In this article, we'll show you how to export Power BI datasets to a connected SFTP site. From SFTP, you can import Kallidus data to mix with your organisational data using your organisation's Power BI.
In this article, we'll cover:
- What is SFTP?
- Overview of the process to extract data from Kallidus
- Steps to grant the Data Connector permission to a User
- How to create an SFTP connection
- Steps to review the delivery history of an SFTP connection
- Steps to rerun a one-time SFTP connection
- Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
What is SFTP?
An SFTP data connection is an export of prebuilt Kallidus datasets to your own SFTP location. Once exported, you can extract and transform the data, as needed, before loading it into your external reporting tools.
A few things to know about SFTP connections:
- Only Users with permission to connect data will be able to create SFTP connections
- Each SFTP connection can export one or more datasets simultaneously
- You can create as many SFTP connections as required
- You must have your own non-Kallidus SFTP location to successfully create a connection
- The dataset mapping guide will help you establish the relationships between various Dimension and Fact tables that make up Kallidus datasets
- The first Power BI dataset refresh of each day is completed by 7:30am UTC, so scheduling your SFTP connection for 8am UTC onwards will ensure the freshest data to start the day
Overview of the process to extract data from Kallidus
Overview of bulk data extraction
In this video, we'll provide a high-level overview of the process, and show how SFTP is used to extract your Power BI data to mix with your own organisational data:
View extracted data in your organisations' Power BI
In this video, Gary examines how your Kallidus data will appear when imported to your organisation's Power BI tool.
Steps to grant the Data Connector permission to a User
- Navigate to Manage users
- Search for the desired User
- Select Actions
- Select Edit:
- Scroll down to the Roles section
- Enable the Data connector permission. Note that this permission can be enabled independently of other reporting permissions. You don't have to enable the Reporting or Edit reports permissions for the User to successfully create data connections; however, you can enable them additionally if the User needs to view/edit reports:
Steps to create an SFTP connection
- Navigate to Reports
- Select Connect data
- Select New connection:
- Give the connection a name
- Add a description (optional):
- Select Next
- Select one or more datasets:
- Select Next
- Enter SFTP credentials:
- Select Next
- Select a frequency:
- The first Power BI dataset refresh of each day is completed by 7:30am UTC, so scheduling your SFTP connection for 8am UTC onwards will ensure the freshest data to start the day
- Select Save to complete the connection
Steps to review the delivery history for an SFTP connection
If you need to audit the delivery of your SFTP connections, or if you see an issue with any of your SFTP connections, you can easily review the delivery history. Here's how:
- Select Actions on any SFTP connection
- Select Delivery log:
- Find the relevant Timestamp, and review the Status column:
Possible statuses are:
- Successful: All datasets were successfully generated and delivered to your SFTP location
- Failed: One or more datasets were not successfully generated, or all datasets were successfully generated, but not successfully delivered to your SFTP location
- For 'Failed; SFTP deliveries, click into the Status column to review the Data Connection Job ID Provide this ID to our Support team and we'll help you troubleshoot
Steps to rerun a one-time SFTP connection
For any one-time SFTP connections (those where the Schedule column shows "Now" or "Once"), you can rerun them at any time after their initial runs by selecting Actions and Run now:
Frequent asked questions (FAQ)
How does Kallidus authenticate with my SFTP site?
Kallidus uses SSH-key-based authentication for all SFTP connections. When creating a new SFTP connection, you'll need to provide us with a username and fingerprint. Additionally, you'll also need to store Kallidus' public key against your SFTP site.
What authorization does Kallidus need in my SFTP site?
When setting up the "Kallidus user" in your SFTP site, you'll need to grant the following permissions:
- list folders - to check for an existing "data connection" folder
- create folder - to create a "data connection" folder if it doesn't exist
- list files - to check for existing files for name conflicts
- create files - to create new files if no conflicts are found
Kallidus will never modify, delete, or overwrite existing files in customer SFTP sites.
Does Kallidus encrypt SFTP credentials?
SFTP credentials are securely stored in Azure Key Vault. Microsoft encrypts all key vaults at rest using industry-standard algorithms, key lengths, and cryptographic protection. To learn more, check out this Microsoft help article.
Does Kallidus encrypt exported data?
Data is sent over HTTPS and is encrypted in transit using AES-256-CTR. Data is not encrypted at rest in customer SFTP sites.
What are the expected outputs of an SFTP connection?
Each SFTP connection exports a single timestamped zip file. If you've selected multiple datasets for a single SFTP connection, the zip file will contain multiple folders (one for each dataset) when unzipped. To learn more about dataset contents and view sample data, check out the dataset mapping guide.
What is Kallidus' IP address?
For outbound SFTP exports from Kallidus Reporting, our static IP address is:
- 20.108.97.65
While it is highly unlikely to happen, Kallidus reserves the right to update our static IP address should a need arise. If you've previously whitelisted a static IP address for Kallidus Reporting but are no longer receiving any files, verify that the current static IP address listed above matches your firewall or server-level settings.
All Kallidus IP addresses are drawn from the Azure UK South pool. If needed, you can find the full list of Azure IP addresses across all regions and services in this specification file (provided by Microsoft). This file is updated on a weekly basis.
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