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Connect to a Server

Use the Connection Manager to connect the MetaMiner Client (MMC) to a MetaMiner Server (MMS), choose the Power BI environments to load, and sign in to Microsoft when your administrator requires it.

Before you begin

  • The MMS is installed and running, and at least one Power BI environment is enabled in the MetaMiner Administrator (MMA). See Add an Environment.
  • Your computer can reach the MMS port (default 49714). See Network and Microsoft Endpoints.
  • If the MMS uses MetaMiner user security, you have a MetaMiner user name and password. See Users and Roles.
  • If your administrator turned on Power BI sign-in, you have a Microsoft work account in the tenant. See Delegated User Sign-In.
  • The client and the server run the same MetaMiner release.

Open the Connection Manager

The Connection Manager opens automatically when the client starts. To open it later, use any of these:

  • File > Connection Manager... (Ctrl+M)
  • Double-click the connection icon in the status bar.
  • Click Add or enable environments on the empty main window.

If Reconnect on startup was ticked at your last connection, the client reconnects to the same server and environments without showing the dialog.

Image of the Connection Manager dialog with a server host filled in and two Power BI environments listed, one ticked

../images/client/connection-manager.png

Steps

  1. Pick a server from the auto-detected list, or type the MetaMiner Server Host: and MetaMiner Server Port: (default 49714). Auto-detection uses network multicast. If no server appears, a firewall may block it; type the host name and continue.
  2. Click Connect. The client connects to the MMS and lists the environments you have access to under Select one or more BI environments:.
  3. If prompted, enter your MetaMiner user name and password. Tick Remember password to skip this prompt next time.
  4. Tick the Enabled box of each environment you want to load. Environments you loaded last time are pre-selected.
  5. Optional: tick Reconnect on startup.
  6. Click Apply. If Power BI sign-in is on, the client asks you to sign in to Microsoft for each ticked environment (see below). It then opens the loading progress dialog.
  7. Wait for every environment to finish loading. The tabs appear and the client opens the Power BI Explorer.

Environment list columns

Column Meaning
Enabled Tick to load this environment in the client
Name Environment name as configured in the MMA
Host, Version, Username Connection details reported by the MMS for the environment
Status Connection status reported by the MMS
Audit DB Not used for Power BI environments

TODO: confirm what the Host, Version and Username columns show for a Power BI environment

Source to check: Connection Manager with a Power BI environment on a current release.

Microsoft sign-in

When your administrator turns on Power BI sign-in for the MMS, Apply asks you to sign in to Microsoft before each Power BI environment loads. You then see only the workspaces your Microsoft account can access, and live actions such as Manage Workspace Access run as your account. Without Power BI sign-in, the explorer shows every workspace that MetaMiner collected and live actions that need your account are not available.

There are two sign-in forms. Your administrator decides which one you get.

The Power BI sign-in dialog shows Sign in to "<environment>" with Microsoft.

  1. Click Sign in with Microsoft. Your browser opens the Microsoft sign-in page.
  2. Sign in. Multi-factor authentication and Conditional Access apply as usual.
  3. Return to the client. The dialog closes and the environment loads.

Next time, the dialog shows Signed in as: with your last account. Click Continue to reuse it, choose Use another account... to switch, or click Sign out to remove the saved sign-in for that account. Click Cancel to skip the environment for this connection.

The client never sees your password. It keeps a Microsoft sign-in token on this computer, encrypted with Windows for your Windows account, so the next start does not prompt. To remove saved Microsoft sign-ins, right-click the environment list in the Connection Manager and choose Sign out of all Power BI environments.

Image of the Power BI sign-in dialog showing Signed in as with an account selected and the Continue, Sign out and Cancel buttons

../images/client/pbi-signin-dialog.png

The Enter Power BI SSO Credentials dialog asks for your Microsoft user name and password.

  1. Enter your work account and password.
  2. Tick Same credentials for all Power BI environments to use them for every ticked environment.
  3. Click OK.

If sign-in fails, the client reports which environment failed and loads the others. This form cannot complete multi-factor authentication; ask your administrator for browser sign-in if your account requires it.

The first time anyone in your organization signs in, Microsoft may ask for consent to the permissions MetaMiner requests. See Delegated User Sign-In.

Loading progress

Image of the loading progress dialog with one row per Power BI environment, showing Loaded Module and Percentage

../images/client/connection-progress.png

The progress dialog shows one row per environment:

Column Meaning
Environment Environment name
Loaded Module Last module completely loaded on the MMS
Percentage Share of modules loaded on the MMS for this environment
Data Type Type of object the MMS is processing now
Object Object the MMS is processing now
Elapsed Time spent on the current object

To continue without one environment, right-click its row and choose Skip and Disable. To stop loading entirely, click Cancel; the Connection Manager opens again.

Verify

  • The status bar connection icon is green and shows the server name.
  • The Power BI Explorer tab shows one top-level node per loaded environment.
  • The status bar shows the time the data was loaded.

Troubleshooting

Login Required, Authentication Failed or Password Expired

The MMS uses MetaMiner user security. Enter a valid user name and password. When the password has expired, enter the old and the new password. Password changes are not allowed for LDAP or Active Directory users; change those in the directory. Click Forgot your password? to send a reset request to your MetaMiner administrators.

Login Failure User Disabled or Login Failure Threshold Reached

Your account was disabled or locked after failed sign-ins. Contact your MetaMiner administrator.

No environments, or environments are configured but you don't have access

No environment is enabled on the MMS, or your MetaMiner role has no access to any of them. Ask your administrator.

A Power BI environment is not loaded after Microsoft sign-in

You cancelled the sign-in or it failed. Open the Connection Manager, tick the environment again and click Apply. If the browser reports a consent or permission error, send the message to your administrator.

Incompatible Versions

The client and the server are from different MetaMiner releases. Install the client that ships with your server release. See Install the Client. A difference in build number only shows a warning.

The server is starting

The MMS accepts connections before it finishes starting. The dialog says you will be connected automatically as soon as it is ready; leave it open.

Certificate warning on connect

The MMS uses SSL and this computer does not trust its certificate. Do not accept the warning. Add your issuing CA to the client trust store as described in Client to Server SSL, then connect again.

Connection Failed or Connection Timeout

Check the host name and port, that the MMS service is running, and that the firewall allows the port. See Client Connection Problems.

Next steps