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Geographically Visualizing your workforce using Microsoft Identity Manager, xMatters and Power BI

 

Introduction

In the last couple of weeks I’ve posted about visualizing relationships of data from Microsoft Identity Manager using Power BI. Earlier this week I posted about building a Management Agent for Microsoft Identity Manger to integrate with xMatters.

In this post I combine data from the last two in order to allow us to visualise the geographic office locations for an organisation and then summary data about it (how many employees are located there, and what departments).

Prerequisites

You’ll need an Azure AD and Office 365 subscription to allow you to create a Power BI Application. Too create a Power BI Application see Registering a Power BI Application in this post here.

You’ll also need the Power BI PowerShell Module. I’m using 2.0.0.9 available from the PowerShell Gallery here and of course the Lithnet MIIS PowerShell Module available from here.

Overview

Using our registered Power BI Application we’ll create a Dataset consisting of two tables. One for the xMatters Sites (that we also get the geographic co-ordinates of from the xMatters Management Agent), and the other with our xMatters Users that contains the officeLocation that maps to an xMatters Site.

I create a relationship between the two tables on xMattersSite displayName (which is the location name) and the xMattersUsers officeLocation. We can then create a nice visual using data from both tables.

Create the Dataset (two tables with relationship)

Initially I tried to create the dataset with a relationship as I’ve previously shown here. However that didn’t work. After some debugging I got the result I wanted after some trial and error using the Power BI API Explorer. So I’ll provide you with the raw JSON format for creating a New Dataset, Two Tables (xMattersSites and xMattersUsers) and a relationship between them (where xMattersSites\displayName joins with xMattersUsers\officeLocation) as per my xMatters Management Agent detailed here.

Start by authenticating to the Power BI API Explorer with an account in the environment where you created your Power BI Application and navigate to the Create Dataset section here.

Create Dataset

Update this JSON formatted object that details the Dataset, Tables and Relationships for your environment.

Paste your validated JSON object into the Body section of the API Explorer and select Call Resource.

Dataset Body

If your JSON object is formatted corrected you’ll get a 201 response and your DataSet and Tables with Relationship will be created.

Create Success

Switching over to Power BI you’ll see the xMatters Dataset in the bottom left, then the two tables in on the right hand side with their columns.

xMatters DataSet PBI.PNG

Load xMatters User Data into Power BI

Now that we have somewhere to put the data, lets populate the dataset. I’m using the Lithnet MIIS Automation PowerShell Module (detailed in the prerequsites to query the Metaverse and return all users. Then I refine the list down to those that are Active (based on my employeeActive Boolean attribute) then finally, only those users that are connected on the xMatters Management Agent (see lines 14 & 18).

The script will drop any existing values from the xMatters Users table then upload what we have retrieved from the Metaverse (and refined).

Upload Users.PNG

Load xMatters Site Data into Power BI

Again I’m also using the Lithnet MIIS Automation PowerShell Module to query the Metaverse and return all xMatters Sites.

The script will drop any existing values from the xMatters Sites table then upload what we have retrieved from the Metaverse.

Upload Sites.PNG

Creating the Power BI Visual

Now we have data we can build the visual. I’m using the ArcGIS Maps for Power BI visual which is available in the default set of visuals. Then by selecting displayName and geo the map will automagically show all xMatters Sites in their respective co-ordinates.

xMatters Sites to Map

We can then add a Card Visual and choose officeLocation and then configure the visual for Count of officeLocation and we’ll get a count of the employees at that location. As we can see below with the Sydney location selected from the map the card updates to tell me there are 665 Employees at that officeLocation.

Count of Employees at Selected Location

Pretty quickly we can also expand out other data points, like departments at a location, employees etc as shown below (I’ve obfuscated the departments and a number of the other office locations).

Summary.PNG

Conclusion

We haven’t generated any new data. We’ve taken information we already have in Microsoft Identity Manager from connected systems and quickly visualized it via Power BI. However providing this to the business and with the ability for consumers of the information to export it from the visual can be pretty powerful.

