Power BI is a business intelligence tool developed by Microsoft that allows users to analyze data and create interactive reports and dashboards. It helps organizations transform raw data into meaningful insights that support decision-making.
Companies use Power BI because it can connect to multiple data sources, especially SQL databases, where most business data is stored. SQL databases such as PostgreSQL are important because they:
- Store structured data efficiently
- Allow querying using SQL
- Support large-scale data analysis
- Serve as the backbone of reporting systems
Connecting Power BI to a database allows analysts to build dashboards directly from real, structured data.
Connecting Power BI to a Local PostgreSQL Database
Below is the actual process followed in Power BI Desktop:
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Step 1: Open Power BI and Select PostgreSQL
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- Open Power BI Desktop
- Click Get Data
- Select PostgreSQL database
- Click Connect
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Step 2: Enter Connection Details
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- Server: localhost:5432
- Database: postgres (name of the database)
- Select Import mode
- Click OK
If an encryption warning appears, click OK to proceed without SSL (this is acceptable for local databases).
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Step 3: Load Tables into Power BI
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Enter your username and password
The Navigator window will appear
Select the tables:
customers
products
sales
inventory
Click Load
See below the loaded data in model mode.
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