Skip to content

Quickstart

Install MetaMiner on one Windows server, connect your Microsoft Fabric and Power BI tenant, and browse it in the Power BI Explorer.

What you will build: a single-host installation with the embedded MetaMiner Database, one validated Power BI environment, and the MetaMiner Client connected to it.

Time: about 30 minutes of MetaMiner work and 30 minutes of Microsoft setup, plus the first collection, which depends on the size of your tenant (estimate). Microsoft can take a while to apply tenant setting changes, so do part 2 first.

You need:

  • A 64-bit Windows Server host where you are a local administrator, with outbound HTTPS to the Microsoft endpoints.
  • The full installer MetaMiner-ENTERPRISE-windows-x64-5.2.<build>.exe and a license file with the Power BI module.
  • Someone with Entra rights to register an application and grant admin consent, and someone with Fabric administrator rights to change tenant settings. Often the same person.

1. Install

  1. Right-click the installer, choose Run as administrator, and accept the defaults: folder C:\Program Files\Infolytik\MetaMiner, components MetaMiner Server and MetaMiner Client.
  2. On the last screen, clear Run MetaMiner Admin for now and click Finish.

Details: Install the Server.

2. Prepare Microsoft Entra ID and Fabric

  1. Register an application (single tenant, no redirect URI) and note its Directory (tenant) ID and Application (client) ID. See Register the Application.
  2. Create a client secret and copy its Value. See Client Secret.
  3. Grant the Microsoft Graph application permission Directory.Read.All and click Grant admin consent. See API Permissions.
  4. Create a security group and add the application's service principal to it. See Security Group for the App.
  5. In the Fabric admin portal, enable the required tenant settings for that group. See Tenant Settings.

Use the Setup Checklist to track these tasks.

3. Configure the MetaMiner Administrator

  1. Start MetaMiner Admin from the Start menu and accept the Windows elevation prompt.
  2. When Choose License File opens, select your license file.
  3. Leave MetaMiner Database Configuration on Postgres (embedded).

Image of the MetaMiner Administrator after the license is accepted, with the empty Power BI environment list

../images/get-started/quickstart-mma-licensed.png

4. Add and validate your Power BI environment

  1. In the environment list, open the Power BI tab and click Add Power BI.
  2. In Add Power BI Environment, enter a display name, keep Endpoint Set on Commercial (or choose your government cloud), and enter Tenant ID, Client ID and Client Secret. Leave Username and Password empty.
  3. Select Ignore FCM at this time. You can add the Capacity Metrics app later.
  4. Click Test Connection and wait for the results. Every step must pass.
  5. Click Apply. The environment appears in the list, enabled.

Image of the Add Power BI Environment dialog with tenant ID, client ID and secret filled and Ignore FCM at this time selected

../images/get-started/quickstart-add-pbi-environment.png

Image of the Test Connection results with every step passed

../images/get-started/quickstart-test-connection-passed.png

Details: Add an Environment and Validate the Connection.

5. Start the server

  1. Click Start Server.
  2. Wait until the button reads Stop Server. The first start also creates the embedded database and the Power BI schema, so it takes longer than later starts.
  3. Choose File > Open Log Folder, open slc.log, and look for the line Pull #1 for Power BI environment <display name>/<tenant ID> (<id>) done.

6. Connect the client

  1. Start MetaMiner from the Start menu.
  2. In the Connection Manager, enter localhost in MetaMiner Server Host:, keep port 49714, and click Connect.
  3. Check your Power BI environment under Select one or more BI environments: and click Apply.

7. See the Power BI Explorer

The client opens the Power BI Explorer with your tenant's workspaces. Expand a workspace and select a report or semantic model to see its properties.

On the first start the collectors are still scanning workspaces. Workspaces appear first; their contents fill in as scans complete. The Power BI Explorer picks up new data every 10 minutes.

Image of the Power BI Explorer with a workspace expanded and a semantic model selected

../images/get-started/quickstart-pbi-explorer.png

What you learned

  • MetaMiner signs in as a service principal you register in Entra ID; tenant settings scoped to a security group unlock the admin APIs.
  • The MetaMiner Administrator holds the license, the database choice and the Power BI environment, validates the setup against Microsoft and starts the server.
  • The server logs its snapshot cycles in slc.log; collectors keep filling the database in the background.
  • The client connects to the server on port 49714 and loads the environments you select.

Next steps