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How to embed Power BI Reports into the Microsoft Identity Manager Portal

About seven years ago at a conference in Los Angeles I attended I remember a session where a consultant from Oxford Computer Group gave a presentation on integrating Quest Identity Manager (now Dell One Identity Manager) with the Forefront Identity Manager Portal. I’ve recently had a requirement to do something similar and Carol pointed me in the direction of her experiments with doing something similar based off inspiration from that same presentation/session.

Well it is now 2017 and FIM and SharePoint have all moved through a few versions and doing something similar has changed. So now that I’ve got it working I thought I’d share how I’ve done it, and also to solicit any improvements. I’ve done this with SharePoint 2013.

Overview

In this post I’ll detail;

  • Publishing a Power BI Report
  • Creating new Microsoft Identity Manager Navigation Bar Resources
  • Embedding as an IFrame the published Power BI Report in the Microsoft Identity Manager Portal so that it appears like below

Pre-requisites

Obviously to follow this verbatim you are going to need to have a Power BI workspace and a Power BI Report. But you could embed any page you want to test it out.

You’ll also need;

Publish a Power BI Report

In Power BI select a Report you are looking to embed in the MIM Portal. I selected License Plans under Reports from my Power BI Worksapce.

From the File menu select Publish to Web.

Select Create embed code.

Copy the link to your report somewhere where you can retrieve it easily later. Don’t worry about the HTML line or the size.

 

SharePoint Designer

Download and install with the defaults SharePoint Designer 2013 from the link above. I’m using the 64-bit version. I installed it on my Development MIM Portal Server. I’m using 2013 as my MIM Portal is using SharePoint 2013 Foundation (with SP1).

Once installed start SharePoint Designer and select Open Site.

Enter the URL for your MIM Portal and select Open.

Note: In order for SharePoint Designer to successfully load your MIM Portal Site, the URL you provide above must be in your SharePoint Alternate Access Mappings. If it isn’t you will probably get the error “The server could not complete your request. For more specific information, click the Details button.”

And in your Windows Application Event Log Event ID 3 – WebHost

WebHost failed to process a request.

 Sender Information: System.ServiceModel.ServiceHostingEnvironment+HostingManager/42194754

 Exception: System.ServiceModel.ServiceActivationException: The service '/_vti_bin/client.svc' cannot be activated due to an exception during compilation.

 

Select Microsoft Identity Management, then All Files. You should then see a list of all the files in the MIM Portal website.

Locate the aspx folder, right click on it and select New => Folder. Create a new folder under the aspx directory named ‘reports’.

Right click on your new Reports Folder and select New => ASPX. Create an aspx file named reports.aspx.

Repeat to create another aspx file named report.aspx.

Click on the Reports.aspx file form the main pane and put the following contents in it overwriting everything else. Select Save.

<%@ Page Language="C#" %>
<html dir="ltr">

<head runat="server">
<meta name="WebPartPageExpansion" content="full" />
<title>Reports</title>

 window.open("report.aspx",target="_self")


</head>
<body/>
</html>

Click on the report.aspx file and replace the contents with the following and select Save.

Replace <yourreportlink> in https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=<yourreportlink> with your Power BI link.

<%@ Page masterpagefile="~masterurl/custom.master" Title="Reports" language="C#" inherits="Microsoft.SharePoint.WebPartPages.WebPartPage, Microsoft.SharePoint, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" meta:progid="SharePoint.WebPartPage.Document" UICulture="auto" Culture="auto" meta:webpartpageexpansion="full" %>
<%@ Register Tagprefix="SharePoint" Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls" Assembly="Microsoft.SharePoint, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" %> <%@ Register Tagprefix="Utilities" Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint.Utilities" Assembly="Microsoft.SharePoint, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" %> <%@ Import Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint" %> <%@ Register Tagprefix="WebPartPages" Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint.WebPartPages" Assembly="Microsoft.SharePoint, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" %>

<asp:Content ContentPlaceHolderID="PlaceHolderTitleBar" Visible="true" runat="server">
</asp:Content>

<asp:Content id="content1" ContentPlaceHolderID="PlaceHolderMain" runat="server">
https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=

</asp:Content>

MIM Portal Navigation Resources

Now we need to create the MIM Portal Navigation Resources to link to our new files.

