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Install And Configure Azure On-Premise Data Gateway

Introduction

If you are a novice to the Azure Cloud and don't know what a logic app is, then go through the details of it in my previous articles,

  1. An Overview of Cloud And Azure Cloud
  2. Pillars of Cloud And Azure Services

Please read the previous article to get an overview of Azure's on-premise data gateway.

Overview of Azure On-Premise Data Gateway

In this article, we will learn how to install and configure Azure on-premise data gateway.

Scenario

This article will help you to understand how to install and configure a gateway step by step.

Prerequisites

  • Basic knowledge of Azure Services
  • Basic knowledge of on-premise data gateway

Background

  • When you migrate/redesign/develop your application to the cloud, then many times, you need to connect with resources that are present in on-premise servers.
  • On-premise data gateway works with Azure Resources.
    • Logic Apps
    • Power BI
    • Microsoft Flow and Power Apps (Both are Office 365 products).
    • Azure Analysis Services.

Overview

Before starting with installation and configuration, we will go through a few important notes.

  1. A single gateway can be used to connect to multiple on-premise data sources.
  2. It is not compulsory to install this on-premise gateway connector on the machine where the data source is present.
  3. To minimize latency, you can install the gateway as close as possible to your data source, or on the same computer, assuming that you have permissions.
  4. We can use one gateway to connect multiple data sources.
  5. We can install it anywhere within your on-premise network, but the destination data source must be accessible from a machine where the gateway is installed.
  6. Install the gateway on a computer that's connected to the internet, always turned on, and doesn't go to sleep. Otherwise, the gateway can't run. Also, the performance might suffer over a wireless network.
  7. The gateway cannot be installed on a domain controller.
  8. Only one gateway can be installed on a single computer.
  9. One gateway works with one region. This is applicable if you have your applications hosted in different datacenter regions.
  10. The on-premises data gateway runs as a Windows service named "On-premises data gateway service" but uses "NT SERVICE\PBIEgwService"
  11. This gateway is used to connect to the on-premises data sources only.

Now, we will explore how to install and configure an on-premise data gateway on the on-premise machine.

Prerequisites and recommendations

  1. Supported Operating System: Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2
  2. Minimum requirements
    • .NET Framework 4.5.2
    • 64-bit version of Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 (or later)
  3. Recommended requirements
    • 8-core CPU
    • 8 GB memory
    • 64-bit version of Windows Server 2012 R2 (or later)

Step 1. Download and save the setup from Microsoft’s site from this Link (Size around 141 MB)

Step 2. Run the downloaded executable file ‘GatewayInstall.exe’.

Step 3. Select the path to install and click on the install/update button.

Install

Step 4. Provide the email address and click on the ‘sign in’ button.

Email address

Step 5. Select the option – ‘Register a new gateway on this computer’ and click on the next button. This will register your gateway at the back-end onto Azure with your credentials with default configuration.

Next

Step 6. In the next window, provide the name of the gateway and recovery key, change the region, and opt for the option to add to an existing gateway cluster.

  1. Name: It is a self-explanatory term.
  2. Recovery Key: The recovery key is important and needs to be used in case of disaster recovery or moving the gateway to another machine or changing the data center. Besides, we can’t modify it once it is declared so save this key, keep it at a safe place, and do not share it with anyone.

The recovery key should be strong like a password
 

Change Region

Check the region. This region is used for the gateway as well as the service bus for installation. We can change this data center location by clicking on the ‘Change region’ link.

Recommendation

Select the region closest to your on-premises data source to reduce latency.

Add in an existing gateway cluster

This option should be used when you want this gateway to add another primary gateway. The cluster is used for grouping the gateway to avoid a single point of failure and for high availability.

Recommendation

Step 8. Click on the ‘Configure’ button.

Step 9. After configuration, check if the gateway is online and ready to use.

Service setting

Step 10. Additional configuration if needed,

  1. Service Setting: to restart the gateway and to change the gateway service account.
    Service Setting
  2. Diagnostics: This setting needs to be used for troubleshooting purposes. Enabling the additional logging may lead to reducing the performance of the gateway.
    Diagnostics
  3. Network: To check the status and enable Https instead of TCP communication.
    Network
  4. Connectors: We can create custom connectors to connect on-premise data sources if needed.
    Connectors

Summary

In this article, we have learned how to install and configure Azure on-premise Data Gateway.

What next?

Please go through part 3 of this series to learn how to use this gateway, with a real-time example – how to connect on-premise SQL server from Microsoft Flow using an on-premise data gateway.


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