You have a semantic model named Model1 that contains sales data. You need to ensure that Modell is refreshed on the first day of each month to…

The requirement is to refresh a semantic model on a specific, recurring schedule (the first day of each month). The Scheduled refresh feature in the Power BI service is designed for this exact purpose. It allows users to configure semantic models to refresh automatically at set frequencies, including daily, weekly, and monthly intervals. For a monthly schedule, you can specify the day of the month on which the refresh should occur, directly fulfilling the user's need.

A. an on-premises data gateway: A gateway is only required to connect to on-premises data sources. It facilitates the data transfer but does not configure the timing or schedule of the refresh itself.

B. a Microsoft Power Automate flow: While a Power Automate flow can trigger a dataset refresh and could be configured on a schedule, it is a more complex solution. The native Scheduled refresh feature is the standard, most direct, and intended method for this common requirement.

C. an incremental refresh: Incremental refresh is a policy that optimizes the refresh process by only updating a subset of the data (e.g., the last month). It defines what data to refresh, not when the refresh runs. It works in conjunction with a scheduled refresh.

1. Microsoft Learn. (2024). Configure scheduled refresh. In the "Configure scheduled refresh" section

it states

"You can configure a schedule to connect directly to your data source on a... monthly basis." It also shows the user interface for selecting "Monthly" frequency and specifying the days of the month.

Reference: Microsoft Learn

Power BI Documentation

"Data refresh in Power BI

" section "Configure scheduled refresh."

2. Microsoft Learn. (2024). Incremental refresh for semantic models and real-time data. This document clarifies the relationship between incremental and scheduled refresh: "After publishing

you refresh the model through a normal

scheduled refresh operation in the Power BI service. The first refresh operation takes longer to complete because it has to import all historical partitions. Subsequent refreshes are much quicker because they only refresh the data for the period you specify in the refresh policy settings."

Reference: Microsoft Learn

Power BI Documentation

"Incremental refresh for semantic models and real-time data

" section "Publish."

3. Microsoft Learn. (2024). On-premises data gateway. This document explains the gateway's function: "The on-premises data gateway acts as a bridge to provide quick and secure data transfer between on-premises data... and several Microsoft cloud services." This confirms its role is connectivity

not scheduling.

Reference: Microsoft Learn

Power BI Documentation

"On-premises data gateway

" section "How the gateway works."