In the MIM Portal Select Navigation Bar Resources. Select New.

 

Provide a Display Name, Description and select Next. Ignore Usage Keyword for now. More on that later.

Make the Parent Order 8 to have it at the bottom of the Left Nav bar. Order is 0 as this is going to be our Group header. Select Next.

Provide the path to the Reports.aspx file  ~/IdentityManagement/aspx/reports/reports.aspx Select Next.

Provide the Localised Display name, select Finish and then Submit.

Repeat, this time for linking to ~/IdentityManagement/aspx/reports/report.aspx and name it Licensing Report or whatever makes sense for your report. Also make the Order 1 so it nests under Reports.

Perform an IISReset.

Refresh you MIM Portal Page and you should see your new menu items on the left Navigatin Bar at the bottom.

Click on Reports and your Licensing Report will auto-magically load. Same as if you click on Licensing Report. You can now add as many reports as you need. And change which report you want to be the default by updating the Reports.aspx file in SharePoint Designer.

You will probably also want to limit who see’s what reports. You can do that through Usage Keywords and Sets etc. By default as described here the reports will only be visible to Administrators.  Details to get you started on changing who can see what can be found here.

Let me know if you have any improvements.

 

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How to use a Powershell Azure Function App to get RestAPI IoT data into Power BI for Visualization

Overview

This blog post details using a Powershell Azure Function App to get IoT data from a RestAPI and update a table in Power BI with that data for visualization.

The data can come from anywhere, however in the case of this post I’m getting the data from WioLink IoT Sensors. This builds upon my previous post here that details using Powershell to get environmental information and put it in Power BI.  Essentially the major change is to use a TimerTrigger Azure Function to perform the work and leverage the “serverless” Azure Functions model. No need for a reporting server or messing around with Windows scheduled tasks.

Azure Function PowerBI

Prerequisites

The following are the prerequisites for this solution;

  • The Power BI Powershell Module
  • Register an application for RestAPI Access to Power BI
  • A Power BI Dataset ready for the data to go into
  • AzureADPreview Powershell Module

Create a folder on your local machine for the Powershell Modules then save the modules to your local machine using the powershell command ‘Save-Module” as per below.

Save-Module -Name PowerBIPS -Path C:\temp\PowerBI
Save-Module -Name AzureADPreview -Path c:\temp\AzureAD 

Create a Function App Plan

If you don’t already have a Function App Plan create one by searching for Function App in the Azure Management Portal. Give it a Name, Select Consumption Plan for the Hosting Plan so you only pay for what you use, and select an appropriate location and Storage Account.

CreateFunctionApp2

Register a Power BI Application

Register a Power BI App if you haven’t already using the link and instructions in the prerequisites. Take a note of the ClientID. You’ll need this in the next step.

Configure Azure Function App Application Settings

In this example I’m using Azure Functions Application Settings for the Azure AD AccountName, Password and the Power BI ClientID. In your Azure Function App select “Configure app settings”. Create new App Settings for your UserID and Password for Azure (to access Power BI) and our PowerBI Application Client ID. Select Save.

Not shown here I’ve also placed the URL’s for the RestAPI’s that I’m calling to get the IoT environment data as Application Settings variables.

UIDPWD&amp;PBIClientID

Create a Timer Trigger Azure Function App

Create a new TimerTrigger Azure Powershell Function App. The default of a 5 min schedule should be perfect. Give it a name and select Create.

CreateAzureFunction

Upload the Powershell Modules to the Azure Function App

Now that we have created the base of our Function App we’re going to need to upload the Powershell Modules we’ll be using that are detailed in the prerequisites. In order to upload them to your Azure Function App, go to App Service Settings => Deployment Credentials and set a Username and Password as shown below. Select Save.

Deployment Credentials

Take note of your Deployment Username and FTP Hostname.

AppDevSettings

Create a sub-directory under your Function App named bin and upload the Power BI Powershell Module using a FTP Client. I’m using WinSCP.

