most common URLs are shown in the left column of the preceding table in Step 7.)
Click OK in the Enter Connector Details dialog box to save the details you entered.

The Lakeside Navigation Table dialog box opens.
In the API Key field, enter your SysTrack Power BI API key, and click Connect.

SysTrack Administrators create and manage the Power BI API key on the Manage API Keys page.

IMPORTANT: Previous versions of the Power BI Connector used a different form of authentication. With the current API key form of authentication described in these steps, your Power BI connection will remain authenticated for up to 180 days, which means that your SysTrack data can automatically refresh into Power BI during that time without the need for reauthentication.
The Navigator dialog box opens, and you can proceed with selecting the SysTrack data that you want to see in Power BI.

TIP: In the Navigator dialog box, if you select a dataset on the left, you might see this error message on the right:
Expression.Error: Access to the resource is forbidden.
If you see this error, verify that you are using the correct API key. The key you used might be expired or invalid.

Use the Power BI Service

If your organization uses the Power BI Service, you can leverage its scheduled data refresh feature to automate updates for your datasets. You can set up an on-premises data gateway, and then the Power BI Service can securely receive data through the SysTrack Power BI Connector. This ensures that your reports will always be up to date without manual intervention, so that your team can focus on gaining insights instead of managing refresh cycles.

To learn about setting up scheduled refreshes, visit Microsoft’s documentation.