UploadPB PS Module

To make sure you get the correct path to the powershell module from Application Settings start Kudu.

Traverse the folder structure to get the path to the Power BI Powershell Module and note the path and the name of the psm1 file.

PBIPSM

Now upload the Azure AD Preview Powershell Module in the same way as you did the Power BI Powershell Module.

UploadAAD PS Module

Again using Kudu validate the path to the Azure AD Preview Powershell Module. The file you are looking for is the “Microsoft.IdentityModel.Clients.ActiveDirectory.dll” file. My file after uploading is located in “D:\home\site\wwwroot\MyAzureFunction\bin\AzureADPreview\2.0.0.33\Microsoft.IdentityModel.Clients.ActiveDirectory.dll”

AAD Kudu

This library is used by the Power BI Powershell Module.

Validating our Function App Environment

Update the code to replace the sample from the creation of the Trigger Azure Function as shown below to import the Power BI Powershell Module. Include the get-help line for the module so we can see in the logs that the modules were imported and we can see the cmdlets they contain. Select Save and Run.

CheckModule

Below is my output. I can see the output from the Power BI Module get-help command. I can see that the module was successfully loaded.

ModuleLoaded

Function Application Script

Below is my sample script. It has no error handling etc so isn’t production ready, but gives a working example of getting data in from an API (in this case IoT sensors) and puts the data directly into Power BI.

Viewing the data in Power BI

In Power BI it is then quick and easy to select our Inside and Outside temperature readings referenced against time. This timescale is overnight so both sensors are reading quite close to each other.

Graph

Summary

This shows how easy it is to utilise Powershell and Azure Function Apps to get data and transform it for use in other ways. In this example a visualization of IoT data into Power BI. The input could easily be business data from an API and the output a real time reporting dashboard.

Follow Darren on Twitter @darrenjrobinson

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Leveraging the PowerBI Beta API for creating PowerBI Tables with Relationships via PowerShell

If anyone actually reads my posts you will have noticed that I’ve been on a bit of a deep dive into PowerBI and how I can use it to provide visualisation of data from Microsoft Identity Manager (here via CSV, and here via API). One point I noticed going direct to PowerBI via the API (v1.0) though was how it is not possible to provide relationships (joins) between tables within datasets (you can via PowerBI Desktop). After a lot of digging and searching I’ve worked out how to actually define the relationships between tables in a dataset via the API and PowerShell. This post is about that.

Overview

In order to define relationships between tables in a dataset (via the API), there are a couple of key points to note:

  • You’ll need to modify the PowerBIPS PowerShell Module to leverage the Beta API
    • see the screenshot in the “How to” section

Prerequisites

To use PowerBI via PowerShell and the PowerBI API you’ll need to get:

How to leverage the PowerBI Beta API

In addition to the prerequisites above, in order to leverage the PowerShell PowerBI module for the PowerBI Beta API I just changed the beta flag $True in the PowerBI PowerShell (PowerBIPS.psm1) module to make all calls on the Beta API. See screenshot below. It will probably be located somewhere like ‘C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\PowerBIPS‘

Example Dataset Creation

The sample script below will create a New Dataset in  PowerBI with two tables. Each table holds “Internet of Things” environmental data. One for data from an Seeed WioLink IoT device located outside and one inside. Both tables contain a column with DateTime that is extracted before the sensors are read and then their data added to their respective tables referencing that DateTime.

That is where the ‘relationships‘ part of the schema comes in. The options for the direction of the relationship filter are OneDirection (default), BothDirections and Automatic. For this simple example I’m using OneDirection on DateTime.

To put some data into the tables here is my simple script. I only have a single IoT unit hooked up so I’m fudging the more constant Indoor Readings. The Outside readings are coming from a Seeed WioLink unit.

Visualisation

So there we have it. Something I thought would have been part of the minimum viable product (MVP) release of the API is available in the Beta and using PowerShell we can define relationships between tables in a dataset and use that in our visualisation.

Follow Darren on Twitter @darrenjrobinson